Wow just going back in time and reading old threads. This once is particularly interesting. Bike Church made the transition from all-volunteer to all-paid about four years ago and at first was losing A LOT of money but now and since about two years we've been making a lot of profit, even during the pandemic. If any of y'all want a much longer and more detailed run-down of what I know about the transition (I have only worked here for two years) I'd be happy to share just send an email to thebikechurch@gmail.comNik____________________________________On Tue, Jun 23, 2020 at 10:01 PM Cyclista Nicholas <cyclista@inventati.org> wrote:I'm finding this list *really* valuable, thank you everyone.
We haven't transitioned really, we've had paid
directors/managers/mechanics (and once an assistant manager) for
decades, but we did try a cooperative/communal restructuring about a
decade ago and it went disastrously; months of weekly meetings and no
real plan or structure came out of it. I've decided since then that
unless it starts out as a small group of friends who start out mostly
sharing the same ideas, cooperative design of an organization is a bad
idea. If cooperative or communal government is a goal, think it's a much
better idea to hash out a functional design first with paid hierarchical
staff and modify it to be cooperative later, after it has proven
functional. This is what I'm hoping will happen with RIBs eventually.
We've always had volunteers, but only back in the early 2000's did we
have even close to enough of them to staff the space consistently. Based
on the testaments of people I've met here and elsewhere from larger
cities, and other shops I've visited, I think cities with really big
cycling and DIY communities might be able to support community shops
with enough volunteers to perform consistently to an acceptable
standard. In our town my assessment has been that we just don't have
enough interested people to staff a robust program.
What I'm suggesting is that whether a community shop is all-volunteer or
has paid staff might be an artifact of the overall size of the city, or
more specifically the size (or potential size) of the cycling community.
~cyclista Nicholas
On 2020-06-23 23:10, momoko saunders wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> I wanted to chime in on this conversation as someone who is personally
> opposed to making the transition from "all volunteer" to a "signal paid
> staff supported by volunteers" model. With the caveat that I'm eager to
> be
> challenged in this thought. I guess I should say I'm on the fence,
> although
> I lean towards keeping an all volunteer run model if it's "working".
>
> I think the biggest/hardest thing to define is "working". Bike Farm
> (Bike
> education collective where I volunteer) has operated as all volunteer
> for
> 13 years. We have tended towards 5-6 days a week of open hours, for
> about 4
> hours per day. The shifts are pretty well attended all year long and
> quite
> packed in summer. We have a solid Women & Trans night and started a
> wheelchair maintenance night this last year. We were in the process of
> a
> night for spanish speakers pre Covid, but this is on hold at the
> moment.
>
> We have a large 4000 sf warehouse and generally have been able to make
> rent. Pre Covid, we had enough savings for 7 months of operating
> expenses,
> largely because we don't have staff. Due to Covid, we were able to do a
> successful, but relatively small fundraiser to cover 4 additional
> months of
> operating costs. We were however unable to attain PPP loans and many
> grants
> are built around how many employees you have.
>
> I say all this to show that our present model is "working". Although I
> also
> see the pitfalls and how it doesn't work. Mostly, I see our all
> volunteer
> model as very difficult to hold people accountable for the behaviour in
> our
> shop. We have been endeavouring towards more equity and diversity
> conversations in the last year. While these conversations have been
> helpful
> and educational, I've noticed that not everyone attends and those that
> don't, might be some of the folks who could really use the space for
> healthy/helpful conversations. If it were staff, we could of course
> mandate
> it. Of course, if we had staff, it would likely only be one person so
> maybe
> that point is moot.
>
> Still, it's hard to hold volunteers accountable, especially if the org
> is
> dependent on their free labor. Accountability around racist or sexist
> actions isn't the issue (for a later topic, it is of course still hard
> and
> in all reality a big issue, but not what I'm specifically referring to
> right now). But we have a hard time with upholding the rules of the
> shop,
> consistent pricing, sudden call outs that leave shifts unable to
> operate
> for lack of key holders, ect. Sometimes operations fall too heavily on
> the
> shoulders of a few and this often leads to burn out and the loss of
> solid
> volunteers. At the same time, I tend to see the loss of one important
> volunteer as opening up growth opportunities for others. So long as the
> volunteer leaves on good terms and it's just due to lack of energy/time
> and
> not because of harassment or bad experiences with the org.
