- TheThinkTank - lists.bikecollectives.org

scratching our heads over 501c3!
by Mary Bergeron 15 Aug '11

15 Aug '11

Hi friends, I'm a volunteer at Recycle-A-Bike here in Providence, RI. We are in the middle of applying for 501c3 status and have hit a few road blocks. I was wondering if any folks have applied for 501c3 or are also in the middle of it, and can offer some advice. Basically, my questions are: - Do any 501c3 shops also have a volunteer point system? At RAB, we award volunteers "points" for putting in time, and they can later cash these points in for used parts or time in the shop. We don't want to get rid of this system, but the IRS finds this problematic for 501c3. - Do any shops sell bikes as a 501c3? Have shops set up both models- such as a for-profit bike shop to sell bikes and an affiliated non-profit to run community programs? So far bike sales keep us sustainable, so we really want to keep this up as a nonprofit. Thanks for any insight! Sorry if a similar email was already sent out by another RAB person...we're all trying to collect as much info as we can. cheers, Mary -- Mary Bergeron Funds/Outreach Coordinator c: 508.265.2904 p: 508.273.7101 www.recycleabike.org

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comparing the carbon footprints of bikes vs cars.
by veganboyjosh＠gmail.com 15 Aug '11

15 Aug '11

There's obviously a lot of variables to have to equalize to get to apples to apples, but this is a decent article comparing the impacts of bikes vs cars, and the number of miles it would take to offset one or the other. http://www.slate.com/id/2300676/

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Re: [TheThinkTank] No cash register; how can we accept cash payments without coming off as shady?
by Ryan Feller 14 Aug '11

14 Aug '11

Wow! I never thought I'd receive so many thoughtful answers. We have a metal folding table that we'll bolt a locked donation jar to it, and empty it out and take it to the bank after each workshop. We'll also use a receipt book, which is useful for accounting anyway, and we'll try to incorporate donation requests into our receipts. In response to DancesWithCars, we have business cards and t-shirts on the way (we traded a bike to a screenprinter friend for the shirts!), both hopefully this week once we meet up with our designer friends to work on our logo. We also have a website that helps to vouch for our credibility, with more pictures and a redesign soon, and once we start distributing bikes to established nonprofits, our relationship with them should help as well. We'll also have our 501c3 applied for soon. If anyone else has other ideas on how we can look good and prove our legitimacy, I'm all ears :) Thank you! Ryan Feller, Co-Director Bike Broward (954) 232-3790 www.bikebroward.org

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Weight records- 3 tons?
by Bob Giordano 11 Aug '11

11 Aug '11

Our tops so far is about 250 bikes on our big bike trailer- maybe 5000 to 6000 pounds. On that trip i believe we had 2 pedalers on the 3wheel puller, 2 on the back pusher bikes attached to trailer and 2 on each side. We are looking to add 2 more pusher bikes and are always considering a 'team of horses' style front hitch system. We converted an old haywagon. It is also good for parade entries, with bands, bike repair, sculpture, etc. all rolling down the road. We also loan it out so people can move their home in one go. Patrick Van Der Tuin wrote: > Hey everyone, > StlBicycleWorks is moving this Sunday to its new home via bicycle. As part > of this move we are weighing everything that gets hauled by bicycle to the > new facility. > Does anyone out here have any idea about any weight records for moving > items > by bicycle? -- Bob Giordano Free Cycles Missoula Shop: 732 S. 1st St. West, 541.7284 2PM-6PM Mon-Thurs & 11AM-3PM Sat Missoula Institute for Sustainable Transportation www.strans.org, mist(a)strans.org, 406-880-6834

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assigning value to our work
by ryan jenkins 11 Aug '11

11 Aug '11

Dear ThinkTank, I am writing to inquire about how any of your organization have dealt with the issuing of assigning value to the services that a non profit community bike space provides (ideally in creative ways outside of our money transaction economy), particularly with pre-teenage youth in urban areas. Troy Bike Rescue functions strictly on donations and a sliding scale pay system where patrons are asked to pay for specific items based on what it is worth to them and what they can afford. This sliding scale pay system applies to the 5 or 6 floor bikes we may have at any one time as well as a small selection of tires, bells, locks, and other very basic bike necessities. What we are struggling with is how to become not just a "place to get your bike fixed for free". How do we handle the swarm of kids, convey a message about WHAT we are doing, and also provide the services needed to keep bikes on the road? thanks ryan troybikerescue

