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Charting a Sustainable Path: Your Contribution Matters
Since 2020, The Plural Association Nonprofit (TPA) has served as a steadfast beacon of support, striving tirelessly to cultivate a nurturing environment for all Plurals. Through unique annual events such as Plural Pride Day, DID Awareness Day, and the Plural Positivity World Conference, we aim to create empowering experiences that celebrate diversity and foster connections. In our commitment to sustainable growth and ensuring financial inclusivity, we’ve recently made a significant adjustment to our ticketing system.
Previously, we offered tickets for our events free of charge. However, in light of new financial advice, the fact that PPWC doubled in attendance in one year, and our ongoing effort to guarantee the sustainability of our offerings, we’ve introduced a new donation system for tickets. Instead of offering free tickets as before, we now encourage a donation of $10 per ticket. However, we also provide a 50% discount coupon, effectively bringing the cost down to just $5. This system allows attendees to donate either $5 or $10, based on their financial circumstances. We still offer free tickets through our scholarship program, more about that in a minute.
We find it crucial to share this shift with our supportive community and shed light on why we made this decision, how it benefits TPA, and how we utilize your generous contributions.
Financial Sustainability:
TPA recently welcomed a professional, independent bookkeeper. Not required by Dutch or US law, this move is a response to valuable community feedback and our commitment to transparency. Accurate and up-to-date financial records are key to building trust in how we manage and utilize your generous donations. We can’t wait to release the donor reports that are being prepared for the community.
While the level of transparency we aim for may not be typical among all nonprofits serving the community, we firmly believe that it’s this very transparency, our ethical responsibility, and our decision to work with an independent professional that will distinguish us. Our bookkeeper’s role goes beyond mere maintenance of financial records. They provide strategic financial advice, aiding us in making critical decisions for our long-term sustainability. One crucial insight they provided was the unsustainability of our previous ticket system, prompting us to introduce a $10 ticket donation, with the option to use a 50% discount code. This ensures a more sustainable operation, while maintaining scholarships for those who need them, and free access for our all-inclusive private community members.
We express profound gratitude for your continued support and understanding. Your contributions and trust empower us to fulfil our mission of supporting Plurals worldwide.
Your Impactful Contribution:
As a fully community-funded organization, your contributions serve as the vital pillars supporting TPA. Every dollar you donate fuels our mission, supporting the upkeep of our peer-led structure, enabling the creation of free resources, facilitating the planning of accessible events, and providing scholarships.
Understanding Your $5 Ticket:
Here’s how your $5 ticket donation, after applying the discount coupon, supports our cause:
– $1 is allocated to Airmeet, the conference software platform we use for our events.
– $1 goes towards a scholarship, ensuring participation is possible for all community members.
– $1 covers various administrative costs like bank fees, bookkeeping, and other logistical expenses.
– $1 supports team collaboration tools, captions and creative needs for graphic design, video editing, etc.
– The final $1 is saved in TPA’s savings account, creating a solid foundation for future initiatives.
Tickets priced higher allow us to add a larger sum to TPA’s savings account, a necessity considering that projects like The Plural Warmline can only commence when we have saved up six months’ worth of operational costs to ensure uninterrupted service.
Expenditure Transparency:
We judiciously manage your donations. We don’t spend funds on advertising, due to an advertising grant we received. We don’t maintain a physical office space, with every team member, including our founders, the Stronghold System, volunteering remotely. Unnecessary costs are minimized, ensuring maximum funds are directed towards initiatives benefiting our community.
Aspirations for Growth:
We constantly strive to elevate our service to the Plural community. We aim to financially compensate our presenters, cultivate the work of The Refractory, and establish the Plural Warmline, a venture requiring substantial funding. These goals heavily rely on community donations and event revenue.
Sliding Scale and Scholarships:
Even with the introduction of the $5 ticket donation, we remain steadfast in our commitment to financial inclusivity. We continue to offer a sliding scale for event tickets, ensuring price is not a barrier. Those unable to donate $5 are encouraged to apply for a scholarship, a straightforward process requiring only a few non-intrusive details.
Additionally, for those who can and wish to contribute more, we have options for singlets, clinicians, and others who want to support our cause more generously. Please share our event with your friends, ask an ally to purchase a ticket for you or someone else, or post about our events on social media!
Understanding the Nonprofit Industrial Complex and Its Implications:
In our quest for transparency and honesty, we feel it’s important to address the concept of the nonprofit industrial complex, a system where charities and nonprofits become entangled in capitalist structures, potentially compromising their mission to meet the demands of funders, governmental bodies, or corporate sponsors. This is closely linked to the psychiatric industrial complex, where the mental health field can become a profit-driven industry rather than a service to those in need.
At TPA, we are acutely aware of these issues. For example, we know that the Dutch warmline (for people who are lonely) was peer and volunteer led for over 20 years, as the Dutch government paid the bills. However, after 20 years of faithful service, the volunteers were let go, and the government hired people without lived experience to do a quicker job, it’s no longer peer or volunteer-led. We respect and (aim to) understand those that are, but we are not anti-psychiatry, however we believe it’s paramount to maintain clear boundaries to avoid potential conflicts of interest or unethical situations, such as external entities deciding how Plurals should be supported, who we can or can’t support, or how we should allocate resources. We firmly believe in being led by those we serve—Plurals—and we insist on being answerable to our community, not external entities. If you want to learn more about NIC, we highly recommend the book: ”The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex.”
As a fully peer-led and community-funded organization, we strive to resist these complexes. Our structure ensures that no external parties dictate our operations, goals, or focus areas. We believe that Plurals, those who understand and live the experiences we aim to address, should be the ones, the Many, leading the charge. This is why we emphasize the importance of community funding.
The Importance of Community Funding:
Being community-funded allows us to remain independent and focused on our mission without external interference. It ensures that our work remains relevant, useful, and empowering for Plurals. Your donations, whether through direct contributions or by purchasing tickets to our events, keep us going. They ensure that our organization remains of the Plurals, by the Plurals, and for the Plurals.
The Impact of Your Contributions:
When you donate to TPA or purchase a ticket for our events, you’re not just contributing to a cause. You’re investing in the future of Plurals worldwide, allowing us to continue providing resources, support, and platforms for connection and growth. Your contributions help us maintain our independence and our ability to focus on the issues that matter most to our community.
The Power of Plurals:
We are proud to be community-funded and believe it’s not just possible, but essential to our success. We trust in the power of our community and our shared commitment to creating a more inclusive, understanding world for Plurals. We believe that no one else but Plurals should have a say in how TPA is run, what we focus on, and what we do. Not doctors, governments, businesses, and not even allies.
Your contributions are not just donations; they are affirmations of trust and solidarity. They are investments in a future where every Plural feels seen, heard, and empowered. Thank you for your support, for believing in us, and for making this journey possible.
In Conclusion:
TPA’s mission to build a supportive, empathetic Plural community is reinforced by your participation and donations. The revision in our ticketing system represents a strategic step towards facilitating our growth and our continued ability to provide meaningful, accessible experiences for every member of our community. We deeply appreciate your understanding and continued support as we embark on this journey together, fostering a world where every Plural and every Headmate feels understood, supported, and connected.
About the authors
The Stronghold System are the proud volunteer founders & CEO of The Plural Association Nonprofit. They are from the Netherlands and reside in a 30-something-year-old body, are nonbinary, parents of an amazing child & 3 cats. They got diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder over 10 years ago & also self ID as Plural.