[hackerspaces] Cash flow?

[Paul Brown]

Recurring payments are our secret weapon too. We started by using recurring
buttons <https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_subscr-intro-outside> for
memberships through paypal. Now we have a checkout system which also does
some user provisioning.

Since Dallas Makerspace is a 501(c)3, Paypal had the best pricing we could
find for our amount of transactions. They have a discounted rate of 2.2% +
$.30 per transaction for non-profits.* If you're a 501(c)3 using paypal and
not getting this rate, call them!*
*
*
Paypal also has API features which we use to track payments. Every time a
transaction is made, Paypal alerts WHMCS <http://www.whmcs.com/> that the
user made a payment and marks them as paid. At the end of the month, we
look through the people who are "overdue" and remove them from access
control. If I was to start all over again, I would probably use Freshbooks
+ Paypal. However, Freshbooks looks like it will only track users who
signed up through Freshbooks and getting all of our existing members to
sign up through freskbooks would be a pain.

If you absolutely can't stand paypal, some other (more expensive) options
for recurring payments are:
stripe.com
http://www.beanstream.com/
Google Checkout

*Side-note about payment gateways (like Authorize.net):*
Keep in mind, if you pick a payment gateway like Authorize.net, then you
will also need a merchant account (which is most of the costs). For
example, Authorize.net has a monthly fee of $20 + a per transaction fee of
$.35 and a merchant
account<http://www.dharmams.com/rates-fees/by-internet-mail-phone/non-profit>
can charge
a monthly fee of $10 + ~$.30 per transaction + ~.5% to ~2.5% depending on
the credit card. There are also setup fees for both the merchant account
and authorize.net. I think this option only makes sense if you're getting
the 200+ transactions a month that Hacker Dojo probably gets.

TL;DR: Steer clear of payment gateways unless you're huge, and use paypal
with some type of invoicing system to track payments.

On Tue, Feb 12, 2013 at 12:49 AM, Arclight <arclight at gmail.com> wrote:

> I would agree on recurring donations. For some reason, it seems like
> there is always someone at every hacker space who doesn't trust Square
> up, hates Paypal because they rip everyone off, and insists that
> sporadic and hard-to-track payments that you have to chase them down
> to pay in person are the way to go. I'd consider charging a
> substantial premium for anyone who wants to pay in a non-recurring
> way.
>
> Arclight
>
> On Mon, Feb 11, 2013 at 10:45 PM, Casey Callendrello <c1 at caseyc.net>
> wrote:
> > There are a couple best practices we've settled on at Noisebridge
> > (shocking, I know):
> >
> > 1) Make it aggressively easy for people to set up *recurring* donations.
> > Steer everyone and anyone towards that.
> > 2) Encourage sliding scale donations, for those blessed by the tech boom
> > 3) Put a big piggy-bank right by the front door. But don't let it get
> > stolen like we did.
> > 4) Have a pre-written spiel describing just how important donations are,
> > to be read before public events
> > 4.5) Break down exactly how much it costs, per day, to run the space.
> > Transparency in budgeting can drive home the point.
> > 5) Get registered as a 501(c)3 if US-based. Then some employers will do
> > matching donations
> >
> >
> > Some other spaces rent out "private" square footage for members as
> > needed. This works really well for Artisan's Asylum.
> >
> > HTH,
> > --Casey
> >
> > On 2/11/13 10:00 PM, Mark Janssen wrote:
> >> On Mon, Feb 11, 2013 at 9:45 PM, Tamara <Tamara at brownpapertickets.com>
> wrote:
> >> \> I'm seeking ideas for how to consistently cover our rent each month
> and
> >>> still have some funds left over for consumables, necessities and
> perhaps a
> >>> small emergency fund. We currently have a scaled membership and teach a
> >>> number of classes each month, but there's often a gap between what we
> make
> >>> each month and what we need to cover it all without panic, begging, and
> >>> general freaking out. We've begun a series of fundraising meetings to
> >>> discuss additional ideas for what might work, but I'm wondering - what
> works
> >>> best for your hackerspace?
> >> Hi Tamara.  I am going to watch your conversation with great interest,
> >> because I don't believe there is yet a stable model for hackerspaces,
> >> although I do suggest a auto-paypermonth "subscription"/membership
> >> that some hackerspaces have employed.  Otherwise, I'm working on the
> >> software to make the [[[hackerspace economic system]]], that will
> >> allow hackerspaces to aggregate community events into a
> >> self-sustaining model (the focus of my research is self-organizing
> >> systems).  It's over at pangaia.sourceforge.net if you want to look at
> >> it.  Wish you luck.
> >>
> >> Cheers,
> >>
> >> Mark
> >> Tacoma, WA
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >
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