>
> That cycle of volunteer engagement leads to one of the main reasons I
> support an all volunteer model. When it's all volunteer, the skills
> needed
> to operate a business are spread out and people learn and are empowered
> to
> try out new ideas for improvements to the shop. I myself learned most
> of
> what I know about running a business through Bike Farm. I would not
> have
> learned it if I didn't have to. And I have heard from countless other
> volunteers about how they have learned so much more than simply how to
> fix
> a bike. They learn how to facilitate difficult conversations, read
> about
> the rules that govern non-profits, engage with wholesale ordering of
> parts,
> inventory management, scheduling people, creating systems of operations
> to
> reduce complexity, ect.
>
> But the biggest pitfall of the all volunteer model is that these lovely
> opportunities are usually (although certainly not always) reserved for
> those with privilege. Those with the privilege to volunteer their time.
>
> That's why, if I was ever to support a paid staff at Bike Farm, I would
> want the requirement that the person has a lived experience that is
> diverse
> so that we might make space for a person who would not usually have the
> privilege to be able to volunteer. I would also want the position to be
> one
> that is supported by volunteers who have experience in operating the
> business, and it would be one of teaching, not just shouldering the
> burden
> of all the stuff volunteers don't want to deal with. In a way, I think
> the
> only paid staff position I'd like to see is one of an intern.
>
> Anyhoo, that's a long post. I would be excited to hear others thoughts.
> -Momoko
>
>
> On Tue, Jun 23, 2020 at 1:54 PM Laura Brooke <birenlaura@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> So timely, as always! We at Freeride Montpelier are in the process of
>> discussing a transition from all-volunteer run to a worker-directed
>> non-profit community bike shop. This is essentially a hybrid between a
>> cooperative and non-profit, which is pretty much what we're hoping for
>> as
>> we'd like to keep our collective/cooperative-type values. Here's a
>> resource
>> on this idea, for anyone who is interested:
>> https://www.theselc.org/worker_selfdirected_nonprofits
>>
>> We're still in the beginning phase of this process, so this thread is
>> really helpful to see! Some of the reasons why we're transitioning:
>> - We'd like to be able to serve the community more, and having some
>> paid
>> staff would help with the shop being open more
>> - We're in need of some more processes in place (especially with COVID
>> and
>> having new volunteers who may be interested in helping out at the
>> shop)
>> - We've had 1-2 people volunteering and doing the bulk of the work.
>> They're interested in getting paid for this and the core volunteers
>> thought
>> that this idea (compensation) made a lot of sense, especially as sales
>> have
>> exponentially increased!
>>
>> Best,
>> Laura - Volunteer from Freeride
>>
>> On Tue, Jun 23, 2020 at 2:54 PM Audrey Wiedemeier
>> <audrey@bikelibrary.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Hello All,
>>>
>>> Great thread. The Bike Library went through a rough transition about
>>> 5
>>> years ago when we hired our first full-time staff member (and
>>> Executive
>>> Director). Many volunteer mechanics left, but in my opinion it was
>>> for the
>>> best. In the last year we have hired a 2nd staff person who serves as
>>> the
>>> Volunteer Coordinator and works 25 hrs per week. I can't tell you how
>>> much
>>> it has helped, and I am so glad we did it last Nov so that she was
>>> trained-up for Spring. We went from having aprox 30 volunteers
>>> working on
>>> various tasks 7 days a week to only staff working after covid
>>> started. We
>>> are in the process of transitioning volunteers back into the shop,
>>> and we
>>> are grateful to have them. I think we could better serve our
>>> community if
>>> we were to hire another paid staff (thank you for this thread because
>>> it's
>>> really got me thinking about bringing this up). After visiting with
>>> folks
>>> from BICAS at BIKEBIKE and hearing more about how they operate I am
>>> much
>>> more interested in the coop model vs traditional non-profit, as well
>>> as how
>>> well they are able to serve their community with their paid staff.
