By Jessica Finch

As lockdown continues to keep our favourite small businesses closed, a new grassroots crowd-funding initiative has been launched to assist in covering the overhead costs of these retailers during the COVID-19 crisis.

Distantly.ca is an online donation platform that allows community members to make direct donations to small businesses in their Toronto neighbourhoods.

In collaboration with the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA), Distantly’s aim is to lessen the impact of non-essential closures on main street businesses such as coffee shops, restaurants, and hair and nail salons, by enabling their customers to continue supporting those businesses until they are able to re-open.

Distantly, which launched this week, is an initiative created by Susan McArthur — a former partner at a venture capital fund — and powered by Buildable, a Toronto-based technology firm. Daniel Spataro, CEO & Co-Founder of Buildable Technologies, and Moe Katib, CTO & Co-Founder of Buildable Technologies are working alongside McArthur to ensure that Distantly is accessible and successful for Toronto neighbourhood retail.

“As entrepreneurs, both Moe and I know first-hand how gruelling it is to own a business. A lot of sacrificed personal time with family and friends goes into it,” said Daniel Spataro, who, together with his Buildable Co-Founder, Moe Katib, and their team of product managers, engineers, and designers, developed the Distantly platform. “We’d imagine almost every business owner can say they’ve shared the same level of sacrifice. When non-essential businesses were closed, we felt compelled to use the resources, technology, and team at our disposal at Buildable to help fellow business owners. You can’t serve food or give someone a haircut over Zoom, unfortunately, and yet, without these types of businesses, our city, and our country, wouldn’t look and feel the same. In our opinion, it’s critical that main street gets through this pandemic along with the rest of us.”

The platform provides a simple, web-based application (also available on mobile) that is both secure and easy to use. Businesses can sign up through the secure portal and participating community members can then geo-locate the businesses they wish to support and enter an amount using their credit card. All donations are processed through Stripe and go directly to the business selected.

“Local businesses are important to the fabric and well-being of every community,” said Susan McArthur. “I wanted to find a scalable solution so other Canadians could easily help their local businesses by providing some needed cash flow. I knew Canadians would not want their local merchants boarded up as a result of COVID-19. Donations made through Distantly will help to cover everything from payroll to rent and hopefully ensure that our vital local businesses survive and continue to serve our communities for years to come.”

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Who’s ready for some good news?! Our Co-Founders Tim & Stacy, as well as the whole Totum team are very excited to be apart of a innovative digital platform called Distantly.ca. Distantly is designed to help all of us support each other “From a Distance”, as many small businesses face challenges during these times. This afternoon, @johntory announced his support of Distantly and explained how it will help small businesses in Toronto, and eventually all across Canada. What can you do? 1. Head over to the link in our bio - “Make a Contribution - Distantly” 2. Make a Contribution, if you wish! (any amount is greatly appreciated) 3. Spread the word! This site is open to small businesses across Canada. 4. Thank You!! 💙 #StaySafe #TheTotumApproach

A post shared by Totum Life Science (@totumlifescience) on Apr 14, 2020 at 2:14pm PDT

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Look no further 👀 head to the #linkinbio for a free comprehensive digital assessment of your businesses online presence 💻 . There you’ll find additional resources like blog articles and content calendars, and even training videos 🎥 Did we mention it’s free? #TryItToday . . . #digitalmainstreet #dms #digitalassessment #support #workfromhome #wfh #free #freehelp #obiaa #ontario #technology #free #digitalworld

A post shared by Digital Main Street (@digitalmainstreet) on Apr 7, 2020 at 12:00pm PDT

The team behind Distantly recently completed beta-testing of the platform, working with a few small businesses in Toronto, including Totum Life Science. “It’s been exciting to see this platform come together,” said Stacy Irvine, Co-Founder of Totum Life Science. “It’s been an incredibly challenging time for our business, and for many of our friends and neighbours who also operate small businesses in our community. We want to retain and sustain our staff. We need to continue to pay rent and keep our businesses alive. But it’s daunting when we can’t generate any income. Our clients have told us they want to help, and we are so grateful for this new platform they can use to support us.”

Due to the generous support of the benefactors involved in the project, Distantly does not charge businesses any platform fees. The only fees included are third-party transaction fees charged by Stripe. This ensures the secure distribution of capital to the business’ bank account. Stripe, a third-party payment network, charges 3.0-4.0%, depending on the credit card used for the donation.

Distantly is a collaborative effort and is closely partnered with TABIA, its 83 Toronto BIAs — which represent over 40,000 businesses and property owners — and other small business growth initiatives, including Digital Main Street.

“One of my greatest fears is that Toronto comes through this crisis and sees its main street businesses decimated and our streets devoid of the activity that make our city’s life in normal times so exciting and so fulfilling,” Toronto Mayor, John Tory said, “I encourage those who are able to contribute to the survival of your local businesses by visiting distantly.ca. All contributions go towards supporting businesses with any overwhelming expenses.”

Jessica Finch is a writer and editor based in Toronto. She holds a BA in English and Psychology and is a graduate of Ryerson University’s Publishing program. She has extensive managerial experience in the food service industry, and is interested in exploring innovations within this sector and other retail environments. Email: jessica@retail-insider.com

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