Initiatives
Slow Money NYC

Slow Money 2012 Jubilation! ... about the activities of Slow Money in the New York area in 2012

Burgess COMMENTARY
An organization like SlowMoney should be using TrueValueMetrics Value Accountancy so that in addition to reporting on its various investments as simple anecdotes, there is also some clear performance reporting that reflects the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit and more.

TVM Value Accountancy would show in very clear terms how much more valuable an investment through SlowMoney is compared to an investment in some index betting on the performance of China, or gaming based on the financial misfortunes of Europe's periphery. What SlowValue seems to be doing is putting modest amounts of money to work building back people scale business in America ... something that the BigBanks and Private Equity Funds have seen fit to ignore for a long time ... certainly since the 1980s.
Peter Burgess

Peter Burgess [Slow-Money-NYC] Slow Money 2012 Jubilation! Derek Denckla Fri, Dec 21, 2012 at 10:15 AM To: Slow-Money-NYC-announce@meetup.com

With the end of year approaching, we are very pleased to share Slow Money NYC's current status and next steps.

Please consider becoming a member or making a gift to Slow Money, joining more than 2,400 people all over the Country who have chipped in to support the increasing momentum of this movement over the past three years.

Locally, we have grown to 562 Followers at Slow Money NYC Meetup, 78 at Greater Hudson Meetup and 20+ active in Central NY. And, we have attracted about 80 generous contributors. We'd love for some of our Meetup friends to become Slow Money members for just $50 per year or to make a gift of any amount to enhance our efforts.

Slow Money NYC is run entirely by volunteers working with a skeleton budget. Your membership or contribution to Slow Money NYC would go a long way to help support our work catalyzing investment in small, local sustainable food and farm business through education, networking and initiating funding vehicles. We are pleased to share with you important strides we have made in all of these areas of effort in the last year.

Education. On Earth Day 2012, Slow Money NYC held its Second Entrepreneur Showcase in collaboration with Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture. Remarkably, four of the six featured enterprises have been fully funded since then! Just Food and Brooklyn Food Coalition both invited Slow Money NYC to present practical workshops on 'Financing Food and Farm Business' at their annual conferences. And, we organized a timely panel discussion -- 'Food Labels & Prop 37' -- with Sustainable Practice Network and The New School this Fall.

Networking. Leaders of Slow Money NYC -- Brian and Derek -- have been invited to speak around the Country at such notable gatherings as: Long Island Small Farm Summit, Sustainable Business Alliance of Long Island, Social Capital Markets (SOCAP) 2012 in San Francisco, Investors' Circle Venture Fair & Forum and Carbon Farming Institute's Workshops in Regenerative Agriculture. Throughout the year, Slow Money NYC hosted well-attended networking events, such as Spring Mixer at Jimmy's 43, 2 Cash Mobs and NYC LION Cocktail Hour. At our recent Thanks Giving Mixer, we raised $500 for Red Hook Community Farm -- hit hard by Storm Sandy -- and featured 5 non-profit groups promoting sustainable food entrepreneurship.

Investment. NYCLION.org, founded and run by Slow Money NYC, provided $298,000 to King of the Ghosts, LLC, holding company for Egg Restaurant, Goatfell Farm and Parish Restaurant, a farm-to-table eatery which was able to open its doors in April. In the last year, NYC LION members have also provided funds for other sustainable food businesses: Windowfarms.com, Brooklyn Grange, Credibles.org and NewYorkMouth.com. And, Slow Money NYC helped launch a pilot project -- FarmCityFund.org -- aiming to make $100,000 in micro-loans for urban agriculture in NYC. Slow Money NYC is walking the walk!

To view our local efforts in a national perspective, please take a look at a nifty two-page Overview, giving a very brief summary of Slow Money's activities across the Nation. We note with considerable pride the prominent place of Slow Money NYC.

Nationally, Slow Money is making progress on many fronts. More than $21 million has flowed into 180 small food enterprises around the country, 17 chapters and six investment clubs have emerged, the Soil Trust is in motion, and a number of strategic partnerships are taking shape. The central office has moved to Boulder, CO, where they will be hiring a few new team members as funding permits. Slow Money NYC is part of the organization's continuous positive evolution, helping raise $1,000,000 for 6 food and farming enterprises since 2011!

Currently, Slow Money NYC is building out a more extensive, diverse Board of Directors and moving towards more formal structure. We are gratified that many of the new Board Members hail from sectors that give our network its strength: good food, environmental justice, impact investing and localizing economies. In the New Year, we will introduce you to the New Board!

Participating in Slow Money NYC makes you part of our growing national network. 24,000 people have signed the Slow Money Principles, almost 22,000 people are on Facebook, and some months as many as 90,000 unique visitors come to Slow Money's home page. This is just the beginning.

Our opportunity is great and so are the demands on our small organization. We wouldn't be where we are today without your help and we can't seize the opportunity at hand without your continuing support. Given our progress and our potential, we hope you will once again chip in, at whatever level is comfortable. If you would like more information, please send your questions to Derek at info@slowmoneynyc.org. Thanks so much for your support.

Sincerely,

Derek Denckla and Brian Kaminer, Co-Chairs

If you prefer to pay by check, you can (a) make your check payable to 'Slow Money,' (b) write 'NYC' in the Memo and (c) send it to:

Slow Money NYC PO Box 2231 Boulder, CO 80306

All donations to Slow Money, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

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