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Can Collectives Be Sustainable?
Charting the Path to Sustainability for the Pacific Centre for Alternative Journalists, an Alternative Media Collective
By Maryann Abbs

CED 404 Practicum Project Supervisor: Mark Roseland, CEDC April 4, 2000

This report is copylefted. Please feel free to copy and distribute, as long as you give credit to the source.

Table of Contents

Project Summary
Methodology
Introduction
Background Information
Goals and Objectives
Structure of the Organization
Collective Process – Is It Sustainable
What is a Collective
Structural Stability of Collectives
Structures – Decision Making
Organization of Work
Goals/Vision of the Collective
Rewards
Challenges
Burnout
Financing
Tools for Sustainability/Tips for a new collective
Financing Alternative Media Collectives
What is Alternative Media?
Alternative Media and CED
Proposed Financial/Fundraising Plan for PCAJ
Tools for Community Outreach
Participatory Action Research
Media Guide
Conferences
Evaluation of the Project
Conclusion
References/Bibliography
CED
Fundraising
Collectives
Media:
Participatory Action Research:
Appendix A: Survey
Survey Questions - Collectives
Appendix B: Interview Results
Table 1: Interviews with Collective Members – Tabulated Results
Appendix C: Fundraising Research Results
Table 2: Fundraising Possibilities for Collectives

Charting the Path to Sustainability for the Pacific Centre for Alternative Journalists, an Alternative Media Collective
By Maryann Abbs

PROJECT SUMMARY
The struggle of people against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting. Milan Kundera The goal of this project is to analyze if collective structures of working together can be sustainable, and if so, what helps to make them sustainable. My research/analysis focused on the experience of collectives (interviews with past/present collective members), and searching for financial strategies and funding available to help make collectives financially sustainable. My specific research was directed at a plan to make the Pacific Centre for Alternative Journalists (PCAJ) structurally/financially stable as a collective and to explore tools that can be used to facilitate this (including business plans, funding proposals, and participatory action research). This project also meets some of my personal goals to learn about fundraising techniques, participatory action research, and business plan development. Methodology My research on the structure of collectives involved interviewing past and present members of collectives using the interview questions in appendix A. I also conducted a literature review on the topic of collectives/co-operatives. I used the Internet to review funding sources available to non-profit groups and co-operatives. As well, I used the Internet to find out information about other alternative media groups.
In order to prepare the media guide, I frequented coffee shops known to carry alternative media publications, and talked to people who work in alternative media for further leads.

INTRODUCTION Pacific Centre for Alternative Journalists (PCAJ) is a non-profit collective whose primary interest is to develop media skills at the grassroots level. PCAJ was founded in June 1998, by a group of people from Vancouver Co-operative Radio, SFU Communications department, and alternative media workers from the community. PCAJ has held one successful skills building/networking conference, and hosted 2 workshop series. We seek to develop our group’s ability to hold regular media skills workshops and conferences, and to publish training manuals. Our long-range plan is to be able to host an alternative media retreat/school, and to create an alternative media resource and training centre. PCAJ plans to continue our work of providing low-cost, accessible media training for alternative media workers, community groups, and other interested individuals. Our goal is to provide people with the skills and tools to tell their own stories and the stories in their communities. PCAJ plans to organize skills building and networking conference in May 2000. Our long-term goals are to:
- develop an ongoing series of media training workshops
- publish workshop notes and training manuals
- publish a guide to alternative media in Vancouver
- develop media skills and media literacy workshops for high school students
- develop a media training retreat/school
- open a resource centre for alternative media

Background Information
The newspapers are the cemeteries of ideas. -- Pierre Joseph Proudhon
As control of the Canadian Media falls into fewer and fewer corporate hands, the need for public access to alternative viewpoints becomes even greater. Many have already taken up this challenge: the Pacific region is home to many different alternative media groups who use radio, print, video, and the internet to represent their communities and to challenge the dominant commercial messages. But media activists here often work in isolation from one another and lack access to training that would enable them to develop their skills and reach broader audiences. The Pacific Centre for Alternative Journalists (PCAJ) is a new project aimed at cooperating with alternative media workers in British Columbia to improve the quality and effectiveness of their work. In addition, PCAJ hopes to assist grassroots organizations in developing effective media relations strategies that increase the quality of coverage of their activities in the commercial and alternative media. Our group is informed by experience working as alternative media workers, and by attending international networking conferences (Media and Democracy conference (1997), Union for Democratic Communications conference (1999). PCAJ held a very successful conference in the fall of 1998. Over 60 media activists attended and participated in workshops, and plenary sessions. There was a lot of enthusiasm and support for continuing to organize workshops and events for alternative media. Since then, PCAJ has organized 2 workshop series and produced a community newsletter about the World Trade Organization. We seek to continue building on this work, and expand the number and type of workshops that we offer.

