The Lift Up Local Fund

Give a local business room to grow.

The shops, salons, and studios that make this place ours deserve the chance to grow — and you can help make that happen. Back the fund, and every contribution lifts another local business into its next chapter.

Back the fund How it works Nominate a business

Run through Zipline Creative · independently audited · not tax-deductible

Total raised · all sources of $20,000 goal

Through GoFundMe

Direct (one-time)

$0/mo

0 monthly backers

Last reconciled at launch — independently verified

Updated monthly — every dollar raised, allocated, and available, in the open.

Why this exists

Good local businesses keep hitting the same wall.

The branding, marketing, and operations help that would actually move them forward is priced for far bigger companies — so it stays out of reach, and they stay stuck. The Lift Up Local Fund exists to change that. We take a local business, put it through a Growth Sprint, and support its early months of operations — and the more people back the fund, the more businesses we take on at once. We don't wait for one to make it before we help the next.

Our first business is live below — Tina's Natural Nails, Hair & Spa in Rochester. Her story is underway, and the first fixes have already shipped. Back the fund now and you're part of that story from the start.

Who we're lifting

The businesses in the fund's care.

Every business the fund lifts is listed here — ghosted until they're ready to be named, then their full story, then a real before-and-after once the work closes. Nothing is published without their blessing.

In progress · Sprint active

Tina's Natural Nails, Hair & Spa

Rochester, NY — Tina's been doing nails for 35+ years, with hair and waxing under the same roof and a 4.7★ following to show for it. Week-one fixes are already live; the build phase is next. Follow the whole thing as it's written.

Follow the project →

Updated as the sprint runs · results published once they're in.

Selected · Starting next week

Our second business

Business selected — details to follow. We'll introduce them soon, in their own words, with their blessing.

More backing lifts more businesses at once — this row grows with the fund.

Nominate & vote

You choose who we lift next.

We picked our first businesses to prove this works. From here, it's yours — anyone can nominate a local business, and every backer votes on who gets lifted next. Votes don't decide it alone: each nominee gets a Growth Scorecard, and we weigh your votes against that score, so the business that needs it most rises, not just the one with the biggest network.

Nominate. Put a local business forward — your own counts. Nominations are open now.
Back & vote. Every backer gets a vote. When nominations close, backers choose who we lift next.
We lift the ones who rise. We blend your votes with each nominee's Growth Scorecard — need weighted heavier than reach — and the top of that blend gets a Growth Sprint plus months of support. Every figure is reconciled by an independent CFO.

[N] businesses nominated

[N] towns

Nominate a business →

Ways to contribute

Two ways in. Both go to the same fund.

GoFundMe is the easy one-tap way to contribute once. Contributing direct adds monthly backing — the steady base that lets us take on more businesses at once, and keep supporting each one until it can stand on its own.

One-time · GoFundMe

Contribute once on GoFundMe

The fastest way to chip in and share. One tap, trusted checkout, and it helps more people find the fund.

Contribute once on GoFundMe →

Best for one-time contributions and reach. Processed by GoFundMe.

Monthly · direct

Become a monthly backer

A steady monthly contribution is what lets us take on more businesses and keep helping them. Secured by Stripe — change or cancel anytime.

$10 Supporter→ $25 Backer→ $50 Sustainer→ $100 Champion→

Want a different amount, or just once? Contribute any amount, one time →

Secured by Stripe

Direct contributions run on Stripe — the same processor behind millions of businesses.

Run through Zipline Creative

A local brand operations business, neighbor, and community supporter.

Independently audited

An independent fractional CFO reconciles the fund and verifies every figure.

Cancel anytime

Monthly backers manage or cancel from the link in every receipt.

Not tax-deductible

Contributions are business revenue — a neighbor, not a charity.

How it works

A one-time push becomes a permanent engine.

$20,000 gets us started — enough to take on the first 3–5 local businesses, each through a Growth Sprint and its early months of $399/month support. Every backer after that lets us take on more.
One-time contributions get it going. Monthly backers let us take on more at once — every recurring contribution is another business we can help, without waiting for the last one to make it.
Every business we lift hires, serves, and spends right here. So this isn't a contribution to one shop — it's support for the whole local economy, designed to keep going.

Reporting back

You'll see exactly where this goes.

Backing a local business should come with receipts. Here's what every backer gets, and when.

Every month — a public tally of every dollar raised, allocated, and available.
Every round — we announce who the community lifted, and the blend of votes and Scorecard that chose them.
Every business — a published before-and-after once real results are in, not before.

Lift the next local business.

Contribute once on GoFundMe, or become a monthly backer direct. Either way, every dollar is tracked and reconciled in the open above.

Become a monthly backer Contribute once on GoFundMe

Thank you for backing the businesses that make this place feel like home.