As per: http://www.momentum.org/microloans
Are you having trouble borrowing money to start your business? Earning a low income or having poor credit can prevent you from accessing financing. Momentum can help with character-based loans that provide financing where banks and lending institutions do not.
Place2Give.com – A one-stop-giving solution where you can search, match and donate to Canadian charities. It is the most comprehensive and trusted database of publicly sourced and private charity research in Canada. The system directly targets the $4.4 Billion donated annually by private individuals via online services. Place2Give helps donors make better decisions.
Learn more at: http://www.place2give.com/AboutUs.aspx
Dexterity Consulting - Helping donors make informed decisions about their charitable giving. Dexterity Consulting is Canada’s first Philanthropic Brokerage firm. It acts as a conduit between philanthropists and businesses and the organizations that share their core values.
To learn more visit: http://www.dexterityconsulting.ca/mission
As per: http://www.delivergood.org/about
To build efficiencies into the charitable giving process by connecting charities and non-profits who need stuff with people and companies who have stuff.
Founded in 2009 and launched in May of 2010, DeliverGood is a web utility built to streamline and maximize the charitable giving process. DeliverGood facilitates a process to connect non-profit organizations who need stuff with individuals and businesses who have stuff.
Learn more at: http://www.delivergood.org/about
Launched in 2000, Social Venture Partners Calgary has raised $1.55 million for direct investment with our investees and provided thousands of hours of volunteer time and expertise to those nonprofit organizations.
Envisioning a philanthropic community that values venture capital practices, the Social Venture Partners model was launched by Paul Brainerd, Aldus Corporation founder and president, in Seattle, Washington in 1997. This model became known as venture philanthropy.
SVP works much the way venture capital does, by investing both time and expertise in a multi-year partnership with nonprofits helping where they need it.
SVP creates growth in both the orgnaizations it helps and the partners who are helping.
Come join us! All are welcome.
As per http://slowmoneyalberta.org/about/
Slow Money Alberta was started in 2011 by Mary Ellen and Andreas Grueneberg and some like-minded community members. The Grueneberg’s had signed the Slow Money principles in 2009 and were excited to attend a lecture given by Woody Tasch in March of 2011 in Calgary and decided that if Slow Money was going to come to Alberta they had to make it happen.
They worked over the spring and summer of that year to form a group of committed individuals with skills to offer, launched a Facebook group and later a website. They sought the help of securities and investment experts and finalized an investment vehicle that could deliver investors to qualifying farms.
Investors typically are concerned citizens interested in investing as if food, farms and fertility matter and ARE able to modify their expectations about what “return on investment” will look like. They are willing to expect a smaller return, typically 2% for cash, or 4 -5% if receiving product as payback or a combination.
Qualifying farms must meet stringent criteria and demonstrate due diligence and transparency in their financial documents and history. No start-up farms will be considered.
We won’t ask you to make tough decisions, like sacrificing comfort or aesthetics for the sake of environmental responsibility. It’s a common misconception that you can’t have everything in one perfectly planned home. We have a reputation for finding creative solutions and we’ll work with you to find that perfect balance. Here are just a few ways Jigsaw is establishing a new standard for green and innovative thinking.
As per http://protospace.ca:
Protospace is a hackerspace – sometimes (somewhat incorrectly) called a maker or make space. We’re a Calgary non-profit organization geared towards providing a workspace suitable for research, lecture, computer exploration, physical and virtual prototyping, and development. If you would like to help in the development of this hackerspace, associate your group with the hackerspace, or donate tools, hardware or money please contact us.
In almost every major city you go to, you will find a hackerspace and inviting inventors, geek and artists hard at work making and breaking everything under the sun. We are not evil, we wish to promote creativity and community both here in Calgary and around the globe. Read more about hackerspaces on Wikipedia
As per: http://calgarydollars.ca/
Calgary Dollars is Calgary’s complementary currency system, started by the Arusha Centre in 1996, that brings together local talents and resources to strengthen our local economy and build community. A community’s true wealth lies in the skills, talents and capabilities of its members. We believe that every person has something of value to offer to their neighbours. By encouraging local production and consumption, we are committed to creating a healthy economy that is rooted in a healthy society and a healthy ecosystem.
As per: http://www.vergepermaculture.ca/content/about
A Calgary-based company that specializes in a systems design approach to sustainable human habitat and a focus on interconnected elements: low energy buildings, water management, waste re-use, renewable energy & food production systems.
