Coffee Residencies

The Coffee Residency is a way for coffee shops, roasters, consumers, and more to come together and raise funds for projects in coffee-growing regions. Residencies last for three months and may include several elements of creative support for existing projects. Businesses in residence, with help from The Chain Collaborative, choose which initiatives they would like to contribute to and find ways to work collaboratively to fund them. Coffee is a competitive industry, but giving back should not be.

Benefits:

Consumers learn about issues at origin and what innovations beyond great tasting coffee the specialty coffee industry can create.
Getting businesses more connected to development work at origin helps build their relationships and also encourages consumers to learn more about who they buy from
three-month-long residency allows us the chance to move from business to business, creating a larger network of coffee who are contributing to bettering the livelihoods of those in coffee-growing regions.

Funds are raised by the businesses in residence with support from The Chain Collaborative.

Past ideas have included:

Sponsoring several events during the three-month period, giving proceeds to the chosen project
Donating $1 from every retail bag of coffee sold during the three-month period (all coffee or one kind)
Kicking off the residency with our “$1 a Day” campaign. For one day, the business will only earn $1 of profit (after all operation costs) to stand in solidarity with farmers. In other words, coffee shops earn a dollar a day, similar earnings to many of farmers who provide their coffee.
Kicking off the residency with a Thursday Night Throwdown (latte art competitions that raise money for sustainable projects)
Buying diner mugs featuring barista artwork, giving proceeds to the chosen project

While many coffee companies are ensuring fair prices to farmers, a fair price to farmers is more meaningful when there are also more community resources available, such as access to healthcare, credit, technical assistance, and education. Non-profits and social justice-driven farmer groups that support coffee-growing and coffee-affected communities are critical partners who offer such resources. They also provide help to groups of people who may not be as directly affected by the price of coffee, such as children, migrant laborers, and farm workers. By supporting both better prices and social projects, the coffee industry can have an even greater impact on livelihoods and can rely on more than one method to contribute to sustainable livelihoods.

The Chain Collaborative partners with both non-profits and NGOs such as Planting Hope, Pueblo a Pueblo, The Coffee Trust and Coffee Kids. We also partner with farmers and farmer cooperatives that run social programs so that we put more resources into projects already well functioning instead of spending more money to create new ones. That way, we avoid wasting resources and also use our industry knowledge to help non-profits connect better to the coffee world. The Chain Collaborative also strives to connect the coffee industry to already well- established programming run by the farmers themselves. This reinforces the power of producers to continue helping each other and having ownership over their own projects, while also providing them extra systems of support.

The Chain Collaborative acts as a resource to help raise money for projects at origin and to help connect consumers and companies with social programs. We do not take any money from The Coffee Residency for ourselves, so all your money will go to the project you choose to support. Depending on which project you choose, your funds will have a different impact. Even though you can send money to Coffee Kids or the farmers you buy from on your own, by sending the same amount by participating in The Coffee Residency, you will be able to pass the torch by encouraging other consumers and companies to get involved.

How are funds raised?

Why do more than just buy coffee?

What projects can I support?

How is my money spent?

Coffee Residency Slots