Goals and Objectives
- to provide alternative journalists with the short-term, low-cost training needed to improve writing, editing, reporting, production, and fundraising skills
- to promote the discussion and development of a philosophy and practice of alternative journalism
- to promote public awareness and analysis of media issues
- to provide grassroots groups with affordable and accessible training in media relations

Structure of the Organization
PCAJ is in the process of applying for registered non-profit status. We are organized as a collective – everyone active in the group has equal authority and responsibility. We meet on a monthly basis to plan workshops and other events. The core collective has 6 members: Athene Lohan, Louise Leclair, Steve Stewart, Dorothy Kidd, Maryann Abbs, and Alan Jensen. We also have a mailing list and email list server with more than 100 names.

COLLECTIVE PROCESS – IS IT SUSTAINABLE
To start this project, I was interested in whether collectives could be sustainable over the long-term, or whether they invariably dissolve from member burnout and conflict. Some of the collectives I spoke with had operated for more than 20 years (Left Bank Books and Vancouver Women’s Health Collective), and others were established relatively recently (in the last few years). The majority of people that I spoke with had chosen to work in collectives for political reasons – they thought that choosing this structure was more egalitarian, and meshed with their political beliefs. Others, however thought that the collective structure was chosen for practical reasons, in order to distribute work more evenly. I interviewed present and past members of eight different women’s and media collectives in Vancouver using the survey questions in Appendix A. The results of the interviews are tabulated in Table 1, and discussed in more detail in this section.

What is a Collective
A significant difficulty in my early discussions with organizations was being clear on what I meant by a collective. I was challenged to define the difference between a cooperative and a collective, and a collective and a committee. During the process of interviewing members of collectives, I asked how they defined a collective. My working definition of a collective comes from the combined wisdom of those that I interviewed, along with my own thoughts.

A collective is:
- group of people with a common goal and vision where people make decisions together, usually by consensus
- non-hierarchical structures – everyone has equal decision-making, and equal decision making
- collectives operate by direct democracy, not representative democracy.
- collectives tend to be small organizations
- collectives also tend to be left wing.
- ideally have a sense solidarity amongst the members
- Some co-operatives may also be collectives, but are not necessarily so.
Ackelsberg, in her book Free Women of Spain, notes that collectives that revolve around an economic task, must be as non-hierarchical in structure as possible, but must also distribute the rewards of the work relatively equally. She notes that: “This was so because economic inequalities are easily converted into social or political power, and more basically, because most human labour is collaborative and it is virtually impossible to assign value to an individual’s contribution to a collective task.” For the purpose of this paper, I will use the following definition of a collective: a group with a common goal, and common vision where having a non-hierarchical structure is one of the goals of the group. A collective strives to ensure that its members have equal decision making, power, and responsibility. All members of the collective have equal decision-making power at all times – thus distinguishing a collective from an organization with a board of directors. Collectives are a form of participatory democracy, not representative democracy. Collectives strive to distribute the economic rewards of their work on an equal basis. Collectives function as a sort of “propaganda of the deed” (Ackelsberg – 33) where: “such activities empower those who engage in them, they also demonstrate to others that non-hierarchical forms of organization can and do exist-and that they can function effectively.”

Structural Stability of Collectives

Structures – Decision Making
All of the groups I spoke used some form of consensus, but it was the most formalized in the Women’s Health Collective. People felt that this decision making process was the best in terms of ensuring that all viewpoints were heard and included. In all of the collectives except for Left Bank books, both volunteers and staff attended the collective meetings, and had equal say in the collective structure. Left Bank books describe its structure as “onion-like” where the staff are the core worker’s collective, and as volunteers become more involved, they have access to greater decision-making. All of the groups that I interviewed felt that the collective structure was still relevant, and felt that: “shared decision-making is empowering since it is an experience that is denied to most people.” (Latin America Connexions interview).

