[hackerspaces] Cash flow?

[B F]

I'd like to chime in one more thing about money.

Sometimes it's best NOT to charge a lot to BE a member.  (Alternative:
 Have "regular" members for cheap and "sustaining" members, to cover
the rent.  Make it clear that with too few sustaining members, the
makerspace will fold.)

Sometimes it's better to engage the membership to help raise money.
People who don't have a large discretionary income might have skills
and knowledge to share.  Let them teach a workshop, if they're so
inclined.  Charge for the workshop, with the money  (less any actual
expenses) going to the makerspace.  In some cases, the instructor can
also receive compensation, making it a win-win scenario.

Also, put out calls for special donations, where needed.  Our
makerspace recently needed a generator, a $500 purchase.  A call for
contributions netted $1000 in no time, allowing purchase of a better
generator.

Food and drink (non-alcoholic or otherwise) can be sold for a profit.
Retail outlets get 100% profit over wholesale.  Food concessions often
do better than anyone else at flea markets.

In all case charge what you need to cover expenses for USE of the
equipment, to be sure, but that can be a charge-for-use basis.
Include in this any reasonable maintenance costs for the equipment.
(There was a recent discussion of the special case of expensive
equipment of limited lifetime.)

On Tue, Feb 12, 2013 at 9:58 PM, Tamara Clammer
<Tamara at brownpapertickets.com> wrote:
> Wow, thank you all so much for your thoughts on this issue! Far McKon, good
> questions. I joined the space in it's third year after several transitions
> to the original model had already occurred and the cash flow problem had
> reached a critical point. We co-produced a quick little fundraiser to buy
> some time until I could go to the 'How to Make a Makerspace' conference a
> few weeks ago at Artisan's Asylym, where I hoped to find a magical solution
> to our problems. Not so easy, that! Posting the cash flow question here has
> generated a lot of topics for discussion within our hackerspace. In answer
> to Far McKon's questions, however:
>
> 1) It sounds like you have more space than you can support on raw
> membership.  How did you get into this case?  Was this a case of 'build it
> and they will come' ? A case of  the space of the size you need was more
> expensive than you thought?
>
> We grew into this space, which is two rooms inside an arts building of
> approximately 150 artists and artisans. Our current space is a combination
> of co-working desk members and a large multi-use classroom type space. The
> classroom is underutilized for things that generate income, and we are
> working on ideas for how to improve this. We've considered giving up the
> classroom space, but then we would be merely a co-working space and wouldn't
> have room to do much more.
>
> 2) What is your space's primary focus?  'hackerspace as member-clubhouse' or
> 'hackerspace as education center' or 'hackerspace as
> shared-tools/equipment'?  Based on what your core focus is, that can help
> shape how to retain enough value to keep the lights on based on dues,
> class-fees, or even equipment use/rental.
>
> This, we need to revisit. We consider ourselves a 'learning and making
> community', but perhaps we should really focus on our mission and then do
> things that are mission-driven. We're a state nonprofit under the umbrella
> of SchoolFactory, which unfortunately prevents us from being eligible for
> some of the grants we've looked into. It does let me buy cheap beer for our
> kegerator though... :)
>
> The idea of a vending machine is good, and we've considered having vending
> machines for electrical components as well. The idea of an Etsy shop for our
> space is also an interesting one.
>
> Thank you all so much for your feedback! And if you think of anything else,
> I'm sure we can all benefit from your ideas - even if they seem a bit 'out
> there'. You never know! And as Mark said at the beginning, there's not yet a
> sustainable, multipurpose model that fits each space and situation. Maybe
> we're creating it, day by day, through trial and error... but fewer errors
> would be nice.
>
> Tamara
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----
> Tamara Clammer
> Doer: Maker Advocate
> Brown Paper Tickets
> www.BrownPaperTickets.com
> Tamara at BrownPaperTickets.com
> http://community.brownpapertickets.com/Doers/maker.html
> --
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