Chapter 3.16 – Here-and-now financing

Excerpt from the book »Gradido – Natural Economy of Life«

»When someone is planning a project and still needs more money they write to their friends. The ones who like the project support the person and pass on the request to their friends. So it can happen that the person gets a lot of support from people they didn’t even know beforehand. We call this here-and-now financing«.

– Joytopia

Loans – also the interest-free loans of the Natural Economy of Life – are a method of postponing a settlement which does not appear possible in the here and now to a later date. They thus create a dependency relationship between the lender and the borrower. This may quite possibly be desired. For that reason provision is also made for loans and investments in the Natural Economy of Life. 

Freely donating offers us the additional possibility of financing projects in the here and now. Free gifts do not result in any dependence of the person receiving the gift on the one making it. They may lead to friendships which are voluntary. We already know here-and-now funding under the name of »donations«.

In the open-source movement for free software and also in the Creative Commons movement for free content the »donation button« has become common practice. Someone who uses free software or reads free content might like to support the project and simply makes a donation directly to the developers or authors. The latter have already shown that they are committed to the common project and do good work. Nobody minds that they are individuals. Quite the contrary,  one hundred percent of the money is used for what it should be, that is for developing the project without unnecessary administrative expenses.

This is the principle of here-and-now financing. Someone who is carrying out a project whose success might be of interest to other people publicises the project and asks for support. Every project costs money, in the form of external costs and personal work. A person who wants to carry out a project using their own personal strength has little time and energy left  for earning their living as well. And when the project is really important they will get plenty of help. People for whom the project is likewise important will support the person and pass on the request to their friends. This will trigger a positive chain reaction: the project becomes known and receives more and more support.