Community Currency Networks

In this blog, we discuss how to set up and manage an ecosystem of multiple community currencies. We analyze under which conditions different communities can be connected and exchange goods and services with an appropriate software solution. 

Community currencies

Around the world, more and more communities organize exchanges of goods and services, connecting people and optimizing local resources, skills, and talents.

They are based on trust, reputation, and relationships rather than traditional financial practices. Community currencies and timebanks transfer value from one participant to another and keep purchasing power circulating within the local community.

Ecosytem of communities

Multiple community currencies or timebanks can engage with each other within a larger geographical area, like a city, a region, a country, or even globally. 

With the rise of community or social currencies, there are also many opportunities to share knowledge, resources, and software solutions between different communities.

Our community currency software platform and app help you to manage multiple communities or timebanks using a customized ecosystem with important advantages: 

  • Reduced setup time and costs
  • Lower operational and maintenance costs
  • Aggregated data and reporting for funding
  • Exchanges across communities
  • Shared support and training tools 

Communities of the same ecosystem can preserve their identity and methodology, but share basic characteristics and configurations: 

  • Ecosystem branding
  • URL and landing page
  • Member data management
  • Currency format
  • Report templates 

Members have to register in or be assigned to their community. Eventually, a member can be transferred from one community to another with a simple click.

Community setup wizard

While communities share some basic settings, they do not have to compromise their identity, preserving their name and logo. Each community can decide on the specific features and settings that make the community and currency unique and successful:  

  • User management: registration and onboarding process;
  • Marketplace: ads, interests, talents, events, notification settings; 
  • Financial: account limits, start balances, payments, and payment requests;
  • Administration: memberships, transaction or account balance fees;
  • Communication: notification settings, mailings to members. 

Each community can have its own legal identity and further personalize helpdesk, privacy policies, or terms of use. 

With our community wizard, new communities can be set up by the ecosystem administrator in a few seconds and without technical knowledge.  

Connecting community currencies

Connecting multiple community currencies seems like a logical step to further integration. However, before transferring values from one community to another, some important considerations should be made! 

The first step is to define and compare the real value of each community currency. Some checkpoints for analysis: 

Even if mathematically the value of a currency could be easily converted to another currency, some other valuations should be taken into account for a sustainable long-term relationship:

Community currencies should be managed with similar rules and practices for exchanges to be fairly priced!

Community trade

The connectivity or convertibility of currencies between communities can surely help to promote trade. Services not available in one community can be acquired from the other community benefiting both parties. However, practice has shown that there are a few points to consider. 

The potential for inter-community trade is quite limited to specific activities like hospitality, leisure, traveling, languages, or other online services. It is not mutually beneficial to complement local supply with a similar supply from other communities.  And should we share with other communities what is already scarce and requested within our community?

Intercommunity trade also requires additional support for exchanges to succeed successfully. There might be information, software, logistical, or linguistic barriers. In case of failures in delivery, what mechanisms of resolution or compensation should be put in place?

It is important to monitor periodically trade balances between communities. The local currency can be driven out in one community, resulting in accumulation in another community. Substantial imbalances between outflows and inflows can impact on the local circulation of currencies.   

Ecosystem administration

An ecosystem of community currencies requires a first-in-class software platform with an administrator responsible for set-up, management, and support to all communities.

The administrator can monitor community trade with our dashboard overview, reports, and leaderboards. Aggregated data is presented and compared between communities. In case of access to member statistics, the necessary privacy policies and agreements are put in place.

Much can be learned from comparing and discussing the results of communities or different currency methodologies. Aggregate statistics of trade and members are very valuable information for the understanding of the ecosystem and funding or lobbying with stakeholders.   

Takeaways

Connecting communities in one software platform has definitely a lot of benefits, reduces costs for the communities, and creates opportunities for funding and project management, or lobbying in favor of community and local currencies. 

Connecting communities creates opportunities for great user experiences like travelling or meeting other people or specialized services that are not available in one community. Define and only share goods and services with potential and benefits for inter-community trade.

We must not expect connectivity will solve your community's obstacles and bottlenecks for more trade and engagement between members. Manage community trade imbalances and make sure currencies are equally valued!

Our dynamic, secure, and white-label software solution and app, assist you to set up, manage, and connect multiple communities in one sustainable ecosystem of currencies. 

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