Grassroots Economics Achieves Financial Independence from Grants and Donations

It is rare that a non-profit organization in the humanitarian space finds a way to offer services in a sustainable way without the need for continued grants or donations to finance core operations. Yet we did just that!

Grassroots Economics Foundation is thrilled to announce that we have become a core service provider within the Celo decentralized ledger system. This means that through operating our validation servers we can now not only provide services to marginalized communities but also to the whole world. We’ve had to move between four blockchains since 2018 due to increasing ledger service costs (gas-insecurity). Since we are now a core part of the Celo blockchain - we can guarantee that marginalized communities in rural areas and refugee camps will never lose access to our services.

We are now capable of running multiple servers that verify operations on the Celo ledger, including the publishing and utilization of Community Asset Vouchers and Commitment Pools on Sarafu.Network. In return for running these validation nodes, we receive Celo rewards for each completed block of operations. Through these service rewards we can finance our base administration and technical operations, without the need for grants or donations.....

This is huge!

Donations go directly to where they are needed

We still have and want clients and donors - but instead of supporting our core technical operations this means that any funds we receive now can go directly into supporting communities through duplicating our services and seeding Commitment Pools - like those promoting culturally sourced ecosystem stewardship. Over 100 communities worldwide have created Community Asset Vouchers and the majority have already begun interacting through Commitment Pools.

Staking Opportunities

There is now an opportunity for institutions and individuals to support our infrastructure through staking. Staking involves locking Celo tokens onto our validation servers, which is essential for us to run these servers and earn block rewards. You still own your Celo tokens and can unlock them at any time. Increased staking (locked Celo) leads to higher block rewards for us and offers an annual return (APR) of 3.8% for you in Celo tokens. This capability to stake with us will only exist until we’ve maxed out with another $2Million USD worth of stake. So please raise awareness with folks that can support. For instructions on how to support us by staking, visit our Staking Guide or contact us for assistance.

We have a ton of appreciation for the Celo Community for helping to make this possible. I know of no other blockchain where a small Kenyan non-profit could become a core service provider. This speaks volumes about Celo's intentions and values.

Together, let's continue to build self-sustaining resilient and thriving community-driven economies