>>> Our
>>> volunteers are wonderful and we value them tremendously.
>>>
>>> Peace & grease,
>>>
>>> *Audrey Wiedemeier* (She/her/hers)
>>> Iowa City Bike Library, Director
>>>
>>> 700 S. Dubuque St, Iowa City
>>> *COVID Hours: *Tues. - Thurs. 10 AM - 5 PM; Sat. 10 - 3 PM
>>> Need something? Set up an appointment by email.
>>> Want to donate? Drop off anytime during these hours. Thank you!
>>>
>>> BikeLibrary.org
>>> C: (515) 450-1651
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, Jun 22, 2020 at 10:14 AM Jean-François Caron
>>> <jfcaron3@gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> The AMS Bike Co-op & The Bike Kitchen at UBC in Vancouver went
>>>> through
>>>> two such transitions.
>>>>
>>>> One was a transition on the Bike Kitchen (DIY social enterprise bike
>>>> shop) from worker-run to having a formal manager. The transition
>>>> was
>>>> forced by the volunteer board of directors of the AMS Bike Co-op
>>>> (student club under the university's student union) who officially
>>>> have
>>>> authority over the Bike Kitchen. It was not a friendly transition,
>>>> but
>>>> it was deemed necessary since the business was basically failing.
>>>> There
>>>> was not enough coordination between stocking supplies, parts,
>>>> scheduling
>>>> shifts, and pricing policy. We (I was one of the directors) made
>>>> the
>>>> seniormost existing mechanic into a manager, and some mechanics left
>>>> as
>>>> a result. IIRC they left explicitly because they only wanted to
>>>> work in
>>>> a worker collective context. Since then, a new manager has been
>>>> hired
>>>> as a joint effort between the outgoing Bike Kitchen manager,
>>>> employees,
>>>> and the AMS Bike Co-op.
>>>>
>>>> The other transition was on the AMS Bike Co-op side. We're still
>>>> technically a student club under the university student union, but
>>>> in
>>>> addition to the volunteer board of directors, we have now had
>>>> permanent
>>>> paid staff for many years. We initially only had temporary student
>>>> labour paid out of grants, but at some point we passed a student
>>>> levy
>>>> that greatly increased our funding. Our initial move was to hire an
>>>> "Executive Director" permanent employee. The title was just chosen
>>>> because that's what we saw other non-profits using, but it turned
>>>> out to
>>>> be a problem because it implies global scope and it gave directors
>>>> the
>>>> wrong idea about what their job was, and the contract was too vague
>>>> so
>>>> everything became their job. We renegotiated a contract with the
>>>> title
>>>> changed to "Programs Manager" along with other terms to make it more
>>>> clear what was the scope of the job, and things went pretty well
>>>> from
>>>> there. The Programs Manager managed the various outreach,
>>>> volunteer,
>>>> and collaboration programs, and also hired other permanent staff as
>>>> needed.
>>>>
>>>> My little summary probably grossly oversimplifies things. If anyone
>>>> adds further details that contradicts some of what I said, I assume
>>>> responsibility for misremembering.
>>>>
>>>> Jean-François
>>>>
>>>> On 2020-06-19 8:39 p.m., Carlyn Arteaga wrote:
>>>> > We are paid-staff-run but still consensus-based and mostly still
>>>> > sales-via-donations sustained. I wasn't around during the transition,
>>>> > though, so I can't help much on that front. But happy to answer any
>>>> > specific questions about how we make it work.
>>>> > ~Carlyn
>>>> >
>>>> > On Fri, Jun 19, 2020 at 1:29 AM Dennis Wollersheim <dewoller@gmail.com
>>>> > <mailto:dewoller@gmail.com>> wrote:
>>>> >
>>>> > I would also like to hear about this. Our organisation is trying
>>>> to
>>>> > hire a manager for the first time, and I can see it will be
>>>> > difficult for the board / senior volunteers to let go of control.
