Smallknot: Keeping Park Slope From Turning Into One Giant Herald Square.

For New Yorkers like me, who chose to flee fast and far from suburban places where the fanciest restaurants are Olive Gardens, the best coffee is from the Exxon/Mobile station, and all cutting edge clothing is found at The Gap, I've come to appreciate small, locally-owned businesses. Especially the ones in our own neighborhood. 

Smallknot, a new fundraising program, exists to support and help these businesses do what they already do well (just better). Smallknot is an online fundraising system that allows a community to fund growth projects for small businesses with rewards for each donation level, similar to Kickstarter. 

My first question was this: Why would I give a business my hard-earned dinero? 

First, often the rewards of donating are things you'd want anyway, and are exclusive to people using Smallknot. Second, if you appreciate the work they do, and the services and products that they provide, it seems like the same idea as donating on Kickstarter to your friend's crappy electro pop band, or that whaling documentary your old professor is shooting. Why not fund a project that's gonna keep delicious artisanal cheese closer to my apartment? Or tasty coffee, right on my block?

Smallknot helps already-thriving small businesses, who are looking to continue to enrich the neighborhoods they are located in, to grow and complete small projects that will be integral to their future success. Our very own neighborhood coffee joint, Kos Kaffe, is one of the pioneer projects currently on the site. Their campaign is focused on raising funds to add retractable awnings to the front of the cafe, which will assist in cooling the space in the hot summer months ahead.  Check out their fundraising page for more details on how to support one of our very own neighborhood spots.

All of this said, I do have one "suburban" confession.  I still stand by the allure of a steaming basket of Cheddar Bay Biscuits from Red Lobster. So maybe all things "chain" aren't bad, as long as we continue to help the locals.

Would you donate money via Smallknot to help keep your neighborhood favorites in business?