Ken Writes:

>> but I am skeptical whenever I am told that the
venture has to operate at cost, or that cost is not even to be
considered. It seems to me that this is a request to be involved in
efforts that do not have survival built into them.... I think the first test
of any activity has to be
to answer the question of when it will pay itself back and finance the
next level of activity.<<

Ken, I am frustrated in the same way. Whenever I bring up the issue of the
need for profits (sometimes even just the mention of the word "marketing") the
other end of the line often falls silent, sometimes even when I am talking
with a for-profit business. I am a one-person business who must not only work
for a living but starve if I do not come out ahead on just about every
activity, project or deal I am involved with. (Well, good business practice
has brought me well past the "starvation" point for many years now, but the
point remains.) There are some folks who have "independent income" or family
weath they can fall back on in times of need. I think it is hard for them to
truly know what it is like to not have that type of resource.

Often people or organizations will ask me to donate my consulting or hands-on
services to their preservation project. In my business I do have a
philanthropy policy to "give away" 5% of net profits, but only in areas
unrelated to my field of preservation. I think it is wrong to dilute the
market for paid services where people are trying to earn a living. This just
makes it difficult for me and others to earn a living. This puts me in an
interesting bind, because writing articles is a regular for-profit part of my
business, something many folks do "just for fun", on a pro bono basis. Giving
workshops and seminars used to be pro-bono for me, but is now a for-profit
offering of my business. If I now do them pro bono it cuts into the market,
but I find I can often supply funding strategies to folks who cannot afford to
pay.

A part of my business philosophy is to be able to help anyone without regard
to their ability to pay.  I have found a few ways to help folks with no money.
For example, I can now answer single questions from anyone without charging
them, because I compile my answers into  my Historic HomeWorks Q&A Column,
which I syndicate to various publications. Essentially, everyone comes out
ahead, no non-profit/grant business to deal with, just plain for-profit
commerce.

John Leeke