Josh:
Sorry to hear that you're losing your space. Every organization that doesn't own its own space needs to have a plan for what to do if this happens. Therefore, thank you for sharing news of your current crisis with the rest of us.
A few years ago, my local nonprofit bike shop lost its space and had to scramble to find a new location. Having experienced that fire drill, here are some actions you could take, in no particular order:
- Plead for more time at the current site
- Raise funds to purchase the current site
- Find and rent a new space
- Shrink your space footprint if you can't afford market rents
- Become a distributed organization with no specific location
- Appeal to local government or business
- Partner with a compatible and sympathetic non-profit that does have space
History
Philosopher George Santayana is credited with saying that those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it. In this case, let's remember the past because we *do* wish to repeat it. How did you get your current space? What are the chances that you can do the same thing again?
My own organization had been in a space behind an auto repair shop for over 20 years, because the property owner liked what we were doing. He was willing to rent us space at well below market rates.
A few years ago the property owner died and one of the heirs insisted on selling the property. The property was certainly worth millions, so buying it would have required raising big bucks. We had months to deal with this. Instead of trying to raise that much money, we chose to look for a new place.
Time Horizon
I agree that it is critical to know how soon you need to vacate. In the worst case you have less than one month before you need to be out. Do you need to move NOW, or do you have months in which you can apply for grants, and make the rounds of various elected officials, agencies, and friendly non-profits who *do* have space?
Space Needs
Think about your minimal and ideal needs. How much space do you currently occupy? What percent is bike storage, tools parts and supplies, retail space, work space? How much could you shrink your space? Are you willing to temporarily go dormant and store everything while you work on finding a new space?
Where I live in California, we can generally wrench on bikes outdoors all year long. At minimum, we need warehouse space to store bikes, tools, and supplies. Our shop was only open on weekends, when we could expand out into the adjacent parking lot. When it is sunny or rainy we work under pop-up canopies.
One idea that I floated that didn't gain traction was to become a virtual organization with no specific operating location. We could distribute bikes, tools, parts and supplies to our members. Each member could host small popup neighborhood bike repair activities at or near their homes. Repaired bikes (that were ready to be donated) and broken bikes (that needed repairs), could be picked up and dropped off on demand. This model might need warehouse space somewhere, and occasional use of a truck or van.
It is also helpful to think big. Ideally, how much space would you want? Where is the ideal location? Would it include retail space? Shop space? Bicycle storage?
Elevator Pitch
In the world of tech startup companies, founders hone their elevator pitches before seeking funding. This is a brief 30-second presentation that summarizes what you do, what you need, and what benefits will ensue if they give you what you want. Write and practice delivering a compelling pitch. There is plenty of advice on how to do this. For example:
The goal of an elevator pitch is to receive an invitation to make an extended presentation. You'll want to refine your extended presentation before you start beating the bushes for money. Find the best person in your organization to make the presentation. Do dry runs. Get feedback from business people who have experience with PowerPoint. Refine your slide deck.
Finding Money
If you're going to be asking for money, start by knowing how much to ask for, and where it will go. Do you simply need funds to move? Do you need money to purchase real estate or build out a space you intend to rent? If you're considering a purchase, talk to a local commercial real estate agent to get an idea of how much money you'll need.
The good news is that in places with high real estate prices, there are bound to be lots of rich people. Some of them are looking for opportunities to do something to benefit the community. You need to find these people and cultivate relationships with them long before you have a need. With luck, you already know some of them.
For example, one wealthy friend of mine was interested in creating a "Maker space" where bike repair activities would coexist with artists needing machine tools, welders, plasma cutters and space to fabricate large scale projects. She might have been willing to put up 1/4 to 1/2 of a property's price, if Maker activities could happen there. That proposal didn't go anywhere, I think because our executive director didn't want to share a space.
Various charitable foundations may be good sources of money. They usually have a grant application process. Sometimes their current emphasis might be in one particular area. It's best to phone them to try to assess how well your organization fits with the foundation's current priorities (in other words, what your chances are of being funded). Foundations don't want you to waste your time or theirs, if it seems unlikely that they would fund your grant request. They should be willing to tell you the size of grant that they typically make, so you'll know if your request is going to be in their ballpark range. Foundations seem to want to grant large sums for things like new programs or even a new building, rather than for normal operating expenses.
If you're going to ask for donations of any kind, it's best if you are already an established non-profit in the eyes of your State and Federal Government. I could be mistaken, but my impression was that the Mechanical Gardens had not jumped through the necessary hoops to do that. It seems to take a long time to obtain nonprofit status, so you should get started on that if you haven't already done so.
If you're applying for grants, you're going to need to document the public benefit that your organization has provided to the community. Many nonprofit shops publish an annual public impact summary to boast about the number of low income people served, the number of bikes repaired and donated back into the community, or the like. If you don't already have this information, start assembling the data (if available) to show your historic growth trend in measurable output.
I'm personally not that high on crowdsourcing for major capital campaigns. In my opinion, the amount that you'll need to purchase a property is just too large to gain traction.
Appeal to Elected Officials and Local Businesses
Your local government probably controls a lot of space. The ideal time to get the attention of elected officials is during their election campaigns. Candidates seem more open to hearing about your needs, especially if you can explain the larger problem that nonprofits--that benefit the community--need operating space in an area where rents are sky high. They may be aware of city-owned spaces that you could use.
One of the best values of good politicians is that they know a lot of people. Perhaps they can hook you up with a company that is looking for a way to give back to the community while boosting its public image. Perhaps they know a business owner who is a bike enthusiast and make space for you to operate.
Appeal to Other Nonprofits
It might be possible to get space from another nonprofit. Our shop donates repaired bicycles to the needy; a local church that has space might be willing to give us space if we could supply more bikes to the people they serve.
Appeal to Everyone You Meet
It probably doesn't hurt to explain your situation and needs to everyone you encounter. The next person may have the ability to help, or know someone who does.
Here's What We Did
A large tech company near us has been buying up entire blocks of properties to build more office space. They had a warehouse that they were willing to lease to us for well below market rate, but it was a month to month lease because they might decide to start building at any time. We can be asked to vacate with 30 days notice. Fortunately, a neighboring business on the block does not want to sell, so it could be years before the large tech company can acquire the entire block and commence construction. The pandemic-inspired popularity of working from home might also mean less pressure to build offices and more surplus property available for non-profits.