Help keep Turn! Turn! Turn! alive and insured!

Hello friends of Turn! Turn! Turn! If you've frequented TTT in Portland you know it's a special place. Sure it's a music venue and bar, but it's also a community hub, hosting things like community acupuncture, music classes for adults with disabilities, drawing clubs, makers' markets, comedy open mics, book readings, and supportive karaoke. It's a place where bands and other artists can explore new ideas in an open-minded environment that tries not to be too beholden to profit motives.

The Turn community breathed a sigh of relief last December when, after believing we'd have to close the doors, we received an extension on our lease for another year. After a frantic January of booking events and reorganizing, we opened up our doors again in February and have already had a string of fabulous shows! We're super excited for the year ahead. But unfortunately the challenges are not completely behind us.

With all door proceeds going to the performers each night, Turn relies almost entirely on sales at the bar to keep in business. With our limited capacity, and our policy of booking acts of all stripes, from the very established to the utterly unknown, there's a lot of volatility in cash flow. That's something we've been able to ride successfully in the past. But a recent spike in the cost of insurance has endangered that.

Believe it or not, in the past year the cost to insure Turn has gone up five fold. When operating at such narrow margins, this could be catastrophic. But we know there are a lot of folks out there who love this community and want to support it. So we've created this fund to try to soften the blow on this increase. The total annual bill has gone up more than $15,000; hence the goal amount.

Donating directly like this is not for everyone - many don't have the means, or would like to help out in other ways. We present this only as a vehicle for those who are inclined to assist in this manner, and there are lots of other ways you can help if this isn't your cup of tea! Come see a show (we've got some killer benefits coming up), and buy a couple drinks or some food or some merch. And if you do decide to donate, every little bit helps, no amount is too small.

Whether you can help financially or not, come on down and show us some love! This is a special community and we appreciate you all and can't wait to see you at our favorite clubhouse!