Investors will often talk of their soft spot. This is a cause or idea that you will support regardless of whether or not it’s a “good idea”. It may not make a lot of financial sense, but it is something close to your heart, a cause you hold close. This style of investment often times involves many senses of the word “investment”.
It isn’t just about the money involved, but what else you can bring to the table, bring to the cause. Money often times takes a back seat to what the causes accomplishes, the good that it seeks to do. For some investors this may be putting money into a sports team that needs investors, to helping a non-profit survive and keep its doors open.
If you are a Contribution Investor these are the three traits that you will typically exhibit.
1. Feel Good – If you are a contribution investor one of your driving factors is your want to do and feel good. You’re putting your investment (be it dollars, emotional or physical effort) into this startup and what you want in return is that emotional trigger of knowing what you are doing is helping in some capacity.
2. The Ends Justify The Means – With this trait you understand that the bigger picture is what matters to your investment. Your concern is what your investment will accomplish or seeks to accomplish.
3. The Community – The outside ramifications of your investment are important to you. So while you understand who the management team is, and the numbers behind it, you value the impact it has on the community surrounding the startup. Be that geographical, demographical or the ecosystem that this startup feeds into, you understand and are concerned with the impact it creates.
