Go Fund CYS

Dear Friends of Cincinnati Yoga School / Panch Maha Yoga,

If you are new to our fundraiser, please scroll down to read the origination story for it. Otherwise, this first paragraph is an update ...and a bit of a plea to help us reach the 2022 finish line. Our original goal, set back in the spring, was $9000 by the end of the year, and we almost reached it a few months ago with $7k, but then donations fell off dramatically. Nevertheless, $9k still seems to be the amount we really need to reach or we risk getting behind with our collectors.  For, although membership at our new studio has increased, monthly membership payments are staggered and will not arrive in time to meet our January rent, utilities, teacher pay, etc (and we still are unable to even consider getting new new sign as that will cost another $5k).   Therefore, our plea is that our donors might help us with at least one more push for $2k, that we might reach that original year end goal. Thereafter, we are hopeful that the usual January fitness rush will drive in enough new clients to move us into smoother sailing (even though most new years resolutions only last until about Feb 15th ...lol)
 
(Below is the original post for why we started this fundraiser)

CYS has always felt that yoga is our community service, not just a business. In fact, CYS has never really made any profit from classes and usually operates at a loss. It is for the love of our members and our beautiful and sacred temple space that we have kept it going -and for longer than any other studio in the region!  ~But, as many of you know, things haven't gotten any easier financially over the years; and over the past year we even contemplated shutting down several times. In fact, it seemed kind of crazy not to shut down, but we kept praying and kept hanging in there, not even knowing why... until now.   

We have been offered a great deal on what was formerly a hot yoga studio in the most high car and foot-traffic area of the University of Cincinnati campus (W. McMillan Street). Pre-pandemic this studio would often see up to 25 students per class and held several classes per day.  ((...At CYS we currently see a total of about 25 students in a whole week!))  -Of course, increasing membership by a 1000% doesn't matter a whole lot if the building rent is also a thousand times higher (like everything else in Clifton) but the landlord has decided to make it much more affordable for CYS. Why? Because he would rather keep it as a space for yoga than go thru the expense of having to gut the building to make way for a new restaurant or whatever. 

I won't disclose all the details, but I will say that they are giving us a 90-day-free-headstart; as they want us to be already up and running by the time students return to campus in September. Anyway, I ran the numbers over and over and came to believe that, not only can we turn a decent profit at this location (given the headstart and a hugely significant decrease in rent) but also profit enough to keep our beloved Lotus Yoga Temple open in Pleasant Ridge. In fact, that was my whole purpose in even considering their offer. Otherwise, we would have had no interest in running a hot yoga studio on the other side of town.  -However,  it is also worth noting that the yoga trainings we offer abroad are the types of learning experiences college students drool over. And since the landlord's company also owns literally hundreds of dorm rooms surrounding (and even above) the hot yoga studio, they said they could help us reach those students with flyers and such directly at their dorm room doors. Thus, I believe this will add to our ability to prosper significantly.  
 
In summary, this is all do-able! But, in the words of that famous Beatle/Yogi (George Harrison) "It's gonna take money"... "to do it, to do it, to do it, right, child!"

...Ok, okay, I will stop beating around the bush. They are giving us a tremendous deal, too good to pass, but we will still have a lot of start up costs. Therefore, we are asking you to help us avoid having to take out a big loan to do this - because, frankly, I don't even know if we could get a big loan; at least not without a high interest rate. But, because so many of you have already come to us asking how you can help CYS survive and/or succeed (as well as a few serendipitous events) we began to feel more and more confident that we can actually pull this off.  ~Nevertheless, we don't want the burden to fall entirely on those individuals who offered support, nor do we know how much support they can actually offer. Therefore, we will need a significant group effort to get this off the ground. But once we do, we feel confident that it will help ensure a more financially sound future for the studios of both locations. 

Total Goal: 
$9,000
Help towards 1/3rd of this would be greatly appreciated within the first week of June (an important milestone/deadline).
The rest would need to come within the next 90 days.

We have decided not to break this goal down into itemized pieces because we do not want to imply or disclose information about our lease agreement that is not approved by the landlord. 

Whether you can help CYS out with this or not, we still have extreme gratitude for all the support students have given us over the years, if only by being a member. We couldn't have done anything without you!

Namaste!
Will

Om Guhn Guhnna Pattayai Namah!

Please Note (1)
Some of you may have seen this post earlier wherein our goal was $7000. The reason we raised it another $2000 is because of the cost of putting up new signage.  After looking into it, to meet the signage requirements of the area and the landlord we need to hire a prefessional designer and have professional installation - which also requires expensive illumination. Thus, the $2000 we are requesting to help with this expense is rather low.  (Update: as of Dec 2021, $2k is not even close and we have $0 to start with, as donations so far have gone towards unofreseen operating costs.) 

Please Note (2)
Not sure how much to give?
Here's some perspective:

If every student we currently have gave $180 we would meet our $9000 goal.

Both 9 and 108 are very "audacious numbers" to yogis.  Thus, any derivative of those numbers (9 or 108 / 12 x 9 =108) is considered an audacious donation.  (: i.e: $9, $12, $36, $108, $180, $1800, $3600 :) 

Three years ago CYS charged $150 for a "15 Class Pass". Most members get about 15 classes in within 3 months. Today, 3 months of classes only costs $108 ($36 x 3).

Please Note (3)
Worried about UC area parking? No need!
It used to be an issue for the prior yoga studio, but since then the company that basically owns the block -and the parking garage right next to the yoga studio- has reduced the price tremendously to just $1 for 90min! That's plenty of time to take a yoga class and get back to your car without rushing.