June marks the close of Santropol Roulant’s community bonds campaign, a first for our organization and something likely novel for many of you. Thanks to the investment of more than fifty community members and the support and input of many more, we were able to exceed our initial goal and raise $200,000 in two months to help fund the construction of the agroeducational centre at the Roulant Farm in Senneville! This three-season space will increase access to agricultural education and green spaces while growing food knowledge, intergenerational connection and mental well-being in our community.
The success of this campaign signifies a meaningful shift in fundraising at the Roulant. The introduction of community bonds is a new tool in the toolkit for pursuing projects with a high degree of financial commitment, while keeping financial interest—in this case 4% annual return on investment—in the hands of our community rather than in traditional funding methods and banks.
This campaign has been a valuable learning experience for our organization. With the precious support of L’ampli, a Quebec-based participatory finance organization, we were able to align all investment processes with best industry standards, combining a secure and automated investment experience that was flexible and accessible for potential investors. To open the possibility of more campaign participation through smaller investments, we set the price per bond at $250 and bond term at 18 months; over twenty investors joined the campaign through investments of $1000 or less, speaking to the appeal of these more accessible bonds.
One message from our community members rang loud and clear: community bonds are exciting because of the connection they create between investor and project. Our work now is to grow that connection, starting with an invitation to investors and all community members to the inauguration of the agroeducational centre on August 27th!
Beyond the inauguration event and the numerous upcoming activities at the farm supported by new infrastructure, we want to share what’s next for community bonds and how we’ll build on what we’ve learned.
Firstly, we intend to use our community bonds campaign know-how and new technical infrastructure to support other large projects at the Roulant. If you’d like to receive information on potential future community bonds campaigns at the Roulant, please leave your contact info here.
Secondly, we want to share our experience, including technical tools, communication strategy, and bridge financing approach, with other community organizations interested in running their own community bonds campaign. Our website, full of campaign background, details, and Q&A’s, will remain online here.
If you have any further questions as an investor or an organization, please don’t hesitate to contact us at investir@santropolroulant.org. We could not be more excited to continue this adventure with you!
With gratitude,
Leo, Melanie, Pier, and Guillaume – The Roulant Community Bonds Team