Organization of Work
Mondragon Books and South End Publishing, also go further in terms of the organization of work. Both groups are worker’s collectives, and use a system called the “job complex.”(Albert and Hahnel – 2) In this system, no one worker has all of the interesting or creative tasks – there is a balance between rote and creative tasks to try to avoid the concentration of power in any one individual. Left Bank Books also noted that that tried to ensure that more than one personknows how to perform a task. Problems had arisen on several occasions when the only people who know how to do accounting/bookkeeping tasks were away.

Goals/Vision of the Collective
Groups reported that their major structural challenges were learning how to deal with people who didn’t mesh with the rest of the collective. In her book, Truth or Dare, Starhawk notes that: “for a group to become a place of liberation, its structure and process must foster freedom.” (Starhawk – 257). She also notes that groups work better when they know what their role is: intimate groups, task groups, support groups, or learning groups, and that problems arise when there are conflicting expectations of the groups role. Many of the collectives in Vancouver are women's collectives. In her article, Exploring women workers, jobs in collectives, Oerton (290) notes that women choose to work in collectives for a variety of different reasons including luck or coincidence, but that: “gender discrimination in hierarchical organizations was openly acknowledged by several women workers as a motive for entry into cooperatives or collectives, …as well as the desire on the part of some women to work autonomously from or independently from men was another motive for setting up and working in all-women cooperatives.” In her book: Worker Cooperatives in Canada, Constance Mungall, in the chapter about Wild West Organic Harvest Co-operatives notes that women in that cooperative told her that: “In my experience, women put more energy into communication, and so in a collective where communication is important, it makes a big difference.” Many of the collectives still in existence in Vancouver are women only collectives: Vancouver Rape Relief, Vancouver Women’s Collective, Wild West Organic Harvest Co-operative, and the Vancouver Status of Women. It requires further investigation, however, to determine whether men and women have different experiences in mixed gender collectives.

Rewards
All of those interviewed noted that one of the major rewards of working in a collective structure was the ability to use their voice, and be involved in decisions, as well as the sense that everyone’s opinion is valued. In the interview from Co-op Radio, it was also noted that “there were a lot of social ties, friendships, marriages – community.” There was also a strong sense that the process of forming and sustaining a collective fosters community building and builds solidarity. One interview participant from the Ubyessey also noted that: “my creativity spiked in a way that I really couldn’t have imagined – there was anarchic energy like no where else.”

Challenges
A number of problems with operating in a collective structure were noted, including: follow-though on ideas, dealing with volunteers with different skills, and the problem of having no mechanism for getting rid of collective members. Others noted problems with the formation of informal hierarchies, burnout, and the amount of time that it took to make decisions. As well, most groups noted that they had financial strains, and problems with recruiting new members and the process of revitalization. Many of these problems, however, are common to types of groups, not just those that operate as collectives. Collective members noted, however, that disillusionment with the group was sometimes stronger in collectives when the rhetoric didn’t meet with the reality.

Burnout
Most people laughed when I asked if they felt they had adequately addressed the issue of burnout. In fact, one of the early members of Vancouver Cooperative Radio noted that people often felt guilty when they were forced to get a paid job in order to survive, since that meant they had less time to devote to the station. The Vancouver Women’s Health Collective has dealt with the subject of burnout in some detail, and felt that they had had some success by making sure that everyone set very clear boundaries, and learned how to say no. They have also developed a structure where it is strongly discouraged for one woman to take on a project alone. If there are project proposals, the collective strongly encourages people to work in groups in order to avoid burning out one person. The collective is also careful about allowing a new volunteer to take on too much work.

