Loomio
Mon 3 Oct 2022 3:14PM

We have room in our budget to do more—what should we do?

NS Nathan Schneider Public Seen by 146

Your friends in the Finance Working Group have been reviewing Social.coop's cash flow and have determined that we as a co-op could increase our budget. For instance, on Open Collective, our current balance is £9,253.27 GBP. Our estimated annual income is £5,845.01 GBP, while we are spending about £3k. That means, even allowing for some extra savings, we could consider increasing our budget, perhaps starting with another £1,000 per year.

That's exciting! What should we do with it? This is a thread to begin the discussion of what more we could be doing to make our little club more wonderful.

G

Giacomo Mon 3 Oct 2022 3:22PM

A fediverse dating app?

NS

Poll Created Mon 3 Oct 2022 3:31PM

Poll: What should Social.coop invest extra funds in? Closed Mon 10 Oct 2022 3:01PM

Outcome
by Nathan Schneider Mon 10 Oct 2022 5:06PM

Thank you to all who participated! The Finance Working Group will develop proposals for how to move forward based on this input.

The Finance Working Group has found that we can afford to raise our co-op's budget. This is an informal poll to explore things that people might be interested in spending more money on. We will use results from this discussion to facilitate new proposals for co-op investments.

Results

Results Option Rank % of points Points Mean
Pay members of the working groups more 1 20.5% 184 5.8
Add a new service (e.g., hosted chat, email, file-sharing, etc.) 2 15.8% 142 4.4
Donate to Mastodon development 3 15.7% 141 4.4
Donate to co-op development 4 15.2% 136 4.3
Lower the suggested costs of membership 5 12.5% 112 3.5
Create a new working group (e.g., newsletter, outreach, etc.) 6 12.2% 109 3.4
Something not listed here (specify in the Reason comment field) 7 8.0% 72 2.3
Undecided 0% 0 0

32 of 171 people have participated (18%)

DB

Doug Belshaw Mon 3 Oct 2022 3:31PM

 
1 - Lower the suggested costs of membership
 
2 - Donate to Mastodon development
 
3 - Donate to co-op development
 
4 - Pay members of the working groups more
 
5 - Create a new working group (e.g., newsletter, outreach, etc.)
 
6 - Add a new service (e.g., hosted chat, email, file-sharing, etc.)
 
7 - Something not listed here (specify in the Reason comment field)

I'm not sure how much the working groups are paid, but I always think that removing money as a barrier to participation (as much as possible) is a good thing. Then, my opinion is that we should donate surplus, especially to the platform that underpins what we're doing here (which could also include Hometown in future?) and then to co-operative development.

Personally, I'm not interested in other services. I didn't come here for that. Nor, again personally, am I here for the working groups.

MB

Moon Baron Mon 3 Oct 2022 3:31PM

 
1 - Pay members of the working groups more
 
2 - Lower the suggested costs of membership
 
3 - Create a new working group (e.g., newsletter, outreach, etc.)
 
4 - Donate to Mastodon development
 
5 - Add a new service (e.g., hosted chat, email, file-sharing, etc.)
 
6 - Donate to co-op development
 
7 - Something not listed here (specify in the Reason comment field)

If lowering the suggested costs of membership, I think the lower cost should be re-evaluated in X months according to budget projections.

I worry that creating new workgroups and adding services can make things less sustainable if not done thoughtfully.

If not paying our existing working groups more, funding WGs that specifically involve growing the community and public outreach seem to me to be the best way to sustainably grow imho :)

NS

Nathan Schneider Mon 3 Oct 2022 3:47PM

 
1 - Create a new working group (e.g., newsletter, outreach, etc.)
 
2 - Add a new service (e.g., hosted chat, email, file-sharing, etc.)
 
3 - Pay members of the working groups more
 
4 - Donate to co-op development
 
5 - Donate to Mastodon development
 
6 - Lower the suggested costs of membership
 
7 - Something not listed here (specify in the Reason comment field)

The only reason that I do not rank "Lower the suggested costs of membership" higher is that that many users don't pay, and membership is potentially as low as a member feels comfortable paying. Correct me if I'm wrong but my perception is that our current income level is based on what people want to contribute voluntarily.

JD

Josh Davis Mon 3 Oct 2022 3:31PM

 
1 - Pay members of the working groups more
 
2 - Donate to co-op development
 
3 - Donate to Mastodon development
 
4 - Add a new service (e.g., hosted chat, email, file-sharing, etc.)
 
5 - Something not listed here (specify in the Reason comment field)
 
6 - Create a new working group (e.g., newsletter, outreach, etc.)
 
7 - Lower the suggested costs of membership

As of now we don't pay members of most working group and I know from experience how fragile depending on volunteer labor can make an organization, and how much stability a little money to pay for work can bring. I also like the idea of us sharing the wealth by making contributions to other aligned groups/projects.

F

freescholar Mon 3 Oct 2022 3:31PM

 
1 - Lower the suggested costs of membership
 
2 - Donate to Mastodon development
 
3 - Pay members of the working groups more
 
4 - Add a new service (e.g., hosted chat, email, file-sharing, etc.)
 
5 - Donate to co-op development
 
6 - Create a new working group (e.g., newsletter, outreach, etc.)
 
7 - Something not listed here (specify in the Reason comment field)

access for people with less funds is a way to grow

SW

Sam Whited Mon 3 Oct 2022 3:31PM

 
1 - Pay members of the working groups more
 
2 - Donate to co-op development
 
3 - Add a new service (e.g., hosted chat, email, file-sharing, etc.)
 
4 - Create a new working group (e.g., newsletter, outreach, etc.)
 
5 - Something not listed here (specify in the Reason comment field)
 
6 - Donate to Mastodon development
 
7 - Lower the suggested costs of membership

Other: give small grants to newly formed co-ops to help them get started

AW

Aaron Wolf Mon 3 Oct 2022 3:31PM

 
1 - Add a new service (e.g., hosted chat, email, file-sharing, etc.)
 
2 - Lower the suggested costs of membership
 
3 - Donate to Mastodon development
 
4 - Something not listed here (specify in the Reason comment field)
 
5 - Create a new working group (e.g., newsletter, outreach, etc.)
 
6 - Pay members of the working groups more
 
7 - Donate to co-op development

I'm not sure because I haven't been involved enough in the inside details, but I think we have a huge need for lots more co-op services for online, that is my top priority. Get people freed from corporate-advertising platforms!!!

I do have another concern which is that I'd like to see if there are ways to reduce the financial fees taken by banks and credit card processors. So, if we reduce membership to lower levels, which I support, I'd like to see emphasize on minimizing fees. Maybe annual payments instead of monthly in order to avoid per-payment fees.

A

andia Mon 3 Oct 2022 3:31PM

 
1 - Donate to co-op development
 
2 - Pay members of the working groups more
 
3 - Donate to Mastodon development
 
4 - Lower the suggested costs of membership
 
5 - Add a new service (e.g., hosted chat, email, file-sharing, etc.)
 
6 - Create a new working group (e.g., newsletter, outreach, etc.)
 
7 - Something not listed here (specify in the Reason comment field)

I think directing funds to build out the co-op makes sense (though 'development' is a bit vague); also feel that people working on the project should be compensated for their time so their continues to be a project to work on :)

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