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Sales hours / shop hours
by Clifford McCarten 10 Aug '11

10 Aug '11

Hey Folks, Quick couple of questions to those who break up their workshop hours and have sales-only hours/days. How does that work for you? How do your users / volunteers feel about it? What are you selling? Any "wow, we're surprised at how well Widget X sells!" items you'd recommend? Do you get a lot of people coming in hoping to fix "just this one thing?" during the sales-only time? This is a main concern of mine. Thanks, Clifford -- B!KE: The Peterborough Community Bike Shop 336 Rubidge St, Peterborough ON communitybikeshop.org (705) 775-7227

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No cash register; how can we accept cash payments without coming off as shady?
by Ryan Feller 10 Aug '11

10 Aug '11

Hi all! We're a new bike collective operating out of a 10x10 storage unit. To raise funds, we're selling a few of our nicer bikes on Craigslist at market value, but when someone pays us, I think it looks unprofessional (and perhaps even shady) to just stick the money in one of our pockets. We don't have the space, money or need for a "proper" electronic cash register. In all honesty, after the customer leaves we'll just put it in an envelope and stick it in our pocket until we get to the bank, so this is just a matter of what the customer sees. Here are a few options: * I have a little metal cash box. We could mount it to our tool pegboard and put the money in there, but then again, putting a customer's $100-$300 in a tiny metal cash box in an open space with lots of teenaged volunteers around could look just as bad. * Maybe we'd be best off pulling out an envelope, writing "Bike Broward customer name $100" on it, putting the money inside the envelope and into our pocket, then writing them a receipt on carbon paper? * We could also request payment by check for bikes over, say, $100, but we don't have our 501(c)(3) yet, so it'd have to be in my own name, which isn't a much better option. Am I just overreacting? We're all 18 or younger and won't have our 501(c)(3) for a couple of months, so I've been putting a lot of work into having a reasonably professional appearance. Thanks so much! Ryan Feller, Co-Director Bike Broward (954) 232-3790 www.bikebroward.org

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Weight records?
by Patrick Van Der Tuin 07 Aug '11

07 Aug '11

Hey everyone, StlBicycleWorks is moving this Sunday to its new home via bicycle. As part of this move we are weighing everything that gets hauled by bicycle to the new facility. Does anyone out here have any idea about any weight records for moving items by bicycle? Thanks. -- Patrick Van Der Tuin Director of Operations 314-514-5083 Did you know you can become a "Sponsor of Byte<http://www.stlbyteworks.org/>or Bike <http://www.stlbicycleworks.org/> Works" for as little as $25 and have your donation matched?

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Traffic model, interesting art piece, short video
by veganboyjosh＠gmail.com 07 Aug '11

07 Aug '11

Came across this this evening, and while he doesn't address any specific traffic issues or solutions, he did build a semi-automated giant model of a city with small cars and trains and it's very kinetic and sort of pretty. And he speaks a little about how car ownership and drivership has allowed a certain "freedom" but that's going away soon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llacDdn5yIE#t=4m30 Figured some of you might be interested in this.

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Re: [TheThinkTank] Thethinktank Digest, Vol 60, Issue 14
by Kurmaskie 06 Aug '11

06 Aug '11

Best. Joe Metal Cowboy Kurmaskie metalcowboy.com On Aug 6, 2011, at 10:55 AM, thethinktank-request(a)lists.bikecollectives.org wrote: > Send Thethinktank mailing list submissions to > thethinktank(a)lists.bikecollectives.org > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.… > > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > thethinktank-request(a)lists.bikecollectives.org > > You can reach the person managing the list at > thethinktank-owner(a)lists.bikecollectives.org > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Thethinktank digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: patching with pieces of tube (Ryan Sharpe) > 2. Re: patching with pieces of tube (bovineoaks(a)aol.com) > 3. Sales hours / shop hours (Clifford McCarten) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Fri, 5 Aug 2011 20:51:41 -0700 > From: Ryan Sharpe <sharpe(a)sacbikekitchen.org> > To: The Think Tank <thethinktank(a)lists.bikecollectives.org> > Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] patching with pieces of tube > Message-ID: > <CAKyVeL8mUFWRheRtj9iTeYJ47dzPgMB1k6tPcM=yrfXwDYbwPA(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > I'm impressed. Usually by the time I get to ten or so, the valve stem's > only held on by two little threads of rubber... > > --Sharpe > >

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