Financing
All of the collectives that I spoke with had some problems financing their work. Many rely on donations, government grants, and other sources of fundraising to pay the bills. Financial pressure had also become a source of tension and conflict in many groups. In the interview with Left Bank books, the interviewee noted that he felt, at times, the collective had replaced the boss with the landlord. The media collectives that I spoke with relied on selling services: ads, subscriptions, books, and other materials, as well as additional fundraising. The women’s collectives relied more on direct government support as well as fundraising.
Many of the worker’s cooperative in Constance Mungall’s book started with government grants or other sources of donated funding, sometimes matched by the members own money. Of the collectives that I interviewed, one also ran a coffeeshop/restaurant to finance the bookstore (Mondragon Books). Mondragon felt that this worked, though, since both businesses were central to the group’s goals since the restaurant provided a meeting place/centre for political discussion, and the bookstore provided much needed access to left publishing. In his article about Worker’s Co-operatives in the U.S., Mackie notes that the low number of worker controlled enterprises can be attributed not to the failure of such enterprises, but to the small number of them that are being formed. Specifically, he argues that government policy, and the legal system, favour the formation of business by single entrepreneurs, rather than by collectives or cooperatives. He notes that: “A collection of workers is usually at a disadvantage in comparison to an entrepreneur with respect to planning, assumption of risk losses, provision for capital, and bearing of set-up costs. Entrepreneurs with scarce skills will not form a democratic firm to the extent that the capitalist form permits larger capture of entrepreneurial profits.”

Tools for Sustainability/Tips for a new collective
The Women’s Health Collective had, of any of the collectives that I interviewed, developed the most tools for working collectively. They have published a handbook called working collectively, that addresses meeting process, conflict resolution, and consensus. This handbook would be very useful for new collectives to set up meeting structures and conflict resolution structures. The handbook, however, does not include information on setting up collectives, or philosophy of collectives. As well, Food Not Bombs has published a guide to Consensus Decision Making. It is available for free on the Internet. This guide is very useful to defining what is meant by consensus process and formal process. As well, it is a wealth of tools and techniques for facilitating by consensus, both in large and small groups.

The following is a list of pointers for those setting up new collectives:
1. Evaluate your process on a periodic basis – decide if a collective structure is still relevant (Vancouver Women’s Health Collective).
2. Set up processes for conflict resolution – for tools see the Working Collectively handbook produced by the Vancouver Women’s health collective (Appendix E) As well, the Ubyessey used ombudspeople to resolve conflict. They felt that this would have been quite effective if the ombudspeople had adequate training.
3. Set-up policies for your group (Mungall – 62 – Wheat Song co-operative), so that everyone is clear on what decision that the group has made.
4. Be clear on the goals for your group – (Mungall – 59 – Wheat Song COoperative)
5. Know what you mean by consensus (Appendix F)
6. Know what the purpose/vision of your group/collective is 7. Have a process for asking disruptive collective members to leave (Ubyssey, and Truth or Dare - )
8. Train all collective members in conflict resolution (Appendix E)
9. If you are not all in your office at the same time, use journals to communicate with each other (Left Bank books)
10. Appreciate Staff and Volunteers – make sure you take time to celebrate (Vancouver Women’s Health Collective)
11. Be realistic about what you can accomplish, and don’t treat people like instruments (Latin America Connexions).
12. Be sure to revitalize and renew – either with new members or new ideas (Latin America Connexions).
13. Have each participant set boundaries (Vancouver Women’s Health Collective) 14. Use vibes watcher at meetings to ensure that no one is being shut down (Vancouver Women’s Health Collective).
15. Make sure that more than one person knows how to perform a task (e.g. payroll/accounting) – Left Bank Books
16. Provide Skills training for collective members on management skills, bookkeeping, etc. (Mondragon)

FINANCING ALTERNATIVE MEDIA COLLECTIVES
What is Alternative Media? Until the lions have their historians, tales of hunting will always glorify the hunter. Anon. Defining alternative media poses challenges. Do we simply mean non-corporate media or independent media? Does the definition include all community newspapers? Newsletters? New forms of media like Internet publishing? Does alternative media include street theatre, and graffiti art? For the purposes of this project, I will rely on the works of Kidd and Albert. Kidd defines alternative media as media that attempts to alter society. Kidd looks at the word alternative as alter and native (Kidd – 3). Something that is focused toward change, and arises from the local. Michael Albert, in his article, What Makes Alternative Media Alternative, (Albert –2) argues that “Being alternative as an institution must have to do with how the institution is organized.” He argues that alternative media “must be structured to subvert society’s defining hierarchical social relationships.” Further, he argues that alternative media institutions should strive not to reproduce oppressive race, class and gender relations. Thus, my definition of alternative media will be media involved in the project of social change whose structure must also strive to subvert hierarchical and oppressive relationships.

