During the past three years of research and public engagement, there have been several tools which have proven useful in helping me grapple with the practicality and possibility of timebanking. Our key offering, The Time Salon, was born of a desire to create a space where communities could engage in conversations about how they might best see a time-based skills and service exchange fitting into their collection of organizing strategies. This toolkit has been developed as a supplement to these public gatherings which assembles key materials on the practice & principles of timebanking.
It includes the original early recordings completed of our Kola 101 and 201 modules which dive first into ethical and social dimensions followed by a practical tour of the functionality of Hourworld’s Time & Talents platform which is designated timebanking tool within the Kola Nut Collaborative.
Our recently developed Offers & Needs Market Brochure includes several exercises which might aid communities in facilitating their own Time Salons offering a complete explanation of the staging and running a Market; reflecting on Pod Mapping, and building out a Posh-terity Budget which considers all of the sources of aid you may have around you.
The Salt Magazine & Grassroots Fundraising Journal articles offer two case studies of timebanking which explores the diverse ways communities are employing these strategies to build connections and meet the needs of local populations.
Grace Hill Settlement House’s Member Organized Resource Exchange (M.O.R.E.) still remains one of the most stellar examples of a community organization which made a pivot to delink service provision from the available dollars towards a deeper appreciation of the skills & human assets available in their local community. This toolkit provides both Annie E. Casey Foundation’s study of that timebank as well as a digital copy of the organization’s replication guide in its original form.
Finally, “People Powered Money” offers a collection of case studies on timebanking and community currency developments from throughout the world with specific strategies on designing, deploying, and evaluating the effectiveness of these currencies.