You have the right to know
where every penny goes!
I am working on becoming a non profit, because nothing about what I am doing is for earning money for myself. If EVERYTHING, the events locations, merch, swag, misc. stuff, beings working the events, 5% to charities, all of that is taken care of, then I will will worry about paying myself a living wage, aka whatever min wage is as a monthly salary, and even THAT will prob get thrown at least part way into doing more for hosting events….
I want to give back to the communities that have accepted me for me and therefore helped me. socializing with others in safe and healthy environments is good for everybody. Talking to beings outside of your normal social circles can teach you so many different things. Games can help teach you skills and encourage you to socialize.
Yup, I’m rambling, I’ve been pretty sick lately and tend to word vomit when I don’t feel good. But everything I said is why I believe so firmly in this. I want to be transparent, so you know that every gil you put towards anything having to do with ArithNinja Crafts is going.
I also feel the need to explain that I like to plan LONG term – 10 to 20 years down the line.
Patreon EXPLAINED
Patreon is how I am going to host more than AKIBAN every year.
Let me break down the monthly goals:
#1, the mostest importantest ever thing to know – I want to be very clear,
–even if i get ZERO moneys for this, AKIBAN 2 (3, 4, …) WILL happen.–
Still learning
No matter what, I want to make sure that there is at least 1 free event a year. however, I want to do more! but to do that, I need all of you to help.
Before 3k a month – and between goals
— any extra monies that aren’t going to events/merch/swag will go to charities voted by yall as well as a saving account for a proper building.
A few bank accounts are going to be set up
- Charity of the Month (voted on by you)
- Main – the stuff that pays for venues and fees (capped at 5k after free event)
- Paid events (capped at 10k, I’ll explain in 3k why)
- Merch/Swag – goes towards designing and actually buying the stuff to sell – voted on by yall (caps at 3k)
- Proper building – the mill is great, but it would be nice to not have to pay for venues and can accommodate everything needed – would be rentable (no cap, but at 10k look for place/idea)
Charity of the Month
I want to give back to charity!
Patreon Supports get to vote who each month
- Extra Life
- The Trevor project
- Lakes Stevens In Kind Grant fund
- others that the community recommends
The links might go to my campaign page for the charity, but i never see any of the money, its all done on their site.
Merch/Swag
Paying artist to design the merch
Paying for the merch to actually get made
Previous merch/swag bought
- Stickers
- Pins
- Cups
- Bracelets
- Badge
Proper building
This is only ever going to get 5% until building is bought, which means any payments or utilies cost will have to come under that 5% or be covered by my personal funds
I will not start looking for a building until there is at least 7k in that account, by that point the community should be big enough for input, or I have done this long enough to have an idea of what is needed.
3k a month
at around $3k a month, I will reach out to various escape room and murder mystery host to basically steal ask them to come for a day and host a paid event.
Murder mysteries
Stuff the community recommends
- Safe places to be social with strangers and fund raise for the free events!
- or any other team building/socialization thing i can find High Trek Adventures
Event cost vary – WIDELY – left over funds will go into the account and spillover goes to charity.
7k a month
This amount is 3k + the about 3K needed to run a free event every Quarter, with a little extra because you always need wiggle room for taxes and blah. 1K extra so there is money to go to charity, merch, swag, and all the other stuff.
Out of pocket I spent a total of 7946.54 on AKIBAN for rental of the building, tables and chairs, advertising that included things like business cards, flyers, and signs, but also included stickers and pins that were given out to get the word out. Badges and swag are included as well. Art is also included. Stuff that I got prototypes of but were not sold or given away at the event are not included int that breakdown.
I would also like to point out that I received a grant from the city to help cover the cost of the rental and permit. However, I get to use that grant only 2 more times, and I don’t want to use it if I don’t have to. Honestly, I want to pay them back and donate to them so others can use it as well.
The important part:
Stuff needed for the city and venue.
Will update any price as it changes
| The Mill Deposit | $500 |
| Friday full rental (for vendors to set up) | $1800 |
| Saturday full rental | $2000 |
| Sunday full rental | $1800 |
| Outside (shelter, observation deck, outdoor plaza: sat/sun) | $750 |
| Security deposit for mill (refundable) | $500 |
| Insurance | $150 |
| Level 2 grant | $237 |
The helpful part:
Flyers, tables, and chairs, oh my!
| Chair and table rentals | $430 |
| Flyers, business cards, Physical Ad boards | $320 |
| Online paid ads (100 per week for a month) | $400 |
| Peach jar school flyers (most middle and high schools 1month ad) | $500 |
I got the prices for the Mill and event fee based off of Lake Stevens’ website. Due to me becoming a non profit, the price might go down, but until I have those cost confirmed, I have the full price listed.
The Insurance, table & chair rentals, and advertising I am basing off of how much I paid (not including the swag). While Flyers first starting popping up in March, the online ads didn’t start until September. Honestly, i am willing to do any extra cost for the ads out of my budget or pull from the “beyond 7k a month”
Total price for just one free event is:
Before you go “wait, at that price we could host one almost every month” Please remember that I have a 3k of the 7k already going to monthly paid events. The big free events have vendors who come to the locataion and there is a reason why events like NWC, Dragonflight, ECCC, and a few others are only once year.
I would like to be clear about how I got the ~3k a month.
So how much would it cost to run FOUR free events if they are $8,387
Now, lets divide that by each month in the year
So, there is gonna be taxes and stuff charged from Patreon, I’m sure. As of writing this I don’t have any backers, so I don’t know the full detail without digging into the paperwork and reading the fine line.
Beyond 7k a month
I do not have a plan for this, Yet. I hope the community can give more ideas – like hosting more paid events.
As of this moment though this goal is so far in the future I am only acknowledging its existence. Plans can start being made when I hit 3k a month.