Alternative Media and CED
Independent and alternative media production are critical to the overall project of community economic development since much of community development depends upon information sharing and communication. Our mass media in Canada does not currently provide a space where all viewpoints can be discussed, and is hostile to movements that advocate self-reliance, economic equality, and environmental sustainability.
In Robert Huesca’s article about transition from authoritarian to neo-liberal governments in Latin America, he examines 2 case studies of alternative television stations. He notes that there is a need for media that arises from civil society that is neither state nor government controlled. He argues that: “Neoliberal political and economic policies have created a daunting situation for Latin American media practitioners devoted to communication for social justice, equality, and transformation. Yet it is a situation that is being met with remarkable creativity and dynamism by practitioners attempting to use media in a pro-social manner for their communities. The projects analyzed in this study harnessed many of the claims in the rhetoric of neoliberalism by importing consumer electronics and setting up television stations. But they have set these television stations to work for emancipatory and decidedly non-neoliberal aims. “
In Huesca’s study, one of the television stations was partially funded by an NGO that was interested in community economic development in areas that had been devastated by the collapse of the mining industry. The NGO used the TV station to broadcast videos about new economic projects.
- Thus, I would argue that a democratically controlled media that is not state or corporate funded, is essential to further the project or social, political and economic emancipation.

PROPOSED FINANCIAL/FUNDRAISING PLAN FOR PCAJ
A review of the literature regarding fundraising indicates that the majority of donations come from individual members of the community (84.1% - Flanagan – 231). As well, in Albert’s article – ZNet Alternative Media Finances Message (Albert – 1) he argues that alternative media cannot survive on ad revenues, since that would compromise product of honest relevant and socially progressive information. Albert notes that volunteers alone cannot sustain alternative media organizations and that users who can afford to, must be involved with funding alternative media. He argues that: “ The idea that all progressive and radical content should always be free will, if it goes unchallenged, be the death knell of institutions that provide progressive and radical content.” In Huesca’s article about alternative media development in Bolivia, he notes that: “All of the stations in this study were locally financed, operated, and controlled (the only exception was Bolivar, which was owned by the state mining company). This is remarkable given that Bolivia is one of Latin America's least developed and most impoverished nations. Furthermore, these specific towns have been devastated economically due to the international downturn in mineral prices and the exhaustion of state mines, making the entry of television more remarkable still. All but one of the stations had developed a collective means of shouldering expenses that was appropriate to the economic hardships of the region while simultaneously investing each community member into the facility. Financial structures and administrative bodies guided by principles of decentralization and multiplicity operated synergistically when coupled with easyto- use, inexpensive consumer video production equipment. Most of the stations in this study produced some sort of local television in the forms of town news, talk shows, and documentaries of important events. Furthermore, each station had some sort of procedure whereby local residents could use the channel to make announcements or participate in some other manner. “ The discussion about the formation of the television stations in Bolivia, and the experience of Znet provide useful examples for examing how we can encourage community support for alternative media production. In Vancouver, the Cooperative Radio Station is an example of listener/community supported alternative media. In discussions of the PCAJ collective, it is becoming increasingly evident that collective members do not have time to do all of the work on a volunteer basis. Thus, we have started the process of fundraising to pay one of the collective members to organize our second alternative media conference. In order to sustain PCAJ, I think that we will continue to need at least one staff person to do outreach, administrative duties, and program planning. I have reviewed possible foundation, government, and private sources. The results can be found in Table 2. In order to evaluate the financial situation of the group, I went through the process of preparing a business plan. The task of projecting financial requirements and cash flows was somewhat useful. However, I felt that the sample business plan (Preparing a Business Plan – Canada/BC Business Service Center) document that I used was based on different values than our project. For example, analyzing the “competition” in alternative media is in opposition to our goal of building networks/co-operation amongst alternative media practitioners. Further, there was no place in the sample business plan to define our values – which are the reason that we would want to start the business in the first place. Finally, there was no part to analyze how we were going to meet our non-financial goals – community building, networking, encouraging more alternative media, and no consideration of indicators for success other than financial indicators. Thus, I found the process of writing a funding proposal (based on Guide For Writing a Funding Proposal – www.canr.msu.edu), much more helpful as a planning tool for our group since it forced us to think about why were involved with the group, and what we wanted to achieve as well as what sort of financing we would need. A review of how other alternative media organizations are funded (See Table 3) indicates that groups are using a combination of sales of products and services, volunteer labour, and fundraising and donations. The largest group in North America that provides alternative media education, the Media Alliance in San Francisco, is a membership-fee based organization, and is also funded by workshop fees, and sales of a guide called the “People Who Make the News. Members get health and dental insurance, access to a computer lab, and access to a list of alternative media jobs. Other groups like TAO communications rely most on volunteer labour and donations in order to provide free/low-cost services to the activist community.

