Transparency- Knowing is half the Battle

Nothing is sadder than watching a beloved non-profit close its doors without knowing your help was needed. As a customer and a donor, I know how this feels first hand and the unsettled feeling always leaves me asking a series of “what if” scenarios. “What if I was a better patron, could I have made a difference?” “Could I organize a fundraiser?” “Could it stay open more if I volunteered?” Often times the closure of a non-profit is more complex than finances or volunteers, however they do play a huge role in operations.

At DIY Studio we have a diverse board of seven highly-qualified members who know the ins and outs of our non-profit. We also have a handful of members who get our weekly newsletters and calls to help but aren’t aware of our financial details. And then we have our customers who visit and know even less. To combat this, we’ve devised a marvelous plan (at least I think so!) that involves a simple graphic, paint pens, and hand lettering. Oh yes, we must communicate artistically!

Let me introduce you to our goal board.

This board is displayed behind our counter and gives a visual report of how DIY Studio is doing for the month of August. Each month we’ll update the board with our goal and each day we’ll add the amounts received from our classes, membership, material sales, and artwork sales. The revenue covers programming costs, utilities (which were outrageous in July), insurance, expenses, and occupancy in that month. And eventually in September, we hope that number will grow to employ our first-time. part-time green-collar worker.

We hope this helps communication with the public and allows our supporters like yourself to feel more invested and knowledgeable about how and what is needed for us to offer our services to the public.

And we’d love for you to become a member, take a class and purchase items from our store to help us reach our goal for August (and keep our lights on). We also have exciting fundraisers in August that will be announced shortly, so stay tuned. And as always thanks for your support. We wouldn’t be here without you!