V.Ryan © 2017

CROWDFUNDING

A person / company seeking funding for a new product, sets up a ‘page’ on a crowd funding website.

The members of the crowd funding website may respond to the sales pitch of the person / company deciding to invest and in return they are given shares in the business. Making a profit is not always the motivation for investing through crowd funding. Sometimes funding is given to help communities or for moral and ethical reasons.

Crowdfunding can also be achieved through using social media, business acquaintances or even family and friends.

FAIRTRADE

The Fairtrade system, ensures realistic prices for farmers goods and aims to protect the rights of workers and guarantee good working conditions.

A symbol that is occasionally seen on packaging is the Fairtrade symbol. This means that the contents of the package has been produced in the Third World and that the producer (ie. the farmer) has received a fair and realistic price. This provides a financial safety net for the farmers and their workers. It also means that the produce is not from countries whose Governments help their industry / agriculture undercut those of much poorer countries, by giving them subsidises.

COOPERATIVES

There are over 7000 cooperatives in the UK, ranging from farming, distribution and retail outlets, to even Leisure Centres.

They contribute significantly to the economy. Cooperatives are owned by their members, who are usually their employees and customers. They have social aims as well as economic ones, reinvesting some of their profits in the local community.
The cooperative movement developed from the ideas of Robert Owen and his book in 1813, called ‘A New View of Society’.