Funding
Here we would like to explain from which sources we finance ourselves. The biggest financial gap we have to close is the regular income we need to keep the business running.
Funds
The budget for the software development project was €370,000 in total, €185,000 was contributed by ourselves and €185,000 by the state of NRW. Our own contribution came mainly from previous crowdfunding campaigns. For C3S this has been wonderful and a huge step forward. However, all the money that is in this project has been used exclusively within the project. The project was completed in 2015 and since then has formed the foundation of C3S’ software infrastructure. Unfortunately, we were not able to raise any further funds so far, so that the development since then is done on a voluntary basis.
Since then we have applied for financial support from several different funding sources and will continue to look for further grants from funding pools in the future. However, some of these grants are again tied to our own funds, i.e. additional own money is also required for new grants.
Cooperative shares
The contributions to the cooperative are naturally intended to be invested in the interests of the cooperative. However, we must ensure that this money is spent as far as possible in such a way that lasting value is created. For example, if we buy equipment from it that can be sold again later, the money is not immediately “gone”. This is particularly relevant because the shares are to be paid out again when when a member leaves the cooperative.
OMC e.V.
Without the non-profit OMC e.V. we would not have been able to bring the C3S to the point where we are now. Since 2010 it was the primary project of the association, which was founded to promote free art, culture and science. It collected donations and was thus able to finance travel expenses to lectures or the printing of information brochures, for example. In the meantime, however, C3S has become an independent legal entity and is not non-profit in the fiscal sense. The OMC e.V. can still participate in concrete common projects in the future, if this is compatible with its statutory purposes. Therefore donations to the association are still a good deed, especially if you want to deduct the amounts from your taxes. However, it is obvious that the OMC e.V. cannot take over the running costs of a cooperative and issue donation receipts for it.
Crowdfunding
As mentioned above, the majority of our own contribution to the development project comes from crowdfunding campaigns. So why not start another crowdfunding campaign? Well, crowdfunding works well when it is tied to very concrete projects that promise direct value to the supporters. For example, we have offered participation in a barcamp or merchandising. We will probably continue to run campaigns in the future to finance events such as general meetings or an information tour. However, they cannot be repeated regularly to maintain normal business operations, so they are also unsuitable.
Membership fees
The classic source of income for associations and also cooperatives are contributions from members.
On 16 July 2015, the extraordinary general meeting of the C3S SCE adopted a provisional scale of contributions, as we would otherwise lack the financial basis to continue our joint project.
Since 2015, the membership fee for full members is 50 euros for the whole year. The General Assembly decides each year anew on the membership fee, as long as we are not in the process of running our business and can cover the costs through a share of the income. As you may know, after the start of regular business operations as a collecting society, the contributions to C3S should be linked to what is actually distributed by C3S: If you have no license income, you should not have to pay a membership fee. But this is in the future, and the development of C3S has to be covered until then.
Collective sponsoring as a subsidy subscription
We would like to suggest that you support us with a monthly standing transfer order of any amount. If you have a homepage or a blog, you can show your support with a small banner from a minimum amount of €5 per month:
You can find out exactly what to do to take part in this C3S subsidy subscription on our sponsorship page:
