I hope people haven't got the impression that this was mostly about money! Nevertheless, I'd actually turn the question around: bearing in mind what you can afford, what is (and has been) the value of London Vegan Meetup (and events such as London Vegan Drinks and CULT) to you personally, to the local vegan community, or to the promotion of veganism? (For example, what's a partner worth!?)
Looking only at current expenses neglects everything that we could do if we had the budget. (Indeed a budget!) We can't carry out costly activities in the hope that someone will reimburse us (especially based on past experience). So we've had to restrict ourselves to what we can afford. Therefore, marketing has been limited (although it's not true that there's been none), we haven't been able to cover the costs of film licenses or visiting speakers' travel (so have had neither), we haven't been able to fund outreach...
And while London Vegan Meetup has always cost me more than it's generated, is it outrageous to think that there could even be some compensation for the time that it takes up? There seem to be no qualms about the organisers of other vegan events generating an income (even when those organisers are not vegan themselves, so will inevitably spend such proceeds on animal exploitation). So is there something that makes London Vegan Meetup different? Or have we just become too accustomed to getting something for nothing?
I hope people haven't got the impression that this was mostly about money! Nevertheless, I'd actually turn the question around: bearing in mind what you can afford, what is (and has been) the value of London Vegan Meetup (and events such as London Vegan Drinks and CULT) to you personally, to the local vegan community, or to the promotion of veganism? (For example, what's a partner worth!?)
Looking only at current expenses neglects everything that we could do if we had the budget. (Indeed a budget!) We can't carry out costly activities in the hope that someone will reimburse us (especially based on past experience). So we've had to restrict ourselves to what we can afford. Therefore, marketing has been limited (although it's not true that there's been none), we haven't been able to cover the costs of film licenses or visiting speakers' travel (so have had neither), we haven't been able to fund outreach...
And while London Vegan Meetup has always cost me more than it's generated, is it outrageous to think that there could even be some compensation for the time that it takes up? There seem to be no qualms about the organisers of other vegan events generating an income (even when those organisers are not vegan themselves, so will inevitably spend such proceeds on animal exploitation). So is there something that makes London Vegan Meetup different? Or have we just become too accustomed to getting something for nothing?