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There are two major issues facing the Time Bank that I want everyone to understand. First is finances, and the second is leadership.
Last year, we had a budget shortfall of $400. This was not a disaster as we have money in the bank, so we were able to cover all of our expenses. We projected a shortfall of another $400 this year, and again, we are in a position to cover it. Still, this is clearly not ideal, and we want to fix this situation before it gets any worse. We had a great year with the potions booth at Wizardly Weekend, and the basket raffle made up most of the expected shortfall. Great, we thought. We plugged up the gap and can try to expand our budget somewhat, which is running at the absolute minimum.
Unfortunately, now we've gotten the news that Main Street Kent is not going to run Wizardly Weekend again. We have counted on the potions booth to make 70% of our budget in a day's work. Without it, we're going to struggle next year. We've tried a number of fundraisers over the years, and this was the most successful. Most of them are more work for considerably less money. So, we are going to have to put our heads together to solve this problem for next year. There is a chance another group will take over Wizardly Weekend, or that we can translate our potions booth to a similar festival, but until we understand this we need to consider options.
The other problem facing the Time Bank is leadership. The current board is smaller than optimal, which increases the workload for each of us. We do not have all of the officers required by our bylaws. We have two successful, flourishing committees (potluck and orientation), but both of them have experienced attrition. We need to plan on succession and bring up new volunteers without burning out our present workers. Frankly, if we can't solve these problems the Time Bank as we know it will probably not survive two more years.
Please look at your schedules and think if there is a role you can play. We'd be happy to help you find the right match for your time and talents. You can contact us at kctbinc@gmail.com or through our Facebook group.
This is an ongoing conversation without easy answers, but they are also things where small incremental improvements can make a huge difference. Our financial and volunteer goals should be accessible with broad-based effort. That kind of work is what the Time Bank excels in. I'm confident we will be able to solve both problems. |