>>>> > I get exasperated when the board spends an hour discussing the
>>>> > wording of a social media post. In my view, these should be
>>>> > procedural issues, dealt with by the manager. It will be a painful
>>>> > transition, I reckon.
>>>> >
>>>> > Cheers
>>>> > Dennis
>>>> >
>>>> > On Fri, Jun 19, 2020 at 9:13 AM Thomas Butler
>>>> > <thomas.unavailable@gmail.com <mailto:thomas.unavailable@gmail.com
>>>> >>
>>>> > wrote:
>>>> >
>>>> > I’m interested to hear from people whose organizations made
>>>> > transitions from:
>>>> >
>>>> > volunteer-centric to staff-centric
>>>> >
>>>> > all-donation to grant-(or retail-)funded
>>>> >
>>>> > consensus-run to exclusive/majoritarian board (or something
>>>> else)
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > In particular what were peoples’ objections to the transition?
>>>> > What problems or pitfalls were there? Did the shop lose its
>>>> > independence? What net-negatives were there (even if
>>>> > overwhelmingly outweighed by all the positives?)
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > Please feel free to reply to my personal email here if there’s
>>>> > something you don’t want to put on blast:
>>>> >
>>>> > thomas.unavailable@gmail.com <mailto:
>>>> thomas.unavailable@gmail.com>
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > My interest is not regarding articles of incorporation or how
>>>> to
>>>> > fill out 501c3 paperwork. (there are threads on those topics in
>>>> > TheThinkTank archives
>>>> > <
>>>> http://lists.bikecollectives.org/pipermail/thethinktank-bikecollectives.org/
>>>> >
>>>> > if anyone is curious). Your testimonial is likely more relevant
>>>> > if your organization's incorporation is far in the past
>>>> relative
>>>> > to its transition(s).
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > Thank you all so much for the work you do in your own
>>>> > communities and for the work you do in this community of ours.
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > Thomas Butler
>>>> >
>>>> > he | they
>>>> >
>>>> > Austin’s Yellow Bike Project
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > ____________________________________
>>>> >
>>>> > The ThinkTank mailing List
>>>> >
>>>> > Unsubscribe from this list here:
>>>> >
>>>> http://lists.bikecollectives.org/options.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.org
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > --
>>>> > --
>>>> > -------------------------------------------
>>>> > Dennis Wollersheim
>>>> > -------------------------------------------
>>>> > ____________________________________
>>>> >
>>>> > The ThinkTank mailing List
>>>> >
>>>> > Unsubscribe from this list here:
>>>> >
>>>> http://lists.bikecollectives.org/options.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.org
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > --
>>>> >
>>>> > *Carlyn Arteaga*
>>>> >
>>>> > /pronouns: they/them/theirs/
>>>> >
>>>> > Youth Program Coordinator____
>>>> >
>>>> > *BICAS____*
>>>> >
>>>> > 2001 N. 7th Ave. | Tucson, AZ 85701 | Shop: 520-628-7950__
>>>> >
>>>> > carlyn.arteaga@bicas.org
>>>> > <mailto:carlyn.arteaga@bicas.org> |www.bicas.org
>>>> > <http://www.bicas.org> | Facebook
>>>> > <http://www.facebook.com/bicascollective/> | Instagram
>>>> > <http://www.instagram.com/bicastucson/>
>>>> >
>>>> > __ __
>>>> >
>>>> > /Through advocacy and bicycle salvage, our mission is to participate
>>>> in
>>>> > affordable bicycle transportation, education, and creative recycling
>>>> > with our greater Tucson community./
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > ____________________________________
>>>> >
>>>> > The ThinkTank mailing List
>>>> >
>>>> > Unsubscribe from this list here:
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>>>> >
>>>> ____________________________________
>>>>
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>>>
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>>
>> --
>> Laura Brooke
>> *she/her/hers or they/them/theirs*
>> ____________________________________
>>
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>
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