Micropatronage

Here are #trampoline lightning talk notes, which I will fill out soon. Please discuss the concept in the comments below!

View more presentations from rosshill.
- lot of amazing ideas today, but how do we get paid for it?! a lot of people are trying to resuscitate old models but we need to understand a lot of them are truly dead.
- i’d like to put forward the concept of micropatronage.
- my friend @edwardharran raising cash for san fran, $1100 for flights from 41 people in seven countries.
- not new, but cool and fast. what if he did that every week though?
- micropatronage is the combination of the concept of the patron with connectedness.
“Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another.”
- simple web platforms make amazing things happen. i believe the tools to support this are already here. you share your thoughts and events on a blog, you share photos on flickr, videos on vimeo, live mobile streams on qik, you take subscription payments through paypal subscriptions. and you link together the notification stream on twitter.
- there is a progression of engagement just like any other activity:
view > share > comment > create your own content > become a micropatron > micropatron yourself
- you’re actually working for the micropatrons but at the same time they’re attracted to you because they like what you describe.
- it’s important to remember that this doesn’t happen overnight. start simple. start with 1 micropatron.
- 500 micropatrons at $20/month is over $100k a year.
- i would support eddie right now if he did this. who might you support? are they in this room?

- lot of amazing ideas today, but how do we get paid for it?! a lot of people are trying to resuscitate old models but we need to understand a lot of them are truly dead.

- i’d like to put forward the concept of micropatronage.

- my friend @edwardharran raising cash for san fran, $1100 for flights from 41 people in seven countries.

- not new, but cool and fast. what if he did that every week though?

- micropatronage is the combination of the concept of the patron with connectedness.

“Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another.”

- simple web platforms make amazing things happen. i believe the tools to support this are already here. you share your thoughts and events on a blog, you share photos on flickr, videos on vimeo, live mobile streams on qik, you take subscription payments through paypal subscriptions. and you link together the notification stream on twitter.

- there is a progression of engagement just like any other activity:

view > share > comment > create your own content > become a micropatron > micropatron yourself

- you’re actually working for the micropatrons but at the same time they’re attracted to you because they like what you describe.

- it’s important to remember that this doesn’t happen overnight. start simple. start with 1 micropatron.

- 500 micropatrons at $20/month is over $100k a year.

- i would support eddie right now if he did this. who might you support? are they in this room?

What have you seen, what have you done? What is interesting?

By Ross Hill - October 24th, 2009 at 3:57pm with 877 views

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  • I made the following comment at @zaana's blog (http://zaana.wordpress.com/2009/11/03/micropatr...

    I would suggest that micropatronage isn’t about what you do with the money, it is about people wanting to support you in whatever you choose to do. They are assuming that you will spend it wisely or accept the fact that you may not (depending on your definition of wise!)

    I see it as an ongoing concept that is not limited to a deadline. This solves your dilemma because it unties it from single events or objects.

    There are quite a few people I would pay a micro amount (say $20) _every_ month to ‘do their thing’. As a patron I would expect in return feedback on what they are doing (which might look like blog posts, videos, tweets or emails).

    Micropatronage = supporting people to do what they do however they like to do it with small ongoing amounts of funding and no expectation of financial return.
  • Hi Ross,
    Your talk reminded me of the concept of micropatronage, inspired me again - and perhaps fell on fertile ground after a day spent with innovative thinkers. Imagine if micro-patronage could be taken to another level - to support large scale government projects, and re-connect funding models with communities....
    Thanks for the inspiration -

