I've read that minimum membership for any nonprofit should be $30 (too bad I can't substantiate that right now.. I think maybe I picked that up from the Thunderhead Alliance). Check on the free info on http://foundationcenter.org.
Here's the art show http://www.sopobikes.org/events/artshow we've got going on right now. We started organizing it in October and we've put a couple hundred bucks into it. I'll let you know if we make money on it. Other events we've got in the works are a bicycle flea market (sellers pay for a space in our parking lot, buyers shop for free, and we'll encourage the sellers to donate their leftovers to us) and a photography print show (lots of artists take pics in the shop.. we're very attractive bike mechanics) coupled with food demos in the artspace you can see in the pics on the art show website.
-rachael
On Thu, Apr 3, 2008 at 7:11 PM, Jennifer Nordhem jen@milehighmess.com wrote:
Yeah, we won't be selling a whole lot of bicycles. Our mission is primarily to teach and assist people with their current bikes. We will have a wholesale account with which we can sell them parts. I'm sure we will end up with a bike or two here and there, some used parts, etc. that we will sell, but that's not our goal.
We are going to have a membership program which we're playing with right now, figuring out how to price things, etc. Does anyone have suggestions on that? Mark from Re-cycles pointed out the fault in their system, any other advise?
In addition to profits from classes and membership we will be holding a monthly art show to advertise our services to new potential students and have a little fun.
Jen Battlesteed --- rachael spiewak rachael@sopobikes.org wrote:
We don't sell refurbished bikes, but a good chunk of our shop generated funds comes from people donating $25 per frame/bike they pick up from us, and they tend to give more for parts even though we consider parts as being included with the bike. We /could/ sell whole bikes for more, but that seems to run up against our general shop philosophy of most things being mostly equal. We don't have membership fees either, which is another great income generator if it works for your shop/organization.
-rachael
On Thu, Apr 3, 2008 at 12:22 PM, Mark Rehder mark@re-cycles.ca wrote:
Same for us. Bike sales dominate our income
stream, with parts sales
in 2nd place, and income from do-it-yourselfers
behind that.
Mark Rehder - Director http://re-cycles.ca
On 3-Apr-08, at 11:32 AM, Rich Points wrote:
I think it's safe to say that most of the
collectives out there
make most of their money from refurbished bike
sales. Last year
bike sales accounted for about 65% of our total
income at Community
Cycles. Refurbished bike sales are our
strongest fund raising tool.
Rich http://CommunityCycles.org
Jennifer Nordhem wrote:
Jay, We are already in the process of becoming
a 501(c)3. We're at
the Articles of Incorporation and By Laws
writing stage. I know
the questions I asked were lengthy, I'm just a
little overwhelmed,
which I'm sure you can understand. Jen --- Jay
Varner
jay@sopobikes.org wrote:
Hi Jennifer, I'm glad you've found the wiki
and website useful.
To answer some of your questions - most (if
not all) the shops in
the community that operate on grants and
donations are non-profit
(501(c)3) organizations. I'm not sure what
model you are going
for. The answers to your questions can be a
bit complex. To help
us help you, I'd suggest giving this a read
and figuring out
where your project fits:
http://www.bikecollectives.org/wiki/index.php? title=Bike_Collective_Starter_Kit
On Tue, Apr 1, 2008 at 9:00 PM, Jennifer
Nordhem
jen@milehighmess.com wrote: > > Hello everyone, my name is Jennifer Nordhem
of the soon to be
> Battlesteed Custom Bike Works in Denver. > > We're currently looking for places to rent
for
our new > > shop. I noticed some people say they don't, which > > would just be a miracle that I don't foresee coming > > true. Here are the questions I have: How much
do you pay for
> rent? About how much money do you receive
monthly from grants,
> donations, membership fees, sales, etc? How
much do you spend
> monthly on tools, etc? I want to get a grasp
on what kind of
income/outflow > > to expect so I can budget how much we can
afford spending on
> rent. Thanks everyone! The website and wiki
have been extremely
> helpful so far, I'm really happy to see such > > a supportive community. Jen >
Thethinktank
> mailing list Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-
bikecollectives.org
Thethinktank
mailing list Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-
bikecollectives.org _______________________________________________
Thethinktank
mailing list Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org
http://
lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-
bikecollectives.org
-- Rich Points Community Cycles Director
Rich@CommunityCycles.org 720-565-6019 _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-
bikecollectives.org
Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
-- Sopo Bicycle Cooperative 404-425-9989 www.sopobikes.org
Hours of operation: Tues/Thurs 7 pm - 10 pm Sat/Sun 2 pm - 5 pm
Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...