Americans donate over $1 billion a year to charities, with the average person donating over $5,000 a year to causes they care about.

Still, cultural heritage remains dramatically underfunded, from Nigeria to Iran. One issue is that for every US$100 spent on a tour holiday by a tourist, only around US$5 actually stays in a developing-country destination’s economy. When it comes to preserving cultural heritage, the challenge is to ensure that funds benefit directly the communities who need it — and that’s where Quantum Temple’s Impact Fund comes in.

Quantum Temple is a Web3 platform that preserves cultural heritage through blockchain technology. It provides equitable exchanges between conscious collectors and ancestral communities, giving them the opportunity to protect and share knowledge, traditions, and art forms of cultures around the world in perpetuity.

To further this mission, Quantum Temple has established the Impact Fund with a commitment to invest in projects that drive Web3 inclusion and cultural heritage revitalization in ancestral communities.

The impact fund is funded by Quantum Temple’s Cosmic Egg, a membership NFT that grants holders access to exclusive token-gated content and unique experiences. 50% of each Cosmic Egg’s value is allocated to the Impact Fund, which is then used to support local communities.

The Core Pillars of the Social Impact Fund

To ensure that funds are properly allocated, a field team — composed of Cosmic Egg holders, appointed Cultural Keepers and Executive Team members — will identify, structure, and deploy value-added project proposals and impact investments in the local communities where Quantum Temple operates.

The Impact Fund creates the necessary conditions for communities to continue creating and producing their products, which can be sold at fair prices to collectors.

In particular, four areas will be the focus of the Impact Fund:

• Infrastructure
• Crypto On-Ramps & Off-Ramps
• Education
• Heritage Revitalization

Infrastructure issues such as lack of connectivity will be addressed by providing WiFi networks, green energy, cable access, and other basic infrastructure. Without this, it’s impossible to access Web3 and its benefits. Beyond Web3 benefits, basic connectivity supports a host of other initiatives, from education to healthcare.

While Internet access, smartphone ownership, and digital literacy continues to grow in many countries, there are still several large gaps. Rural areas, in particular, remain underrepresented in the digital world. Millions of people around the world lack the basic access to data and Internet connectivity essential to Web3 adoption. Cultural keepers are at an even greater disadvantage because they’re typically not in well-connected areas.

Another area of focus will be crypto on-ramps and off-ramps — providing easy-to-access and regulated crypto products to interact with the wider Web3 ecosystem. Even digitally savvy people can find it difficult to navigate the technical complexity of Web3. By providing easier on-ramps and off-ramps, we can remove barriers to entry and make Web3 more accessible.

Education is also crucial for understanding and embracing Web3 as a new paradigm, technology, and force for good. Quantum Temple will provide educational content about the blockchain, cryptocurrency, smart contracts, and other pertinent topics and how they can be applied to the cultural heritage sector. This will help even the playing field for those who may not have access to quality education about technology and finance.

Finally, heritage revitalization through research and development initiatives around traditional knowledge and cultural expressions in partnership with ancestral communities are essential for preserving cultural heritage. These projects could range from subsidizing academic field research, mapping and recovery of endangered ceremonial rituals or artifacts to conservation projects that capitalize on traditional cultural knowledge to implement environmentally sustainable solutions.

The Impact of Funding

By investing directly in local communities, Quantum Temple’s Impact Fund not only provides an equitable presence and self-reliance for cultural keepers in Web3 but also promotes transparency and accountability in how funds are used to directly impact causes.

For example, among the first proposals, the Impact Fund will be able to support an ancestral farming project in Bali, Indonesia that has reduced greenhouse gases by 70% and increased rice yields by 50%. By providing resources to sustainably improve agricultural techniques, the Quantum Temple team is promoting a more carbon-efficient form of agriculture that is environmentally sustainable — a vital step towards preserving cultural heritage for future generations.

Bali is just the first of many communities Quantum Temple is looking to impact. Many other communities have been underserved by legacy approaches to cultural heritage preservation.

Cultural sites and landmarks can play a unique role in the socioeconomic development of a community. Yet research have shown that there is not correlation between obtaining a designation as a UNESCO’s World Heritage Site and greater socioeconomic development (Markman, 2020).

Quantum Temple recognizes this and is determined to build a community of philanthropists and culture patrons dedicated to preserving cultural heritage with more equitable community-centric methods.

Quantum Temple’s Impact Fund is a reminder of how we can use modern technologies — such as blockchain — for social good. By creating an equitable exchange between conscious collectors and ancestral communities, Quantum Temple is driving a paradigm shift in how we collectively preserve and protect cultural heritage.

It’s a reminder that while traditional philanthropy has its limitations, Web3 can open up new avenues for social impact — and Quantum Temple’s Impact Fund is just the beginning.