Sustainable forever – the hardest question.
I don't pretend to already have this answer. But I'd rather share what I imagine than keep it to myself.
The question with no answer yet
A community that lasts needs resources that also last. This is probably the hardest question in this whole project.
Today there is no financial model at all. The only costs are this site's domain and hosting, paid by me. That's already stated in the FAQ, and it remains true as I write this page.
The vision I hold
I have a picture of how this might sustain itself one day, and I'd rather share it with you than keep it to myself.
I imagine AllOne funded, permanently, by people who recognise themselves in this vision and choose to contribute their own resources — people who give because they believe in it, patrons who decide to support it, and in some cases legacies from those who wanted to leave something lasting behind them. I also imagine public and private institutions recognising value in this project, not as charity, but as an investment in the wellbeing of current generations and those still to come.
It's a picture, not a plan — the same phrase I already use for the villages applies here. There is no structure yet capable of receiving donations, no public-interest status, no agreement with any institution. But that is the direction I would like the project to take.
Not-for-profit — but there's a distinction to make
One thing I can say with complete certainty, even without a defined legal form: no resource AllOne ever receives will serve anyone's private profit. This is already on the site as a commitment — "an economy serving life" — and it isn't a new promise, it's the same one, said from another angle.
What I cannot yet say is that we are, today, a registered not-for-profit organisation. We are nothing registered, yet. The legal form — association, cooperative, foundation, or another figure — remains undecided, and will be decided with whoever is here when the time comes.
The challenge, said plainly
Sustaining a project on donations alone is hard. Most organisations that live on this alone go through good years and bad, and some don't survive their second decade. I don't want to promise a solution I don't have.
What I can promise is this: whenever decisions about money need to be made, they will be made clearly and transparently. And I will look for ways to make this less fragile than most similar projects — perhaps through its own production, perhaps through partnerships, perhaps in ways I can't yet imagine.
If this resonates with you
If you're someone who might want to contribute, or an institution that sees something here worth supporting, write. There is no formal mechanism yet to receive that support, but there is always a person on the other end of the email, ready to talk about what might be possible.
Thank you.