The Micro-Initiative Approach Poverty, even in a single community, is a complex issue, but it still can be approached as in the answer to the question "How do you eat an elephant?; one bite at a time." Individual projects that deal with a specific challenge in the underdeveloped community will be supported by groups of people in their twin community who feel motivated toward that specific challenge, and each micro-initiative will take a small bite out of poverty. Twinned Communities for Prosperity will facilitate connections between groups with needs in the underdeveloped community and groups in their twinned community whereby these connections directly serve to increase the standard of living in the underdeveloped community. These micro-initiatives could be between service clubs, schools, government, neighbourhood groups, individuals, not-for-profits or businesses in each of the twinned communities.
		A school in the developed community might provide money to buy books or donate used desks to a school located in its twin community. A service club might work with its counterpart to install infrastructure that pipes potable water into a community. Businesses in the developed community might provide off-lease office or manufacturing equipment or find new sources of supply that will create a small boost to the under-developed economy. A family who decides to sponsor a child might choose one in the twinned community if possible. The list of possibilities is as long as their needs and our own passions.
		These micro-initiatives will be established based on the needs of the community as identified, understood and submitted by that community. They will be measured against the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals and fulfilled based on the linkages and passions of the donor groups. The poor have a very realistic idea about their conditions and how to improve them. It is from them that ideas for initiatives should begin. The poor need our help in getting things done, but they know where they need the most help. Formal nonprofits in the underdeveloped community will have the opportunity to describe their needs, the desired micro-initiatives that would help address those needs and the anticipated outcomes of each micro-initiative. Service clubs, municipalities and other third party groups will have the opportunity to register micro-initiatives similarly for non-formal groups such ad-hoc literacy programs or unrecognized neighbourhoods. These micro-initiatives will input into an online database either directly by the author(s) or by a volunteer after being submitted on paper. The developed communities will have access to the list of potential projects from their twinned counterpart and groups in the developed community will have the opportunity to commit their participation toward addressing the need. In some cases, more than one group will participate in a single micro-initiative. Linkages between micro-initiatives within the context of the twinning and with other twinned communities will be identified for potentially beneficial collaborations.
		The Micro-Initiative Database Southern Solutions of Córdoba, Argentina will build the interactive elements of the website and the related database according to specifications provided to them. Community Promotion One or more volunteers within each of the developed and underdeveloped communities will act as a local champion and lead contact with Twinned Communities for Prosperity. These volunteers could be acting as a representative of a local organization that has taken on the commitment of representing Twinned Communities or could be an individual volunteering independently. The method of intra-community communication will vary depending on the existence of various communications resources in each community. People will be made aware of their community twin and the associated opportunities for seeking or providing help through the use of posters on bulletin boards, email, the Twinned Communities website, word of mouth, formal and informal associations and the local media. As a micro-initiative progresses or is completed, communication back into the system will be possible in the form of stories, photographs, videos and outcome measurements. This information will be available to donors, the twinned community in general and others around the world as well. In the donor organization’s profile (to the donor only unless permission to share publicly is granted) In a community portal that will exist for each community In the global Twinned Communities for Prosperity website XML fees for re-publication in other websites		Micro-Initiative Audits The role of Twinned Communities for Prosperity will be to facilitate the connection between the need and solution. In some cases it will contribute value added services such the consolidation of goods for transit. In all but a few rare cases, it will not be the organization providing the solution and will not be responsible for its execution. It will however, identify and possibly designate one or more individuals and/or organizations that can, when desirable, be used as the conduit for trusted local expenditure of funds or as an informal audit of the delivery of goods, project construction or any other appropriate indicators of progress. Local Rotary clubs in the underdeveloped communities are the most likely candidates for fulfilling this role. Fundraising Twinned Communities for Prosperity will seek its funding for the pilot phase through a combination of grants, private donations, donations in kind and general fundraising activities. Long term revenue generation will also have the opportunity to include fees for value added services such as goods-in-kind transport consolidation and coordination, online donation mechanisms (through our strategic partners) for micro-initiatives and contributions of no more than 1% of each projects value.