[Cynnabar] Donations vs. Site fees

[Annikki Raiford]

On Fri, Sep 16, 2011 at 2:45 PM, Dennis Higgins <mortisfan at comcast.net> wrote:
> Separating out the tread…
>
> The idea of doing a donation only site-fee model to cover event expenses is
> fine. Can it work? I don’t know. It would be interesting to find out. The
> group would have to acknowledge the inherent risk that the donated site-fees
> may not be enough to cover event costs. As long as we are OK with this, then
> I would personally not be against trying this model out.
>
> Do I think we should go to donation only site-fee model for every event? No.
> Some sites and events are just too big and I would not be comfortable with
> that risk. But with smaller events or as one-off trial basis, I think it
> would be cool to try.
>
> -Finn

Hi.  I'm just repeating what I said earlier for the sake of getting it
into the appropriate thread.  I hope this is a good thing.  Sorry for
putting it into the wrong thread earlier.

If I remember correctly, this kind of model is actually working well
at some businesses, like some Paneras.  I know I've heard of some
other places doing it, too, but I can't remember specifics.  SCAdians
often seem to pride themselves on generosity and fairness, so I have
little doubt that a donation model that works in the general
population would work any less well in the SCA.  It's just a matter of
being transparent about how much money is needed and how the money is
being used.

If we did go to such a model, the whole "comp" issue is eliminated
altogether.  Any issues of non-member surcharge are automatically
eliminated, too.

Adele