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
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-- 
Rich Points
Community Cycles Director
http://CommunityCycles.org
Rich@CommunityCycles.org
720-565-6019