Becoming a member allows you to support and engage with Operating System & Liminal Lab programming in a number of ways.
Identify a level of energy/resource exchange that is appropriate to your circumstances. You can be a member, and have access to any and all Liminal Lab classes at whatever rate feels comforatable and reasonable to you. You can also simply make either a one time or ongoing donation here, at ANY level, to become a valuable sponsor, supporting the open operation and availability of these programs, helping sustain free or low-cost participation for other community members. Membership also sustains the continued development and availability of free community resources and tools via The Operating System's Open Access Library and Open Resource Hub.
If you sign up for a program as a member, simply choose the "member" option in your registration –– you can opt to still donate directly to support that program / facilitator, or enjoy the benefits of being a sustaining community member at no additional cost!
To help you gauge your donation level, a comparison: Each of these workshops would cost > $1000 at an academic institution, and around $300-500 at many nonprofit / independent arts organizations or businesses. Our programs are funded entirely through the funds collected here and are not supported by private or institutional resources. Facilitators receive 80% of all funds collected for each workshop, and/or LL is committed to compensating facilitators at a market-rate even if all participants opt for low or no cost payment options.
Most importantly, becoming a OS / Liminal Lab member is a commitment to supporting the autonomous, nonhierarchical, anti-capitalist collective model we're building to sustain the fallout of the years ahead and remain independent from the donor-driven infrastructures strangling so many of our institutions. Your donation allows us to ensure our facilitators, many of whom have lost gigs & teaching positions over the last year, receive a fair and living wage, keep our resources free and our programs running!
1-Time Programs & Projects Sponsorship:
Provide general support for Liminal Lab programs and Operating System projects, and/or sponsor one or more community members enrolling in a Liminal Lab program at a reduced rate or for no cost, if you do not plan to enroll in programs yourself, or if you wish to sponsor others in addition to your own participation / program enrollment.
[ie: if you wish to sponsor a participant for a single program at "market rate" / ensure a fair wage for our facilitators and administrative fees, a donation to support a full scholarship for a 6-wk program would be $300-500. However, donations of any size support our programs in many ways and we are grateful for all gifts!]
Recurring Programs & Projects Sponsorship :
Provide general support for Liminal Lab programs and Operating System projects, and/or sponsor one or more community members' participation in Liminal Lab programs with a recurring gift!
1-Time Participating Member Donation:
Select this option at the one-time donation level of your choice to become a participating Member of Liminal Lab!
Starting with our Spring 2021 season, members are invited to sign up for any Liminal Lab programs as a member with no additional future fees. Your Liminal Lab membership can also support other members / participants signing up for programs at no or low cost, ensuring the most support for the labor of our facilitators!
Recurring Participating Member Donation:
Select this option at the recurring donation level of your choice to become a participating Member of Liminal Lab! (All details above apply.)
System transparency and comparison:
80% of Liminal Lab program fees go straight to facilitators, and the OS is entirely volunteer run, with all income returning to directly supporting projects, production, and operational costs. Compare Liminal Lab's financial model to the rate for similar programs at most orgs and nonprofits, where facilitators receive 50% or less, or to academic institutions, where students are paying tens of thousands of dollars to be taught by contingent faculty struggling to survive on paltry fractions of those costs, most of which sustain management salaries and the physical plant.
The OS & Liminal Lab is built to be as agile as possible, BY DESIGN, and as a result only 20% of the funds collected are used by the OS to cover operational costs of the program. The OS has never and will never charged submission or contest fees to sustain its operations or compromised its ethics in the interest of being legible to wealthy donors or board members. Our board is entirely comprised of advisory community members with no financial obligation.