Implementation of the SCF
Non-profit organizations tackle many of society’s vexing problems that businesses ignore and government struggles to address. However, they have long relied on a donor model for survival. But many are now turning to self funding revenue models to break that perpetual dependency model. The Sustainable Communities Framework (SCF), was originally developed by National Commonwealth Group, Inc. (a 501(c)(3) non-profit economic development think tank), and is now being deployed by Sustainable Communities Corporation (SCC), a 501(c )(4) social welfare organization. The SCF was developed to provide a broad based revenue model for a large number of non-profit organizations simultaneously.
The SCF will be implemented on a state-by-state basis and managed by SCC. The program is capable of injecting a considerable amount of money into a state’s economy, both as dollars and a state-based local currency. The following information details how SCF will be deployed.
SCC will partner in each state with a consortium of non-profit partners. Those partners will determine the priorities, programs and implementation strategies in their respective states.
The premise is that the citizens of a state know best what their problems are and what they need. SCC’s role is to provide them with the tools and system for carrying out those goals.
Money is the key requirement to achieve the majority of those goals. That will be provided in both dollars and a state-based complementary currency (see this 4 minute video and this more detailed article Money – It’s Not What Most of Us Think).
That requires a multi-part financial ecosystem in the form of three entities – 1) an introductory portal website where users can learn about the complementary currency bank and the types of accounts that can be established there, and then signup to create one of those account types on that bank, 2) a complementary currency bank, and 3) a trading platform (an online marketplace) where goods and services can be bought and sold using the complementary currency.
Over time there are two other banks that can be added to the equation: 1) a development/green bank and 2) a non-profit-owned retail bank The development bank would be owned by SCC while the retail bank may be owned by SCC or the state partner or a combination, but in either case all the financial gains will inure to benefit of that state.
Each of those banks address a particular part of the financial ecosystem, and in combination provide the complete infrastructure needed to address the objectives of that consortium. The development/green bank and retail bank will work for the benefit of society rather than shareholders, but nonetheless will still operate inside the current financial paradigm (see the Money article above).
Not so with the complementary currency bank. It introduces the most significant new element in the financial ecosystem that we all currently live under, and its impact is game changing. The role and impact of the complementary currencies it will issue cannot be overstated and are the key to fundamentally changing things for the better. This program has been modeled on successful programs of the past which have yielded dramatic positive results for the communities that have used them. We have captured a number of examples here and in this article Complementary Currencies In Use.
After reading the above Money article, we recommend reading the Public Benefit Bank section to discover how impactful that can be.
How those three banking entities fit together and are deployed on a state-by-state basis is depicted in the following graphic.
A Brief Explanation of the Components Above
SCC will partner with a State SCF Partner (SP) which is a consortium of non-profit organizations enrolled to carry out the SCF mission in each state. The SCF will be managed locally on behalf of the SP by various District Offices. The objective is to assemble experts related to the most pressing problems of the state and to create task groups that can formulate solutions and oversee their implementation. The three banking elements of this ecosystem should generate substantial financial resources that will be used by this partnership to address the problems identified by the consortium.
In order to implement the SCF statewide, the SCF State Partner needs to establish various district offices that will be responsible for implementing the SCF in their district.
SCC will partner with local government partners in the form of counties, cities and townships, to deploy the SCF in their communities and help drive the adoption of the state’s complementary currency.
Each state SCF partnership needs a central ownership vehicle through which the money is created, profit is generated, programs are funded and properties (assets) can be acquired. A holding company would assume the role of owning the companies dedicated to specific programs. Banks usually require special bank holding companies. All other types of companies and assets can be held under a common holding company. Such a holding company can also own a bank holding company that owns one or more banks.
Our Complementary Currency Bank
Our Complementary Currency Bank (https://uniex.net) represents the key mechanism that enables much of the SCF program. It does so by issuing a “people’s currency” called a complementary currency, based on historical examples where citizens bootstrapped their own economies without help from government or others. Each state will have its own dedicated currency, used to address many of the major problems for which no other comprehensive solutions are available.
A development/green bank is a special type of bank that normally does not provide retail banking services (i.e., banking to the general public), but rather addresses various development needs of a region and works in partnership with local governments and other organizations. One of the primary functions of each state development bank would be to address a wide spectrum of troubled assets in those states, ranging from consumer debt (mortgages, car loans, student loans, business loans, etc.), to seized and blighted properties.
Development banks are intended by design to address large scale problems and are not concerned with everyday banking needs. Nonetheless, to have a complete financial ecosystem that addresses all the needs of a state, there is a need for some form of retail banking to complement the development bank and the complementary currency bank (described below). Those retail banking needs are addressable by a non-profit owned retail bank.
There are many ways to get involved that range from helping to organize the SCF program in your state, to joining the consortium to contribute your particular expertise, to being a participant in the SCF ecosystem by obtaining and using your state’s complementary currency. You also can help by signing our petition to the federal government to make your state currency tax exempt, thereby substantially increasing its value in your state’s economy. See this page Government for more details and to sign our petition.