This is for all those fans of organizations such as kiva.org and dreambank.org — people who, like me, think their small change can make a difference in someone’s life, whether it’s making a dream come true or providing a livelihood for someone to climb out of poverty.
The Hector Fund is a new micro-financing scheme built along the lines of kiva.org (which provides micro-financing from everyday people like you and me to the working poor all over the world, including the U.S.), dedicated to providing financing and exposure to musicians wanting to make a living from their art.
(As an aside, has anyone thought of providing micro-financing for hard-working writers who can’t get editors to look at their mystery novels-in-progress, not to mention their rather excellent essays about Russia? Just curious.)
The Hector Fund is almost brand-new, so its lineup of artists and fans is so far pretty small. But you know how this kind of thing can explode. One of their artists, Ecuadoran-born Alex Alvear, was recently featured on NPR Latino both for his music and for his new way of looking for financing. Last time his band Mango Blue put out an album Alex Alvear maxed out his credit cards to make it work. As with so many other grassroots efforts, micro-financing is opening up new options.
If you’re interested in world music, musicians, or just plain like to listen to something new, check out what The Hector Fund has to offer.
(Update: Entertainment Weekly has just profiled British folk singer Linda Thompson, and talked about her micro-financing efforts for her next album. She is also working with the Hector Fund.)
