- Where Do I Start?
- Start-Up Kit
- Order Form
- Tour the Software
- Training
- Leadership Roles
- Time Bank Funding
- Time Banks Directory
- Time Bank Start-Up Kit
- To order the Start-Up Kit, visit our order page or call TimeBanks USA at (202)686-5200, ext 101
The TimeBanks Start-Up Kit
Start Your Own Time Bank
What's in The Time Banking Start-Up Kit?
- A How-To Manual for Member-Led Time Banks
Step-by-step guidance for explaining Time Banking to others, finding members, running orientation meetings, dividing up leadership roles, and more. This will tell you all you need to know to start a Member-led Time Bank.
- A DVD of Edgar Cahn
A 4 and ˝ minute video of Edgar Cahn, the founder of Time Banking. A passionate, gifted speaker who has provided inspiration to audiences around the world, Edgar Cahn shares the core ideas that underlie Time Banking and why they are so important in our world today.
- Ten Time Banking video shorts
On the same DVD as above, these are the same videos we have online but they are full screen, much higher quality, and don't need a computer and internet connection to play them. Watch these videos and the video of Edgar Cahn with friends and colleagues to gather and inspire your core team, potential members, and champion supporters.
- Introductory Membership with TimeBanks USA
With the introductory membership you will receive the TimeBanks USA monthly e-bulletin and a copy of the TimeBanks USA newsletter.
- Access to "Coordinator Only" Online forums
The Start-up kit includes six month's membership in the Coordinator Only online forums. You will also have access to the wisdom of a group of people who have built Time Banks for young and old, rural and city, agencies and neighborhoods. The Coordinator Only forums also gives you access to downloadable forms, fliers and handouts, you can easily customize materials for your group.
- TimeBanks USA Community Weaver Software
Three months unlimited use so you can get the feel of how the software works and how your own Time Bank members would use it. We have a short tour of the software on-line. You can start the three month trial anytime during your six month introductory membership with access to all the features, and you can sign up as many people as you like.
How Much Does The Start-Up Kit Cost
We have priced the Wow! Start-Up Kit at just $49 because we don't want cost to get in the way of anyone experiencing the possibilities of Time Banking. Whether you use the kit to create a Member-led Time Bank or to get started towards a Mission-based Time Bank, the Start-up Package is a terrific entry to Time Banking. To order the Wow! Start-up Package, visit our order page or call TimeBanks USA at (202) 686-5200, ext 101 .
With Time Banking, you will be working with a small group of committed individuals who are joined together for a common good. It connects you to the best in people because it creates a system that connects unmet needs with untapped resources. To see what happens each week when you are part of Time Bank is deeply fulfilling, especially if you are helping to make it run.
If you need just a bit more confidence and inspiration before you make the decision to order the Wow Start-Up Kit, read on to learn how the Kit helps you get started with Member-Led and Mission-Based Time Banks.
For Member-Led Time Banks
The Kit has everything you need. First, you will want to watch the videos of Edgar Cahn and existing Time Banks with friends and colleagues. Use these to gather and inspire your core team. Then, following the step-by-step directions in the How-To guide, you can take each step to start-up at the pace that’s exactly right for you. Whether you go fast or take it slow, you will soon be experiencing the excitement and satisfaction that Time Bank members feel when they are taking steps to make it all happen.
The costs of running a member-led Time Bank are minimal. You can print brochures on your home printer. At the beginning, everyone on the leadership team volunteers their time. Shared work stays fun, and no one needs to feel they must take on all the responsibility. Changing the world always starts with a small group of inspired citizens. Time to go out and inspire some neighbors!
For Mission-Based Time Banks – an Extra Step
The Wow! Start-Up Kit provides an excellent introduction for Mission-led Time Banks as a way to enlist and engage those who your organization serves. With the Start-Up Kit, you will gain deeper understanding of how Time Banking naturally – and powerfully – strengthens an organization’s connection to the community it serves and builds a constituency that is aligned in support of the organization’s mission. You will also learn how Time Banking can build a new sense of purpose within your organization as a principles-based partnering with community develops.
In the DVD that's part of the Kit, the founder of Time Banking, Edgar Cahn, lays out in broad brush strokes the thinking behind Time Banking. With his quiet style, Edgar has mesmerized audiences around the nation and the world – and this short excerpt will inform and inspire your organization’s staff and community leaders. Watch the videos of Time Banks as well, for ideas and possibilities on Time Banking applications. And use the Member-Led How-To guide, and the introductory guide for mission-led Time Banks, to get an early sense of how Time Banking could best work for you.
If what you learn through the Start-Up Kit generates serious interest for you and your organization’s staff and stakeholders, then we suggest a call to TimeBanks USA for information on next steps. A brief conversation may be all you need. Or, you may want and need to explore more deeply how Time Banking could best serve your organization’s goals. We can suggest the training and extra technical assistance options that will help you move forward on building the kind of Time Bank that will best serve your organization's goals.
Needing More?
It could be that Time Banking powerfully intrigues you at this point – but you're not yet ready to get into action mode. If that's so, then let us suggest that you watch a few of the inspirational videos, or explore other parts of the website such as the introduction to Time Banking and social justice. Let us also suggest that you read Edgar Cahn’s book No More Throw-Away People, which lays out the story and the principles behind Time Banking and systems change.
All of these will give you a stronger sense of how you might use Time Banking to make a change in the world. That change could be by something as small as a single Time Dollar exchange. And it could be as big as helping to make significant alterations to systems that have the power to impact thousands, even millions of individuals.