Passionate about helping Canadians regenerate degraded landscapes, build topsoil and improve our surrounding ecologies so both ours and future generations can lead healthy lives and benefit from natural resources.
Excited to be offering permaculture courses and looking to inspire people to embrace integrated solutions and empower them to bring connected design concepts into their own home, businesses and lives.
“A.B.C is dedicated to bringing small scale, hobby apiaries to urban spaces through educational programming, mentorship, and community engagement projects. Come have a look through the website and see all of the awesome opportunities that await you and your community!”
- Eliese Watson, Founder
Learn more: http://www.backyardbees.ca/abcworks
Meet Leaf and Lyre!
They are an amazing Calgary Small Plot Intensive (SPIN) Farm with +25 lots being farmed in Calgary.
Their delicious metro grown greens can be found at the Hillhurst-Sunnyside Farmer’s Market in Calgary on Wednesday’s.
Learn more about this exciting social enterprise at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Leaf-Lyre-Urban-Farms/108964799151881
Meet Urban City Farms!
As per http://urbancityfarms.com/:
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Bringing you an opportunity to change your lifestyle for the better!
Did you know..
There is a way to eliminate the cost associated with Yard Maintenance. Urban City Farms is looking for yards to transform into fully operational, seasonal vegetable gardens!
Urban City Farms is looking for lots within the inner city to begin a Small Plot Intensive (SPIN) farming project. In todays food markets, a majority of our food is purchased from the United States, creating higher food prices for us all as the price of transportation goes up. Urban City farms is dedicated to using local City of Calgary plots of land, donated by fellow Calgarian’s to produce high quality locally grown food.
By donating your front, back or side yard – you to can be apart of the growth of local food. Taking pride in your yard, knowing it is helping to supply local business and community members with the freshest of food. – As well as collecting a hefty weekly basket of fresh grown seasonal produce, supplied by vegetable gardens in various Calgary locations, including your own garden!
Saving time and money, and supplying yourself with your own produce.
Urban City Farms will create the garden and maintain it, with no worries to you. Just watch the garden grow in your yard and reap the rewards.
We are currently looking for yards growing spaces of all sorts within the inner city.
Learn more about this exciting social enterprise at: http://urbancityfarms.com/
As per http://www.thegreenstart.ca/:
Following the City of Calgary’s decision to limit recycling service to single-family dwellings, the need for quality multi-family and commercial recycling services became clear. In July 2009, Green Start was founded to meet this need.
It’s our pledge to help you, and in doing so, help our environment.
Green Start is Calgary’s premium, contemporary recycling service. From minimizing the use of bins, to operating with a no-sorting policy, we make recycling easier for you, and your lifestyle easier on our environment.
We pride ourselves on providing reliable, affordable, and convenient service. But we don’t stop there. While accounting for our clients’ needs, Green Start achieves environmental excellence through a steadfast commitment to highly respected standards.
Check out all the great services offered by this exciting Calgary Social Enterprise here.
While attending the most recent Innovation Exchange meetup in Calgary we learned from Tim Richter, CEO of the Calgary Homeless Foundation (CHF), that the ATB Social Enterprise Incubator referenced in the press release included below will be working on a Social Impact Bond for Alberta.
Follow link to the original press release through Canada News Wire: http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/953291/calgary-homeless-foundation-and-atb-financial-join-forces
CALGARY, April 11, 2012 /CNW/ – ATB Financial is teaming up with the Calgary Homeless Foundation (CHF) in its mission to end homelessness in Calgary through a three-year program called the ATB Social Enterprise Incubator.
The ATB Social Enterprise Incubator will be charged with building investor-ready businesses and investment vehicles designed to support ending homelessness in Calgary. The incubator will focus on three main areas:
“We’re thrilled to have formed this partnership with ATB Financial,” said CHF President and CEO Tim Richter. “Ending homelessness is a community effort and we can’t rely solely on government or philanthropic funding to make it happen.
“The ATB Social Enterprise Incubator gives us the opportunity to explore and implement market-based instruments and sources of revenue to ensure the long-term sustainability of our work.”
“Just like the Calgary Homeless Foundation, ATB Financial is committed to help end homelessness, not only in Calgary but throughout Alberta,” added Peggy Garritty, ATB’s Senior Vice-President, Communications and Corporate Responsibility. “We are looking forward to exploring new and innovative ways to address homelessness that we can share with other communities across Canada.”
The City of Calgary is four years into its 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness. In January the CHF completed a point in time count of homeless persons showing that homelessness in Calgary decreased for the first time in 20 years
