In an age where online ‘sharing’ is a conversation starter, we want to take it back to the old-school. We want you to share your copy of Ethos with your friends and family; we want you to share the stories that you have read in Ethos magazine with the people you meet in the pub, the passenger next to you on the bus. We want Ethos to be full of photos of the people who make these stories possible. Ethos is rooted in community, and we’re feeding our community of like-minded readers across the globe.

A printed magazine means a welcome break from your screen; it means that, as a reader, you can take your time to absorb its stories. It means that you can appreciate the beauty of the entire page in one glance.

But, most importantly, a printed magazine means that the incredible stories of these ethical businesses live on. They live on bookshelves, on coffee tables and on night stands; in today’s online world – even the best stories are lost at the refresh of a page.

Ethos is a quarterly magazine covering stories of ethical entrepreneurship, innovation, sustainability and socially responsible business. We look at the good businesses around us – large and small – and tell their stories. They’re makers and manufacturers, food producers and micro-funders; shops and services. They’re the people, products and experiences that touch our lives, every day.

We’re a small team of writers, journalists, and filmmakers based in Liverpool, UK. As a Community Interest Company (CIC), Ethos works closely with the local community and further afield, to tell the stories and raise awareness of the hidden business networks that are helping our towns and cities to thrive. We're making the most of our connections, to affect real change in the community.

We launched Ethos online in the summer of 2015; during that time, we’ve built up tens of thousands of readers in 106 countries, and a database of more than 12,000 people. Our first film generated 10,000 views in its first week. But, there’s something magical about flicking through a beautiful, printed magazine with delightful design and thought-provoking stories. So we’re crowdfunding, to print our first editions.

The face of business is changing. Advances in technology and the internet have opened up conversations between a global community of thought leaders and change makers, allowing them to collaborate on some of the most pressing issues of our time. Collaboration between companies big and small is becoming the norm, to reach a sustainable end goal which benefits people and the planet, irrespective of profits. We buy locally; and we also pick and choose people around the world who do things for the right reasons. We’re looking for different values.

Business is more than a dog-eat-dog mentality; it’s no longer encapsulated by the ‘rat-race’ or the sterile high-rise office block. Today’s business is vibrant; it’s colourful; and most importantly, today’s business has human interaction at its core.

Our world is full of amazing people achieving brilliant things; being responsible, inspiring people, employing people and changing things for the better. Sometimes they’re tiny organisations on your doorstep; sometimes they’re global brands who’ve been around far longer than any of us. These are the stories of the things they do. Bold and brave, innovative and surprising, they’re the people doing things differently.

We’ve spoken to some of the world’s most influential businesses; from global clothing giant Adidas, to sustainable, family-run makers and manufacturers. Our stories come from the heart of the community; from the Detroit Eastern Market Corporation to online marketplace Etsy. We follow global movements, such as the Awesome Foundation and Parley for the Oceans, which are just two of the organisations changing our business world, for good. They all have a story to tell. Ethos tells that story.

Andrew Beattie - Managing Director - Ethos's managing director, Andrew has worked with startup businesses and grassroots organisations for most of his career. His work includes finding local, national and international grassroots networks and connecting them together to share ideas, innovations and stories. Andrew co-founded the City Tribune, an independent pop-up newspaper which was distributed to 50,000 people at the inaugural, International Festival of Business in 2014. @AndrewBeattie

Lucy Chesters - Editor - A freelance writer and editor, Lucy is responsible for collating Ethos's editorial content. Trustee of the Liverpool chapter of the Awesome Foundation, Lucy is involved in local business and cultural networks. @lucychesters

Fiona Shaw - Publisher - Ethos publisher Fiona is an award-winning copywriter and journalist, and director of publishing company Wordscapes. She specialises in non-fiction storytelling and developing powerful, authentic narratives for the business and lifestyle sectors. Fiona is the co-founder of the City Tribune and the Chair of Open Culture, UK based arts organisation. @wearewordscapes

Patrick Hurley - Operations Manager - Patrick works in social and civic innovation, promoting the growth of organisations that benefit their local community. An elected member of Liverpool City Council, Patrick  also works in the social enterprise network. @patrick_hurley

Allan Melia - Head of Film - Allan is a camera operator and editor with a background in independent  and commercial films. Allan films, edits and produces all of Ethos's film content. @Allan_Melia

We are looking for £20,000 to fund the first print edition of Ethos magazine. The money pays for the design, print and distribution of our first editions; it will allow us to pay our wonderful writers and collaborators, and enable them to carry on researching and unearthing the inspiring stories of business and ethical entrepreneurship happening around the world.

We’re also looking to produce a series of film content throughout the year, ranging from short documentaries, to interviews and extended stories from our print editions. We want the stories of the people that we meet to reach as many new audiences as possible, wherever they may be in the world. There are some stories which just need to be told through film.

We’ve also set aside a chunk of our budget for social media and online sharing; we want to share stories with the biggest number of people that we can, so what we do will always have a digital element. We’ll work at creating an online community which you’re a part of – so you can share stories with like-minded people, and we can spread the word about the good stuff people are doing.

We’re offering a range of rewards for the people who want to support us on our crowdfunding journey. Ethos is something we want you to be a part of, so it includes everything from our eternal gratitude on social media, to deals on magazine issues and subscriptions. And you can join our team for a series of workshops, based around some of the themes in the magazine. We’ve joined up with a number of ethical and sustainable brands, who are producing limited edition ‘Ethos’ creations.

We are also offering bulk orders of Ethos Magazine and Ethos subscriptions. If you're a school, university, cafe, coworking space or speciality bookshop; or you're just looking to bulk order our magazine - we'll be really happy to hear from you; let us know via the comments section and we can arrange something with you.

Between us, we’ve worked in publishing and media for more years than we care to tot up. So we’re aware of some of the technical and publishing challenges that lie ahead. The biggest risk, from your point of view, is that we only get part of the money. What happens then?

Well, we know what our absolute minimum cost is to get the magazines out there. And we’re committed to using the crowdfunding to kick-start our print runs. We’re already talking to a number of carefully-chosen advertisers who’re keen to get involved – but they want to see the magazine. So we’re confident that, once we’ve got an issue to show them, advertising will cover our production costs – that’s what we’ve based our numbers on. We just need your help to get started.

Raising awareness of the stories that Ethos Magazine covers is one of our main objectives, so if you could take a couple of minutes to share our campaign on social media, we would be very grateful...

Have you got a story that would be perfect for Ethos Magazine? We’d love to hear from you! Drop our editor, Lucy a line at lucy.chesters [at] ethospaper.com and tell us more about your story...

If you have any further questions about Ethos Magazine, or about our campaign then please let us know in the comments section...