Community Business Crowdmatch

Power to Change has teamed up with Crowdfunder to launch Community Business Crowdmatch to back new or existing community businesses to deliver brilliant community-led projects. Whether it’s launching new ideas to help your neighbourhood, help meet increased demand, save a community space or help bridge a funding gap, Community Business Crowdmatch will match fund what you raise from the crowd. Power to Change will match fund up to 50% of your target, to a maximum of £10,000, as long as you can raise the rest through crowdfunding. Community Business Crowdmatch is looking to support new or existing community businesses that are providing services or activities that will benefit their local community.

1. Must demonstrate they are (or will be) a community business which has the following features: -Locally rooted -Accountable to the local community -Trading for benefit of local community -Broad community impact

2. Must demonstrate that the community business has charitable purposes at the heart of what it does. Charitable purposes can include: -the prevention or relief of poverty; -the advancement of education; -the advancement of health or the saving of lives; -the advancement of citizenship or community development; -the advancement of the arts, culture, heritage or science; -the advancement of environmental protection or improvement; -the relief of those in need because of youth, age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage; -the relief of unemployment -the promotion of urban and rural regeneration -the promotion of social inclusion

3. Must demonstrate that the community business has at least one of the following impacts on the community: -Reduce social isolation -Improve health and wellbeing -Increase employability -Create better access to basic services -Improve local environment -Enable greater community cohesion -Foster greater community pride and empowerment

4. Must demonstrate how the funding will support the community business to start up or to become more sustainable.

5. Will have at least 3 unrelated local individuals on the management committee/board of trustees. The fund will not support sole traders or individuals wanting to set up a business.

6. Must have a bank account in the name of the recipient organisations which requires at least 2 signatures before applying.

7. Must be an incorporated organisation or have solid plans to incorporate within 3 months of application.

Community businesses.