SOUP is a microgranting dinner celebrating and supporting creative projects in your community. For a donation of €5, attendees receive soup, salad, bread and a vote. They also get to hear four presentations ranging from art, urban agriculture, social justice, social entrepreneurs, education, technology and more. Each presenter has four minutes to share their idea and answer four questions from the audience. At the event, attendees eat, talk, share resources, enjoy art and vote on the project they think benefits the community the most. At the end of the night, the ballots are counted and the winner goes home with all of the money raised to carry out their project. Winners come back to a future SOUP dinner to report their project’s progress.
The only two rules of SOUP:
- Presenters can’t use technology to present their ideas
- The idea has to benefit the local community
SOUP began in Detroit where they've hosted 151 dinners and raised over $132,000 for community projects in the Detroit area. Since then, the idea has spread across the world. You can start your very own SOUP in your community, just register here to get started.