Studio Cosplay Year 2
Donation protected
Dear Community,
During PAX East 2014, a conversation among friends expanded to something more amazing than anything we would have thought possible. This idea came from a personal need among our founders and fellow cosplayers in the community. We talked about how useful it would be to have a real workspace and centralized resources. We realized that we could create a place where cosplayers can go to work on their projects and learn together.
Fast forward to March 2016 and we have accomplished so much more than just creating a makerspace for cosplayers. We created a home. However, with every successful launch there is troubled waters. We launched our Kickstarter in February 2015 to open our space and have been able to run all aspects of a business even with a much smaller staff than we started with. During the course of opening up our space, we have had many members of our Board going through inevitable life issues such as relocations, new jobs, new baby, and sick family members. A number of critical volunteers have also had to bow out or under-deliver in order to address their own life demands. These are examples of challenges many nonprofits face, and the strain that has been put on us during the course of keeping a non-profit open and running properly.
The biggest issue we face is the lack of Year One revenue. Thousands expressed interest in our unique makerspace but very few have purchased memberships and even fewer have attended the classes we’ve offered. We knew going into this that memberships and classes alone would not pay the rent. We have been actively working on getting sponsorships to ensure that Studio Cosplay could stay open beyond the crowdfunded startup costs but have been unsuccessful. Sponsors often prefer more well-established organizations. The first year of any startup is the most vulnerable one, especially when introducing something new -- we need a little more time to get the word out, get past that hurdle and grow into a more robust, self-sustaining, well-known organization!
We are very transparent on the bills that we have and the below information is what we have to pay monthly to keep our doors open:
Rent: $1,500.00
Trash Pickup: $43.65
Internet/WiFi: $65.80
Electricity: $30.00
Water: $11.30
Heat: $108.33
Insurance: $83.91
Website hosting: $40
Average equipment and site maintenance/repairs: $30
Total: $1912.99
Studio Cosplay needs $22,995.88 a year to stay open. Now, this budget does not include the space buildout materials, marketing, event costs, repair station supplies, and other expenses that have come up but our team has been paying out of pocket to make sure that our Kickstarter budget would not be touched.
On April 21st, we have to make a big decision: to renew or cancel our lease. As of March 28th, we do not have adequate funds to justify renewing the lease and staying open. This would mean that our makerspace will close its doors in July 2016. We understand that people have memberships that expire beyond July and we will be working with each person to ensure they are reimbursed for unused portions of activated memberships.
Our goal, and desire, is to stay open. We want to continue to work with the community to offer affordable art classes, a space with equipment you might not be able to purchase on your own, to offer a free service to repair your costume at conventions, to continue to work with Big Brothers Big Sisters to ensure we offer a free program to enrich their lives in the arts, and so much more. It is a tragedy in our hearts to even imagine the end of the line and saying goodbye to Studio Cosplay. We never went into this thinking it could be over in a year.
We have started this GoFundMe to see if we would be able to raise at least enough to justify resigning the lease on April 21st. Please donate and/or share and help us keep our doors open. And most importantly, please spread the word to cosplayers, costumers, artists, and makers who you think might be interested in signing up for a membership.
This place was created for you. Let’s keep Studio Cosplay open!
Sincerely,
The Studio Cosplay Team
During PAX East 2014, a conversation among friends expanded to something more amazing than anything we would have thought possible. This idea came from a personal need among our founders and fellow cosplayers in the community. We talked about how useful it would be to have a real workspace and centralized resources. We realized that we could create a place where cosplayers can go to work on their projects and learn together.
Fast forward to March 2016 and we have accomplished so much more than just creating a makerspace for cosplayers. We created a home. However, with every successful launch there is troubled waters. We launched our Kickstarter in February 2015 to open our space and have been able to run all aspects of a business even with a much smaller staff than we started with. During the course of opening up our space, we have had many members of our Board going through inevitable life issues such as relocations, new jobs, new baby, and sick family members. A number of critical volunteers have also had to bow out or under-deliver in order to address their own life demands. These are examples of challenges many nonprofits face, and the strain that has been put on us during the course of keeping a non-profit open and running properly.
The biggest issue we face is the lack of Year One revenue. Thousands expressed interest in our unique makerspace but very few have purchased memberships and even fewer have attended the classes we’ve offered. We knew going into this that memberships and classes alone would not pay the rent. We have been actively working on getting sponsorships to ensure that Studio Cosplay could stay open beyond the crowdfunded startup costs but have been unsuccessful. Sponsors often prefer more well-established organizations. The first year of any startup is the most vulnerable one, especially when introducing something new -- we need a little more time to get the word out, get past that hurdle and grow into a more robust, self-sustaining, well-known organization!
We are very transparent on the bills that we have and the below information is what we have to pay monthly to keep our doors open:
Rent: $1,500.00
Trash Pickup: $43.65
Internet/WiFi: $65.80
Electricity: $30.00
Water: $11.30
Heat: $108.33
Insurance: $83.91
Website hosting: $40
Average equipment and site maintenance/repairs: $30
Total: $1912.99
Studio Cosplay needs $22,995.88 a year to stay open. Now, this budget does not include the space buildout materials, marketing, event costs, repair station supplies, and other expenses that have come up but our team has been paying out of pocket to make sure that our Kickstarter budget would not be touched.
On April 21st, we have to make a big decision: to renew or cancel our lease. As of March 28th, we do not have adequate funds to justify renewing the lease and staying open. This would mean that our makerspace will close its doors in July 2016. We understand that people have memberships that expire beyond July and we will be working with each person to ensure they are reimbursed for unused portions of activated memberships.
Our goal, and desire, is to stay open. We want to continue to work with the community to offer affordable art classes, a space with equipment you might not be able to purchase on your own, to offer a free service to repair your costume at conventions, to continue to work with Big Brothers Big Sisters to ensure we offer a free program to enrich their lives in the arts, and so much more. It is a tragedy in our hearts to even imagine the end of the line and saying goodbye to Studio Cosplay. We never went into this thinking it could be over in a year.
We have started this GoFundMe to see if we would be able to raise at least enough to justify resigning the lease on April 21st. Please donate and/or share and help us keep our doors open. And most importantly, please spread the word to cosplayers, costumers, artists, and makers who you think might be interested in signing up for a membership.
This place was created for you. Let’s keep Studio Cosplay open!
Sincerely,
The Studio Cosplay Team
Organizer and beneficiary
Elizabeth Anne Gmaz
Organizer
Silver Spring, MD
Studio Cosplay
Beneficiary
