A Look at Network Cash Flow
Michael speaking now, one to one. Time to let go of that editorial 'we' that I've tried hard to reflect in writing most of the other pages on this site.
What follows is apple accounting: honest, simple, and without guile. I need financial support to make a legitimate go of the Holistic Orchard Network. You in turn need to trust the story and not merely be taken in by the glitter. I'll post each year's finances here in this form until such time as more people give credence to 'more normal' bookkeeping, if such can truly be said of non-profits and other bureaucratic twists and turns.
Budget Momentum
We do what we can with your generous support. Upping the pace of fundraising to $1,200 a month will provide the resources necessary to do more. This includes promoting community orchards everywhere. Being this network's Orchard Extension Agent for the Little Guy, so to speak, helps bring earth sense to a conversation that otherwise rarely breaks from toxic thinking. Hiring a research coordinator to work directly with growers is another goal. Assistance with office tasks would be fantastic.
Grower membership along with fruit lover fervor empowers these efforts. Together we are discovering deeper ways to support our trees and feed our communities.
Grow Your Orchard Library at our Bookshelf2021
Our prospects kicked up a notch with $9695 in contributions. The website revamp energized many of you, including 38 new members. Web expenses $3659; research projects $2129; coordinator compensation $3000. PayPal fees always take a bite as well. Headway with bionutrient ferments made on the farm will be a game changer!
2020
Network support nudged upward to $5560. Our online presence gained pizazz, more pages on the site were made responsive, and persistent hackers were rebuffed. Web expenses $1901; research projects and networking $1660; coordinator compensation $2400. Exciting inroads into orchard sap analysis will benefit all fruit growers.
2019
We have upped the ante this past year, finally, with total contributions coming in at $5015. Sponsor upgrades on the Grower Resources page helped as did member mystique around the Secret Tattoo. Huzzah! Web expenses $2327; research projects and networking $1519; coordinator compensation $1800. Adding titles to the Bookshelf kept revenue potential humming there as well.
2018
Turns out we're a steady state affair some ten years down the road. Contributions tallied in at $3715. Web expenses increased to $2341 in order to make the site more mobile-friendly. Research into biological sprays and fungal riffs added up to $729. Two newsletters cost $1200 to write and produce. Book sales made up the difference.
2017
Contributions tallied in at $3135. Web expenses accounted for $1670; networking for $220; research added $957. No wages were wasted on the slacker who never wrote a single newsletter. Book sales went towards rebuilding inventory. Maintaining a fund balance of ~$2000 determines how much headway can be made.
2016
So goes a year dedicated to crafting Mycorrhizal Planet. Financial support fell off slightly to $3372 accordingly. Web expenses accounted for $2421, allowing for significant upgrades to our online community. Networking held the line at $200; research tallied $1170 as monies were indeed used for fungal acumen. This left $500 to put towards a summer newsletter.
2015
A guy writes more newsletters and of course folks respond... financial support for network efforts increased to $4810. Web expenses accounted for $1823; networking for $450; research got a $700 chunk for herbal tea assays and a light microscope. This left $1200 for michael mojo to write four informative issues of the Community Orchardist.
2014
Network donations dropped slightly to $2914. Web expenses accounted for $1758; grower networking for $279; research took the form of a $500 deposit on a flail mower attachment. Book sales produced a modest profit of $800, thereby allowing the holistic guy behind these efforts a $500 salary for the first time in years.
2013
Contributions totaled $3379 this year. Spending consisted of $1760 towards internet doings, $309 towards networking, $366 towards research. Another $3422 was spent on book inventory, the sales of which netted approximately $975 to help with costs. Keep in mind a portion of inventory remains in stock at all times, which goes hand in hand with a fluctuating bank account.
2012
Contributions totaling $3105, coupled with two grants for $500 apiece, allowed us to launch The Portal! Developing this online community cost $2206, with all data firmly secured within the GOA domain. Other web-related expenses accounted for $1141; networking for $583; income taxes for $200. Bookshelf net edged over the $500 mark, covering half of the requisite ISP connection.
2011
Call this an infrastructure year. My devotion to getting Holistic Orchard into print meant newsletter writing mostly got put on the backburner . . . but folks still came through with $3415 to grow this network. A mega accomplishment was setting up the Bookshelf to create income flow for office expenses.
2010
People donated $3155 towards our budget goals this year... which shows we're gaining rightful momentum. Website expenses accounted for $393; networking for $308; another $593 went to purchase a digital camera; the soil test project accounted for $305. This allowed $1000 for coordinator remuneration, along with $300 to catch up with the taxman as we start to build a core fund balance in our account.
2009
Raising funds for this effort reflect the orchard year, in a sense. People donated $340 in the dormant season, another $1080 came in when leaves were green, and the harvest season saw a final $300. Grower members, network sponsors, and the occasional apple lover made this work possible. Expenses account for $960; I allot $500 for many hours of work; leaving an account balance of $260 to start the new year.
2008
I make the case in a winter newsletter: The time has come to launch Grow Organic Apples in all its glory. Six inspired supporters donate $900 immediately. An additional $360 of donations arrive by year's end. Establishment expenses are now fully paid. I bet I have as much time in on this project as I have contributed in all the past years combined.
2007
Golden Apples is introduced as a means to share the networking costs with growers, based on the public radio model. Six folks donate $200 total, allowing us to register a domain name and secure a host for a new website. No research updates are posted as there's no funding for Sienna (our webster) to take intentions further. I send out two newsletters and start saving for that sprayer.
2004-2006The orchardist pages on my farm website were initially financed by web sales of my Apple Grower book. Internet sales average about sixty copies a year, netting approximately $900 a year (after purchasing books from my publisher and paying for shipping). These earnings covered shared site costs and paying our talented webster . . . but I eventually came to recognize why I could never afford a decent orchard sprayer! My many hours of writing and research time were donated to aspirations of what might be. |
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