Buzzbnk

Buzzbnk is a unique crowd-funding platform that brings social ventures looking for start-up or growth capital together with like-minded people keen to participate in a new way of funding and supporting social and environmental change.

Website: www.buzzbnk.org

Buzzbnk’s co-founder Michael Norton, OBE says, "it’s not just about raising money, it’s co-venturing".  A two-way process where backers and donors feel they have invested in the project and for the project owners to forge strong links with their community and backers. Projects can raise funds by offering fun and engaging benefits, in return for goods or services, or a loan.

Buzzbnk can help organisations raise donation based funding including UK Gift Aid (where applicable), and can also help emerging social enterprises raise loan funding. Buzzbnk seeks to build a community of people who “lend for good” and who recycle funds back into the sector. Lending for good enables organisations to “pay it forward” – when they are successful, their supporters and the whole sector shares in that success.

In its first year since launch, Buzzbnk has helped raise over £250,000 for 26 socially- and environmentally-minded projects. What is exciting is the range and size of projects.  For example, The Young Foundation UpRisers raised £1,000 for their own campaigns and a Human Rights organisation raised £615 for a pop-up tea room . Hackney Pirates raised over £7,500 for their literacy centre and Timebanking raised over £4,100k for their book on the movement.   The Converging World, raised a huge £111,000 towards a new wind turbine as a 5 year loan.

The Award: Buzzbnk has been awarded £50,000 to 'go mobile'. This will strengthen the website for mobile use on a wide range of mobile phones and tablets as well as enable Buzzbnk to build apps for the way people live, work and give today.

Contacts

• Michael Norton OBE: Chairman and Co-founder
• Theresa Burton: CEO and Co-founder

Buzzbnk is a social enterprise, owned 63% by leading charities and foundations in the UK and over 70% of profits will be contributed to charities and the development of the social enterprise sector. 

Buzzbnk success stories

Timebanking UK

Buzzbnk's first ever successful campaign was run by Martin Simon, CEO of Timebanking UK, who crowdfunded £4,108 to publish a book called "Your Money or Your Life. Or Both.". The first Time Bank in the UK was opened in 1998. Since then over 250 Time Banks have been launched and thousands of people have discovered that their lives can be richer, safer and far happier if they come together and get back to some 'give and take'. Through timebanking they have all discovered a way to co-operate, to change their worlds for the better and to share and care for each other - regardless of the size of their bank balances.

The Converging World

This organisation invests in renewable energy in India and uses the profits from the sale of electricity to support social, health and environmental projects in India and the UK. It recently raised over £112,000 as a loan through Buzzbnk. The money will go towards installing its next two wind turbines Unlike donation based crowdfunding campaigns, backers will earn six per cent interest each year and the loan is repaid after five years.