Innovation

Crowdfunding has been around for years now, with many platforms available to help jump-start peoples projects and ideas anywhere. Patronicity took this model and re-imagined it to help local communities flourish. Their model works to bring together citizens and sponsors within the community to enhance the overall well-being of the community and its residents.

This business model grew from the desire of its founders, Chris Blauvelt and Ebrahim (Abe) Varachia, to help revive struggling cities and communities across Michigan. It originally began in the city of Detroit, and later grew to expand its efforts across the State of Michigan, and more recently, across state lines to Indiana and Massachusetts. What really drove this platform from being an idea to a successful organization was its founders’ realization that ordinary citizens, particularly in lower middle and lower class communities, were unable to create change in their environment due to the lack of funding. That’s where the original idea grew - the idea to bring everyone in the community together to support this initiative that will have an impact all of the community’s residents.

As Patronicity gained steam, it reached out to the Michigan Economic Development Council (MEDC) to secure public funds for projects their platform was funding. The MEDC recognized how valuable Patronicity’s projects were to community development, and came on board with an agreement to award grant dollars equal to the crowdfunding goals, given those goals were achieved. Suddenly, local citizens had an outlet that allowed them to receive funds from the State to bring their dreams for their community to life. This re-energized communities all across Michigan and provided a sense of possibility and success that was previously unavailable to these communities. As a result of Patronicity’s efforts, hundreds of projects have reshaped communities by creating outdoor spaces, expanding local businesses, and/or renovating abandoned properties, thus breathing a new life into those communities.

Inspiration

Born and raised in Michigan, Abe grew up in a very close-knit community. From a young age, he was actively involved in his community, continually volunteering his efforts at community service events or youth camps. As he grew up, he began to realize that “communities are a place of belonging, a place to call home that offers security and safety.” When he started college, he knew that he wanted to effect change in his community and beyond. During his freshman year in college, he considered pursuing medicine, but wasn’t completely satisfied with that decision. Abe recalled a vital conversation he had with his father after his freshman year where his father posed a simple, yet powerful, and perhaps rhetorical, question about his career choice: “Do you really want to do it? Do what’s best for you.”

Fast forward a few years and the early stages of Patronicity were underway. Having grown up just outside of Detroit proper, Abe and Chris came together and spoke of the need to revitalize the city and its people. In doing so, they noticed a pattern emerge amongst the residents; entrepreneurs often failed due to the lack of resources and/or funding to uphold their business expenses. Determined to make a difference, they set out to create a platform that would bring together members of the community to support one another. Patronicity’s popularity quickly took off, and Abe began to shift his focus to not just crowdfunding these campaigns, but also facilitating the application process necessary for these initiatives to receive state funding. In this way, their goal to “help people become champions of their own growth” became a reality.

Overall impact

Patronicity’s overall impact has stemmed from its success creating change in marginalized and urban communities that suffered from lack of innovation and resources. Through its platform, many projects have been crowdfunded and received matching grants from the MEDC. These projects work to bring people together, be it through sponsoring local farmers markets, improving parks, or even renovating abandoned properties and creating community spaces out of them. Abe likened their work to the idea of ‘place-making’, where their initiatives quite literally created places for children to learn, play, and grow; ultimately, places where people can come together and have a sense of communal belonging.

Through these initiatives, local communities saw a revival within their communities, not just within the residents, but in the environment itself. Previously abandoned buildings were repurposed, deteriorating alleys renovated, parks cleaned up, nature trails restored, and the list goes on. Part of the reason why these initiatives have had such great success is because they were derived from local residents desire to better their city. They know their community better than anyone, and know exactly what is needed to revive it. Patronicity simply provided them an outlet to do so, not to mention, an opportunity to sit in front of State sponsors. Abe believe’s that “funding is the cornerstone between ideas and action,” and these sponsorships in and of themselves speak volumes to the success of the business model, and its potential to effect change.

Business benefit

Their innovative take on crowdfunding to support local communities in their efforts has allowed the organization to find success because of the impact they have had, and continue to have on communities. This concentrated effort to improve society resonates with all citizens, and as a result, the business flourished as a crowdfunding platform in a saturated marketplace.

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Social and environmental benefit

Without a doubt, this repurposing of crowdfunding to focus on communal efforts has provided disadvantaged communities with the opportunity to be seen and heard by the State. It has created a shift in paradigm, moving from a top-down approach to community development, to a bottom-up approach, enabling average citizens to actively contribute to and decide what is best for their own communities. This initiative has re-energized local communities and, by its crowdfunding nature, has connected these locales to others all across the country. It has brought people, regardless of their backgrounds, together for a common cause to build resilient and connected communities they call home.

Interview

Ebrahim Varachia, President and Co-Founder