Posted by creativemindsunion (Msg) on 2008-11-28 05:00:38:

Fundraising Verses Direct Action as Sustainable Expressions of Appreciation

Asset Building or Just Sitting on Our Assets

Ok... We have had an ongoing debate and dialogue which needs to be wide open for every person's consideration and interpretation. At present, there is quite a bit of concern with some folks about fund raising and financial protocol in relation to regular expenses. I am of the mind to say, "Some money is better than no money while Documentation of Money Transactions is essential in the work we do." I am not of the mind to speak for others or to limit the paths by which we invest ourselves and our time as a diverse process of organizing and funds development in door2door outreach, community partnership along with long-range and mid-range program planning/design as a part of grant seeking and project development. The more interactive and informative our outreach and revenue stream vision is the more organic and beneficial it will be as a sustainable resource in hard times.

To make a long story short, there are plenty of solutions to our dilemma of financial stability and regular monetary support which occur on a variety of asset building platforms. Every workshop and collective time is an opportunity to shake an empty jar or make a sign attached to the sign-in list which updates participants to current bill pay needs; forgetting to create the option of the ask for support is not the same as the omission of a 'request for charitable giving'.... we do need to know what the bills are so that we can be ready to inform others of our needs as the most simple and direct form of sustaining our activities. Hosting small events brings in more folks ready to simply drop $1-5 dollars and have a look at an alternative idea or two even if its just a part of a conversation at a local event. Larger events which are properly promoted with specific audiences in union usually accommodate collection of larger sums of money in the range of $10-20 which would be more of an annual gift from people who are otherwise not engaged regularly.

More to the point each and every opportunity to meet people should be valued in its own right the intrinsic appreciation that the person has devoted their self to their interest. Our encouragement of individual interest in raffle tickets, paypal familiarity including access to handcrafted items available for one time donations, and regular outreach as programming which invites local residents to drop a dollar in the jar when we fix their bike or provide a quiet place to make some art for the day. There is little difference between working side-by-side to assist someone in repairing their life and taking a minute to ask if they have an open time in their schedule to help go rake leaves for a spot of change or vacuum the library as a skill swap or an equity share membership. Marrying the skills of community building with project development are a natural but aligning that process with informative engagement of long-values and financial or volunteer support includes adaptation which would lead us to a self-sustaining and internal reliant set of methods and mutual appreciation and thus I encourage it all to become something that each organizer take to heart.

Ultimately we have to ask ourselves "Where did our Brick House get so far off track that it quit being the BRYCC where volunteers checked off the weekly chore on the chore list??? When was it that we no longer looked for ways to bring new folks into meet each other as a part of working on some real accomplishment as a group project???" Who knows but at some point, it seemed to get a new set of priorities that were not concerned with really taking action or working with others to address weekly points of needed change that would make our building a nice place to be. Upon occasion I see glimmers of people talking and working together which assure me that some people really do get it because they dont talk too long before they start to do things and go places in the building to get things done... The two are not so far apart and yet the difference is apparent when you stand back and consider which collectives have taken the time to define current goals and take steps to achieve them. I am guilty of a few lost meetings and disconnects where Art Collective Action is concerned but its time to honestly say... help me with outreach and funds priorities and then I can get back to my group work as well.

Full steam ahead everyone...