Crowdfunder summary and financial plan
We have already begun publishing information on our vision, and why we think this is important, in a new section of our website, with feature articles, news stories, and profiles of similar campaigning organisations.
The main crowdfunder page has summary information about the plan.
Below, we set out a short summary of the financial plan and timeframe for the crowdfunder for people who are interested in more detail.
Background to our idea
Ethical Consumer has long identified challenging corporate power as a core part of its mission and identity.
We think that, with 36 years of research and campaigning expertise in this area, now would be a great time for us to increase our contribution to the wider debate and campaigns around corporate power, in addition to our work on ethical shopping guides.
What we would like to do is to use our practical, solutions-focused approach to journalism to promote a vision where:
- most enterprises are co-ops or social enterprises
- public and community ownership are thriving
- other stakeholders sit alongside shareholders on corporate boards everywhere
This work will also involve:
- challenging the legitimacy of damaging business models
- challenging the corporate-sponsored growth paradigm
- challenging runaway monopoly power and growing corporate legal rights
We hope that this crowdfunder will help us build capacity over the next two years to do this in a sustainable way.
Financial targets and plans
Although our crowdfunder target is set for an ambitious £50,530, we have a number of stages planned where we can get going with lower amounts too.
(a) Publishing
If we raise £11,330 we can continue to produce our bi-monthly Challenging Corporate Power four-page section of news, features and interviews exploring our six core themes in the print magazine and on our website for another 12 months. Case studies to inspire people are part of the plan too.
This is the journalistic foundation of the project and will be how we keep our community engaged and updated with other campaigns, and with our ongoing work in this area.
The bulk of the money will be spent on staff time to research and produce the work, but around £650 will cover the costs of producing an additional four pages in each issue of the print magazine.
(b) Collaboration
If we raise another £4,800 (£16,110 in total) we can also set up regular collaborations with other campaigns, businesses and educational institutions looking to achieve the same goals.
Initially, and if the project is fully funded, this will focus on contributions and practical issues around the book/report (see below). But we are also keen to learn what our community can do to help others, both around short term campaigns and longer projects. Others may be able to promote the work we are doing too.
We plan to convene quarterly online meetings in the first instance, though we may also attend those convened by others. The additional £4,800 for this element will be spent on staff time to manage, attend and record the events.
c) Boycotts
If we raise another £7,600 (£23,710 in total) we can also develop our popular online boycott content and focus our work in this area particularly.
This element will be exclusively on staff time for writing and research.
This will involve developing and maintaining our boycott list, our most visited webpage and one with global appeal. It will also include exploring the role of boycotts in countering the rise of fascism and militarism around the world.
(d) Building long term capacity
Our six core themes (listed in the background above) are big subjects which won’t be fixed in a couple of years. If we raise another £10,400 (£34,110 in total) we can also put regular time towards building more permanent capacity, or a ‘unit’ within Ethical Consumer, to focus on these themes.
This likely to involve creating a project management role, staff training, and further fundraising to support this work beyond 2026.
(e) Publication with chapters
If we raise the full £50,530 we will also be able to produce, edit and design a new publication focussed on this subject – ideally by the beginning of 2027.
Provisionally titled Challenging Corporate Power – how reimagining the corporation can save the world, it will have a variety of contributions from experts working in this area.
The additional £14,400 that this element requires will be for staff time for project design, liaising with authors and editing proofing and indexing. We are imagining around 12 chapters. If we can interest a commercial book publisher in the project we will go down that route. If not, Ethical Consumer will produce it as a report to share on the website.
Ethical Consumer has worked on and managed two such books previously.
If we exceed our target, producing simplified versions of our work in this area as educational materials for teachers and businesses is an aspiration too.
Additional and ongoing work
As is clear from the detail above, the bulk of the revenue will be spent on staff time to work on research, writing, campaigning and collaborating in this new field. If our fundraising is successful we plan to divert some key staff from our commercial (rather than publishing) research to fill these roles.
Ethical Consumer’s main work will continue to focus on providing information about consumer choices and market campaigning (like our work on the Amazon boycott and Spanish workers’ rights).
What consumers and citizens can do around corporate power is also part of the jigsaw and a key theme running though all of our publishing plans.
