A few month ago I got to know Helmut in Vienna from the social business Patron4Change and I asked him if he would like to introduce himself through our platform. He didn’t hesitate and I am grateful for it.
Hello, my name is Helmut Gruber and I am a social worker. I started my career in advertising, and studied social work in my late twenties. I could collect some working experience in both working fields. So for me it was obvious to combine them and do something that has to do with both and gives me pleasure. As a result I offer my skills to those people who are creating what I see as a necessary change in the world, one that I myself want to see.
Like me, these people, also known as Changemakers or Pioneers of Change, do not want to accept that there are more things going wrong in the world than solutions. Like me, they question the way we do business with each other, always at the expense of humans or nature. They don’t wait for politicians to take action, but look for new solutions themselves.
I believe in people who are committed to good causes, as well as in others who want to support such initiatives and in companies that take responsibility. In short, I believe that everyone likes to do something good. But good, private initiatives are often not known or there are simply not funded enough to implement them. That is why I have created PATRON4change. This platform makes it easier to meet like-minded people and to support each other.
You can find a prototype here: www.PATRON4change.org. It’s a crowdfunding platform for people who start a private initiative that promotes the common good. With PATRON4change, they can present themselves on the Internet and are able to tell who they are, which problem they tackle and how they want to solve it or to what extent they already work on the implementation of their solution.
Now they can find supporters who can help them with a monthly donation or support the solution with their skills or other resources.
That’s how social commitment in general gets promoted by making it more visible. By their presentation they inspire others to get involved themselves, because they see what good solutions already exist and that they are not alone with their worries about the future.
Additionally PATRON4change establishes a relationship between Changemakers and their supporters so that both sides can work on the future challenges together. Out of that, an ecosystem of change is created.
So I’m just trying to solve the problem I’m struggling myself: I, too, can only afford my social engagement around building the platform in my spare time to a limited extent because I, too, have to do earn my life with a job. I think that I am not alone with this problem. I invite everyone who feels similarly to get in touch with me: helmut@patron4change.org
