Common
Good
Finance
|
Overview / FAQS How Is It Different? SIGN UP A Sound Investment Business Plan Philosophy & Design Start Your Own Partner With Us Contact/Who Are We Video Slideshow Events / News / BLOG |
Business Plan for the first common good bank™
NOTE: The common good bank design has evolved as a system of four new organizations collaborating with local businesses and community organizations. The BANK proper is just one of those four components and this business plan is for that component only. This business plan constitutes the core of our charter application. For an overview of the other components, see the Philosophy & Design section. Once the first common good bank exists, any community anywhere can start its own virtual common good bank in a matter of days. However, to get started, we must formally focus on a specific geographic area. We are in the process of revising this business plan to focus initially on the entire Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, with particular focus on Springfield. A team of students at the Western New England College School of Business is doing the demographic and market studies. We expect these revisions to be complete by the end of the year. Common good banks will be a new kind of community savings bank, designed expressly for economic justice, sustainability and strong local economies, independent of the dollar. Once the first common good bank exists, any community anywhere can start one in a matter of days, using cell phone and internet technology, with no red tape and no need for a bank building. With a dozen innovative features, this is not just another bank with a social agenda. This is a social agenda with a bank!If you SIGN UP, common good banks can make a better world for everyone. We plan to open in Western Massachusetts with 3,300 founding members, making it possible to open Community Divisions ANYWHERE, almost immediately. Help make it happen with a no-obligation 10-second signup! How Is This Business Plan DifferentMost banks are started by a small group of investors who come up with the required several million dollars in capital. Then, when the bank is successful, those investors get all the profits. Each common good bank Community Division will be started by its depositors, a group of several dozen small investors buying any amount of stock, from $1 to $100,000, averaging about $1,500. These depositors/investors can expect a modest return on their investment (a planned appreciation rate equal to the true rate of inflation, which has averaged about 6% over the past 30 years). The bank's profits then go to the community. (NOTE: This is not a stock offering. The first common good bank does not yet exist and cannot yet offer stock publicly.) Common good banks will succeed precisely because of their dedication to the common good. The common good bank™ business plan is by philosophy a work in progress, here for all to see. So far, well over a hundred of us are working together on this project, for the good of all. We welcome your comments and suggestions. | |||||||||||||||
print page