i am doing my own research, but can anyone direct me to some sources of funding for a community bicycle co-op? we only have this co-op open one night a week and the demand for parts and help is a lot higher than that. we would like to have it open several days a week, but i think we all have bills to pay need to pay someone to make that work.

the co-op works in a blue collar neighborhood with lots of immigrants, "at-risk" youth, people who rely on bicycles for transportation to work, and people who do not yet speak English. i think of this as a humanitarian endeavor, but also an ecological one because it empowers people to move without cars and recycle bicycle parts that might have otherwise be thrown away.

any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Have you contacted other co-ops around the country to see how they are set up? I can think of three in Chicago, different sizes and in different parts of town, with somewhat different focus in each one. I've been to two of them; they seem to be thriving, at least from the amount of activity I see at them. Both of those have a retail operation, selling fixed-up bikes at decent prices. The larger is only open two half-days a week---when I was in there Saturday at 1 they'd already sold 36 of the 40 bikes they had prepared for the day!

Check with your local bike club and possably local churches as they might know more about chilren at risk programs. Additionly there is a national bike-coop org that supplies helpfuil info.

despite the shop being a co-op, it needs to run like a business or it will be an exercise in anarchy.

Am I correct in reading that your volunteer base only allows you to be open one night a week? If so, do the volunteers come from your target groups?

Check with the Alliance for Biking & Walking (https://www.peoplepoweredmovement.org). They have an upcoming mutual aid call on fundraising for these types of groups, as well as a lot of the other details in starting up and growing a bike-oriented non-profit organization.

In addition to donations, the co-op around here sells rebuilt bikes and parts like cables, housing and chains. They also ask for $5/hour for using their tools.

+1 on running it like a business.

Immigrants have their own social organizations/churches, work with those. The government has all the money, see if you can work with schools or the police, talk to local politicians.

Immigrants might be better off starting a bike shop if there is a need. I think co-ops are a middle class business concept having to do with availability of free time and charity money, real estate prices and tax rules. If the area is a transition between a wealthy and poor area it might work, otherwise start a real business.

Don't forget the possibility of in-kind contributions, i.e. a parts manufacturer or LBS giving you parts directly.

+1 from years of experience.

Enjoy

Here's another vote for running it like a business. But go one step further: file the paperwork to become a 501c3. Donations will then be tax-deductible, which is appealing for donors, but most of all it makes you seem more legit. Otherwise you'll find it very difficult to get grants, or donations from other organizations.

"Get legit" and you'll find that there's plenty of money available.

Getting funding from a large foundation would be a big help. But to do this you need to have a lot of things in place - like an advisory board - business plan - etc.

My local co-op offers a yearly membership for a fee. For that fee you get 4 basic maintenance classes (intro, brakes, gears, wheels.) They also charge an hourly/daily fee for rentals. They sell restored bikes and new bike parts.

So you can get money from foundations, grants, and revenue from the business.

These links might help:

https://ohiocitycycles.org/wiki/tiki-...=NewCoopAdvice

https://ohiocitycycles.org/index.php?...d=46&Itemid=41

Yes, 501c3 status is almost essential to get grants. But you can also get "fiscal sponsorship" from another 501c3 and essentially borrow theirs. All your grants would go to them first and they would charge a small fee. Legal and common. A good way to get started while you wait for your own 501c3 to come through.

Another place to look for funding and advice is any local community foundations that might exist.