There’s a new way to chase your dreams, and all it requires is a great idea and faith in the generosity of strangers.

In today’s society, one small action has the ability to touch millions of people worldwide – people who may never meet face-to-face but who still share a common interest.

The term “crowdfunding” may be relatively new, but the idea behind it comes from a generations-old human desire to innovate. People and organizations with a need to create, research, promote, or otherwise reach a goal, use crowdfunding to pool monetary support from local to global communities, or “crowds.” Pay-what-you-wish purchasing, takes the internet crowdfunding approach one step further by using the donations model in physical stores and allows customers to pay what they consider appropriate.

Opponents of this business model argue if a consumer wants a good without a set price from a pay-what-you-wish seller, then he or she will take the good without paying anything.

Imagine a pay-what-you-will coffee shop. You decide to give Starbucks a break and try this new coffee shop and find you like it and want to come back. If you don’t pay – and the other customers don’t pay – the shop won’t be able to support itself, and you’ll lose that shop.

That’s what makes pay-as-you-go sustainable. Assuming customers enjoy your product those customers will pay for the privilege of returning to your business.

When you support a Kickstarter project or a pay-what-you-will business, you become a shareholder in that project and your return on investment is sure to be great.

So chase your dreams and support others in theirs.