    http://technologytwitter.typepad.com/my_weblog/...
  • That's something that really excites me - how the concept can connect
    funding models with the community of people who like the idea. The basis of
    the idea is financial support but as the person or group builds a network of
    supporters I am sure it expand to be a network that can help the mission in
    any way required.
  • colduthie
    I established a network of 'patrons' who believed in what I was trying to do when I left uni in the mid 80s. I supplemented the income with part time jobs (getting up very early to clean supermarkets & teaching high school p/t). But most of my income came from 'micropatrons'. We lived very simply ... our income from patrons amounted to only $30K a year ... but we sustained that for more than 10 years. I bought a flat and even raised kids while my primary income came from supportive people. Key lessons: 1. Communicate extravagantly, 2. (surpirse surprise) 80% of the support comes from 20% of your patrons & 3. Establish some kind of framework to build sustained interest. (I did it through a sponsor organisation before PayPal!)
    I don't pretend my experience is transferrable, things have changed heaps ... and if I'm honest, I'd much prefer the scenario where we develop commercial sustainability that is tied directly to our work, rather than 1 step removed. But certainly an idea worth pursuing ...
  • Oh that's awesome! What projects were you working on at the time? What sort of communication did the patrons want to receive?
  • colduthie
    At the time I was immersing myself in the implications of the shifts in society associated with postmodernity. In particular I was working with community groups and faith communities to re-imagine collective living and commitment beyond rationalism. I also found myself in mentoring and coaching roles with emerging leaders. My patrons had all been influenced by what I was doing and bought into the value associated with me doing more of it.
    What kind of communication? What I did was essentially a hard copy blog, sent by snail mail every month. Pre-popular internet (and I've never had this thought before) I was doing 'transparent journally', or - and here's a new term - plogging (stands for paper logging rather than web lobbing).
    I would 'recruit' patrons from my mailing list. Then I would also have lots of coffees and make lots of phone calls to keep them engaged in the outcomes of what I was doing.
  • That's amazing! Do you have any copies of the plog still? I'd love to take a look. It reminds of Newspaper Club which is just starting up and offering on-demand newspaper printing http://blog.newspaperclub.co.uk/
  • colduthie
    It doesn't feel that amazing really ... no unfortunately I don't have copies ... but it was very simple ... so simple infact that I started doing it before I had a computer, just think photocopied handwritten 1 page commentary on meaning and life. Exactly what I do in my blog now, http://www.ergoconsulting.com.au/generativeedge but different delivery mechanism.

    Love the newspaper club ...
  • Stephanie
    I was also reminded of Grameen as soon as I read this blog post. I worked with a group in Saratov, Russia in 1997 to start a micro loan program for local women-owned businesses. It was a huge success and set a precedent of what's possible when people from around the globe come together for a vision. I was so blessed to be a part of it all. I've seen the idea of micro patronage in action and agree that this is a fantastic idea that should be pursued. What if we could take the idea of innovation labs and put it online where people submit their ideas for micro patronage to one central repository and then people who want to be a patron can pick the idea that resonates the most for them? I can say that I would gladly pay $20 a month to help support a few choice projects that really strike a chord with me. It's also a way to give people who may want to do something, but don't know how to get started, another chance to particpate - by providing financial support (at a small cost) to help someone else achieve their dream. It helps us all become a part of something bigger than ourselves.
  • Once there are a few people doing this on an ongoing basis it would be cool
    to have a central listing somewhere. It's easy to get started with a simple
    paypal subscription button in the sidebar of a blog - then work up from
    there. Here's a good example from @iankath's podcast http://yourstorypodcast.com/about/donations-and...
  • Stephanie
    Thanks for the connection to Ian's site - very cool. This gives me a good idea for setting up a similiar concept for a local non-profit I'm involved with. Thanks!
  • benbickford
    Hi Ross,

    'Micro Patronage' is a powerful concept.

    Thank you for sharing your vision and giving it a voice - let's amplify it's potential together.

    We can look to proven, sustainable models like http://Grameen.org/ , http://Kiva.org/ and even http://1secondfilm.org/ (a project funded by $1 contributions to make a 1 second film and so much more) to inspire, empower, fund and rally resources for other worthy causes, projects led by communities and individuals through collaborative contributions by global citizens (the new world superpower) to make a difference in our world, towards the common good.

    Let's make an even bigger difference, together!

    Cheers,

    Ben Bickford (@bionic)
  • Stephanie
    Love you post! I have a small correction for the Grameen link. http://www.grameen-info.org/ :-)
  • janstewart
    awesome idea @rosshill @edwardharran, we together need to start creating and supporting the new models
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