Economic Growth United States Project #29425

Help Empower Timebank Communities Around the World

by Time Dollar Institute, Inc. dba TimeBanks.Org

Summary

In the last 2 decades, communities around the world have discovered a new kind of currency where everyone can give and receive. Timebanking is a modern system of exchange where members pool their talents, skills and passions and exchange them for the currency of TIME. One hour equals one time credit no matter the service. TimeBanks.Org helps these communities thrive by offering training, support and cutting-edge timebanking software, and provides the infrastructure for the worldwide movement.

$30,000
total goal

$7,773
remaining

111
donors

0
monthly donors

2
fundraisers

5
years

Challenge

100 short years ago, everyone knew who made the best pies in town or who could repair leather. Neighbors not only knew one another but relied on each other for survival. When the money economy divides our communities, people can fall through the cracks. The poor, elderly, frail and uneducated often have no role in a money-driven society. The challenge is to teach communities to use a new kind of currency which demonstrates that every single person in a community has something to contribute.

Solution

Timebanks honor the contributions of all individuals and, most powerfully, those who have been overlooked by the monetary economy. People have reported that joining their timebank has given them the lift needed to find a new career path, join the monetary workplace and some have even started their own businesses. Timebanks rekindle age-old patterns of "give and receive" that create a new kind of community not based on money but based on care, kindness, respect and reciprocity.

Long-Term Impact

Using time as currency is an equalizer for all as time is something we all have in common. There are now around 200 Timebanks around the world using TimeBanks.Org's state-of-the-art software with more than 20,000+ members. When home and community act as a special kind of economic system through timebanking, it rebuilds long lasting natural supports. With every timebank exchange, there is a ripple effect that transforms individual lives and whole communities.