What percentage of shareholders are people with disability?
We don’t have any hard data on this but we think it is an interesting question to ask especially considering that companies and their directors are ultimately responsible to their shareholders…
That means it makes sense to think well if we need companies, directors, CEO’s and management to be more aware of the lived experience of people with disaility then we need more people with disability on the share registers of companies.
As a shareholder you get a lot more say on the direction of the company than what a customer or a member of the public is. In some cases you can attend meetings, submit your thoughts to management or the CEO and attend the annual general meeting as well as have a vote in electing directors.
There are also other advantages to owning shares like the financial return that could happen with dividends or if you sell your shares off in the future which create a way of generating extra income.
So how is this acheved because not everyone jsut has enough money sitting around to buy a significant stake in a company especially the likes of Apple, Nike or one of the big 4 Banks in Australia. It needs to start as a movement and gain momentum.
So how do we even start this movement?
Companies need to take a look at their share registers and make a decision whether they are going to incentivise people to improve the diversity in their share register.
Existing companies can do buy backs or issue more shares and offer those shares to people with disability. They could also go one step further and provide discounts or 2 for 1 offerings of shares to encourage more people with disability to consider ownership.
Spendable will be promoting the ownership of its available shares to people with disability. We want to encourage people to take ownership of the company and feel like they are a part of something big. We want them along on the journey with us and to be excited by our wins but also keep us accoutnable when required.
We are running a crowdfunding campaign that really encourages ownership from within the community, not just ownership from whoever has the biggest chequebook.
Our offer to begin this movement and show you we mean business is this:
- For any person with disability that wants to get involved and can only afford one share ($50) we will double it with the help of our network of generous individuals.
- We have people to discuss the ownership of spendable with you and how it wll work and could benefit you.
- We have a pay in installment option if you need to spread your purchase out over a longer term.
- If you buy +$250 of shares and decide to use the Spendable program too then you will have $150 added to your card from day 1.
- If you want to request something of us like an alternate deal then we will review it and respond to it too.
Obviously, our crowd funding campaign isn’t only for people with disability and we encourage everyone to purchase shares if you think the idea and the fundamentals of Spendable are right. If you want to support people with disability to get on the share register too then get in touch with us on info@spendable.com.au and we will try sort something out.
We appreciate everyone’s continued support and interest in Spendable and for what we are trying to build for people.
