Strengthening community starts with U.
Guest post from Mark Feinberg, founder of Uruut.
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Ten years ago my best friend from childhood, Ross Goldstein, and I were catching up and discussing family and work, as two buddies often do. At the time, I was deep into my career working in the real estate and investment industry and Ross was climbing the ladder at a global insurance firm. But that day our conversation took a turn – a turn that would lead me to ditch my comfortable leather office chair for a co-working desk and give up my investment clients for grassroots community groups.
Ross and I had both heard recent reports that Mayor Michael Bloomberg may have stepped in to fund key municipal and community projects in New York City. These were projects critical to NYC, but, unfortunately, they were falling off the city budget. We got to thinking – NYC’s budget woes were being experienced in other cities from Portland to Des Moines to our hometown of Atlanta. Neither of us had pockets like Mr. Bloomberg (and still don’t), but that day we vowed to accomplish what Mr. Bloomberg did in communities across America.
For years we continued our discussions and brought more and more friends into our conversation. How do we replicate Mr. Bloomberg’s model without high wealth individuals? We decided that by harnessing the giving power of regular folks, businesses and private foundations, we could capture enough revenue while bringing together entire communities in the spirit of good. However, this revelation brought up an entirely new challenge – how do we simultaneously fundraise from these three sources? The answer became clear – a highly transparent, socially engaging, crowdfunding platform.
In 2012, I made the leap from investment executive to social enterprise entrepreneur, and with the support of my tech savvy co-founder, Chad Bartels,Uruutwas born.
One of the community leaders we met with along the way is the parent of first and fourth graders – Shawn Keefe. Shawn lives in the Atlanta suburb of Brookhaven where his children attend public school. Shawn and his wife are concerned that while their elementary school is up-to-standards on the inside – a dilapidated outdoor classroom mars the exterior of the school. The area is so hazardous the teachers won’t let the students go near it.
Like many of us, Shawn is a concerned parent who wants his kids to receive the best education possible in their local community. Likewise, his school, Ashford Park Elementary, is like thousands of other public schools across America – cash strapped and forced to scale back vital curriculum and projects. I knew Shawn’s dream would be the perfect first project to receive Uruut funding, or as we like to say – “get ruuted.”
Uruut launched our public beta on July 11, 2013, and to date, thousands of folks have viewed the Ashford Park School project and each day we raise more and more money to help them build a 21st century outdoor classroom and amphitheater. You can click here to view their story and donate.
Like Ashford Park Elementary School, every community has great projects that can’t get off the ground. But with Uruut, yours can be different. Your park needs a new playground? Uruut it. Need a new library? Uruut it. Senior center? Bike path? Dog park? Uruut it.
At Uruut our tag line is, Strengthening community starts with U. It took me 10 years to fully embrace this motto and make the leap to launch this idea, but I truly believe we’re revolutionizing the traditional fundraising model and hope you’ll join us in funding projects and getting your project funded.
As for my buddy, Ross, he was the first member of Uruut’s board of directors and remains my constant advisor in this endeavor. Perhaps it’s coincidence that as Mr. Bloomberg prepares to retire from the NYC mayor’s office, we’re picking up the torch and aiming to strengthen communities across our nation.
Mark Feinberg is a 15-year veteran of Atlanta’s investment and business communities with senior leadership experience from the IBM Corporation and Ernst & Young Consulting. Through Uruut, Mark is able to blend his business, technology, investment and entrepreneurial background with his passion for strengthening community. Mark holds both a Bachelor and Master of Business Administration from Emory University and is a founding member of the Dunwoody Chamber of Commerce. Find Mark on Twitter @MarkLFeinberg and @Uruut.
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