Our Economic Impact
The Mission in Numbers
The Artisanal Collective is committed to doubling or tripling the daily earnings of artisans living on $3/day — raising incomes to $6/day within three years of engagement. Through strategic partnerships and community-led storytelling, we identify artisan networks where early impact is achievable. For every $1 million invested, we can increase the sustained daily income of up to 15,000 artisan families — representing over 30,000 people — resulting in a projected $60 million per year in local economic uplift.
| Artisanal Collective Investment Schedule and Multiplier Effect ROI for the Individuals and their Local Economy | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Investment (USD) | New Artisanal Collective Members | Artisans Represented (1) | Cumulative Artisans Impacted | Estimated Annual Income Gain (USD) | True ROI | Return to local economy 7x (2) |
| Year 1 | $500,000 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 | $7,920,000 | 13.60 | $55,440,000 |
| Year 2 | $3,000,000 | 20,000 | 30,000 | 40,000 | $31,680,000 | 20.90 | $221,760,000 |
| Year 3 | $10,000,000 | 50,000 | 60,000 | 100,000 | $79,200,000 | 16.52 | $554,400,000 |
| Year 4 | $25,000,000 | 100,000 | 120,000 | 220,000 | $174,240,000 | 28.20 | $1,219,680,000 |
| Notes: | |||||||
| (1) Each Artisan Signup represents two artisans (i.e. family unit) | |||||||
To ensure transparency, credibility, and long-term impact, the Artisanal Collective intends to collaborate with global leaders in ethical wage and income standards—including Fairtrade International, the Global Living Wage Coalition (GLWC), and the Anker Research Institute. These organizations have developed widely recognized methodologies for calculating region-specific living wages and benchmarks for economic dignity, particularly in underserved communities.
Through these partnerships, we aim to co-develop practical systems for collecting, validating, and publishing artisan income data across multiple countries. This will allow us to not only measure progress against our own wage improvement goals but also contribute to the broader global discourse on sustainable livelihoods, fair trade, and economic justice for craft-based workers worldwide.
Where We Work
Our global reach spans both ends of the economic spectrum. In the Global South, we focus on artisan communities in areas of extreme poverty — including parts of Africa, South Asia, and Latin America — where small shifts in income can create massive change. In the Global North, we support the preservation of traditional craftsmanship and intergenerational heritage, not as a poverty initiative, but as a celebration of cultural identity. Our storytelling-led outreach helps communities self-identify, creating a grassroots pipeline of discovery.
Methodology & External Validation
| Poverty Benchmark Goals | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income Category | Benchmark Source | Daily Income Threshold (USD) | Goal | Example Countries |
| Extreme Poverty | World Bank (2022, 2017 PPP) | $2.15 | Triple income (~$6.45/day) | Niger, Chad, Madagascar |
| Lower-Middle-Income Poverty | World Bank | $3.65 | Double income (~$7.30/day) | India, Nigeria, Kenya |
| Upper-Middle-Income Poverty | World Bank | $6.85 | Significantly increase (50–100%) | Mexico, Brazil, South Africa |
| National Living Wage Benchmarks | GLWC / Anker Institute | Varies by country | Align with local living wage benchmarks | Bangladesh (Dhaka), Guatemala (Urban), Philippines (Manila) |
Our income uplift benchmarks draw on findings from leading institutions:
- UNDP & Acumen Fund: Market-based empowerment models (e.g., artisan training + access to platforms) generate longer-lasting income than top-down aid, with returns commonly ranging from 5x to 10x.
- McKinsey (2021): Inclusive entrepreneurship and SME-enablement programs have produced 6x to 14x ROI when outcomes like education, job creation, and local reinvestment are included.
- USAID Local Works: Found that “demand-driven, community-owned investments” lead to 7x–10x greater long-term resilience and value compared to conventional grant cycles.
These findings support our projection that a $1 million investment in the Artisanal Collective can return more than $60 million in economic uplift annually — with long-term, scalable ROI.