Money on Offer for Creative Thinkers

Australian bank ING DIRECT is offering $100,000 to imaginative people to help get their ideas for social change off the ground.

Head of Corporate Affairs at ING DIRECT, David Breen, said the funding was being offered as part of the Dreamstarter program, which has raised $345,000 for 31 different projects covering areas such as Indigenous entrepreneurship, youth homelessness and environmental education.

“ING DIRECT is proud to be supporting social entrepreneurs across Australia with additional funding for the Dreamstarter program in 2015,” Breen said.

“Dreamstarter enables people to bring to life their own vision for a better future, empowering them to make a difference and helping communities to get ahead.

Through Dreamstarter, ING DIRECT provides seed funding towards selected projects or ideas that are also supported by the Australian community through crowdfunding – a model which uses the power of social media and collaboration to raise funds in support of projects which communities collectively wish to support.

“Crowdfunding is a great way for people to easily connect with projects that share their values and that can make a difference in their communities. With small contributions from lots of people, big things can happen,” Breen said.

ING DIRECT will support 15-20 Dreamstarter projects by the end of 2015, with the aim to fund different types and sizes of projects across Australia.

For selected projects, ING DIRECT says it will fund up to 50 per cent of the project’s “tipping point” – the amount requested for the project to kick off. This will require “Dreamstarters” to enlist the support of the broader community to ensure their project goes ahead.

Recruitment of new Dreamstarter projects will be open from 2 to 31 March 2015 and selected projects’ crowdfunding campaigns will go live in May. For more information, visit www.ingdirect.com.au/dreamstarter