[hackerspaces] How do you fundraise?

[hadez]

Hi there,

On Wed, Nov 20, 2013 at 10:21 AM, Kristin-Leigh Brezinski
<okrysmastree at gmail.com> wrote:
> What kinds of fundraising do you do for your space?

If someone wants to by something he or she usually posts a message to
the internal mailing list with a few details and asks who wants to
chip in.
We've had one time where we hat to move the to a new location rather
unexpectedly for which we asked money publicly.

> How successful have these efforts been?

Worked rather well, we're still alive and kicking

> How DO you fund your space (smaller fees charged to many
> members, or a few members who foot a large portion of the bills)?

Membership fees and to a significant amount selling Club-Mate and
other drinks through our vending machine.
A few members pay "supporter fees".
We also take donations.
However, we only use fees and income from selling drinks to cover
recurring costs.

> Have you ever had trouble paying the rent,

Gladly, no.

> and how much money do you keep in the bank?

Hard lower limit is 3+ months.
I think right now we're good for more than that which gives you that
warm and fuzzy feeling and lets you sleep well at night.
Note: _huge_ parts of infrastructure at our space was done based on
donations coming from members.
The non-profit running the space was actually _very_ conservative and
reluctant to pay much more than the bare essentials during the first
two years of its existence.
This is now easing up a bit since we do have enough buffer-money to
pay rent and a few unexpected repairs here and there.

--
hadez
shackspace, Stuttgart, Germany