On Saturday we held our Fourth Ideas Market!
We were joined by a participant who is an accomplished businessman and is interested in using brand, ‘JAMAICA’ to benefit Jamaican people. We were also joined by two social workers, one being a trustee of Araba Scott Children’s Foundation.
What we Discussed:
- We discussed changing the platform for the Ideas Market to, ClubHouse which is an audio-only social media app for iPhone users. It was suggested that many people from the Caribbean, who are interested in sharing their solutions to problems are using the app. We agreed to give it a go for our next Ideas Market session so we can include more participants each time.
- We discussed the fact that there are no Caribbean charities to choose from on Facebook when people set up Fundraisers for their birthday. We will be taking advice from one of our friends who is working for Facebook, to understand why that is and see if we can do something about that.
- In order to expand on Brand JAMAICA and help businesses and individuals support local charities in the Caribbean, ASCF is considering developing our own platform for companies to connect with social causes. Most funding circles and a few platforms that are set up to connect businesses with charities they’d like to support, exclude small Caribbean charities completely. By launching our own website/app, we could do something about this and help companies achieve their corporate responsibility objectives. A business would make a one-off subscription, and from there be able to see a list of charities and their activities, for which they require donations.
- When we do have our own platform, the Ideas Market could run alongside the website/app, allowing businesses some autonomy and input into what specific projects and causes they consider donating to. Not having a say in the growth of a charity was a real turn off for one participant, who recalled several occasions where he was sponsoring a child through a large charity, who never seemed to employ any of his ideas.
- One participant suggested creating an Ideas Market Telegram, so that persons can keep abreast of the problems and ideas concerning children and young people in the Caribbean in real time. We will be doing this!
- We also set a date to speak to a UK based initiative who supports a charity in Jamaica, and would like information from ASCF about formally setting up a charity.
Have any comments or ideas to share? Comment below 🙂 The next Ideas Market will be held on Saturday 21st August 2021. Stay tuned to our social media for details of our first Ideas Market ClubHouse session!