I propose that PCAJ implement the following fundraising strategy:
1. Apply for non-profit society status
2. Apply for grants from the Vancouver Foundation, VanCity and VanCity Community Foundation, and the B.C. Ministry of Co-ops, Volunteers, and Community Development (Appendix G). The purpose of these grants would be to supply start up funds for office development, hiring a half-time staff person, and outreach activities.
3. PCAJ should develop a list of sustaining donors who are interested in alternative media development (see appendix C for draft list) and write a letter requesting funding (see Appendix C – written by Louise Leclair).
4. PCAJ should develop a proposal for grant applications (see appendix 4 for draft grant proposal – written by Maryann Abbs – edited by Louise Leclair).
5. PCAJ should develop materials for sale including: course materials, alternative media guide – draft appendix D (the alternative media guide should also be available for free), and materials for use in public schools.
6. PCAJ should liase with other alternative media groups (e.g. TAO Communications) to discuss renting common space.
This strategy is based on finding short-term foundation/government funding to financial the group until we have a more stable basis of support in the community. Our plan for long-term sustainability would be to be funded by individual donations, as well as sales of materials and services.

TOOLS FOR COMMUNITY OUTREACH
Participatory Action Research
In Lew’s paper about PAR in the Arts and Crafts Community (Lew – 3) he notes that the “learning process is integral to achieving social change and building effective group dynamics.” Although the scope of this project did not allow for an in-depth investigation of PAR techniques, we started the process of involving the community in the design of the work of PCAJ with a survey about the creation of an alternative media guide, and a survey about the design of the upcoming PCAJ conference. Members of PCAJ are participant researchers since we are all members o the alternative media community. Our goal in our research is to discover what information/training/discussion people in the alternative media community, and social change community needs to develop more alternative media.

Media Guide
The media guide will hopefully be a resource for those who are not familiar with alternative media to find out where to access alternative sources of information. As well, I hope that the guide can be used by social change groups to access journalists who are interested in writing about their campaigns. Finally, the process of preparing the media guide has been a useful outreach tool for the group since it has introduced people in the community to our group, and has allowed them to participate in the formation of conferences and training programs.

Conferences
Conferences, such as the first PCAJ conference provide useful for activists to network about media issues. In Appendix H, there are materials from other conferences/workshop series across North America.

EVALUATION OF THE PROJECT
This project was very interesting in terms of approaching the topic: what can make collectives sustainable. However, I think that the project became too broad when I started to investigate other topics such as the workshops/conferences that other alternative media groups offer, and participatory action research. Thus, I think that this project suffered from some lack of focus.
This was also a difficult time for PCAJ, as a group, because many of the group members were very busy, and we lacked the time devote to planning where we wanted to go with our next conference. We were experiencing some of the problems that other collectives had complained of: lack of resources, time, burnout, and lots of ideas, but not so much follow through. I was not able to compile my research in a logical way, early on, in order for members of the group to comment on the strategies that I have suggested. Thus, I still need more time to discuss the suggested strategies with members of the group before they can be implemented. Also, I think that there is a research flaw in terms of my interviews with members of other collectives. Since I only spoke with one person from each group, I was relying on the knowledge of one person – not the collective knowledge. It would have been better, and more respectful of the collective process, to ask to present my research questions at a group meeting for discussion. The tradeoff, however, is that this would require more research time – both for me and the members of the collective.
I think that I have developed a useful tool for PCAJ – a list of possible funders, and a process for getting funding. I think that the Alternative Media Guide will also eventually be a useful tool for the community at large. I had difficulty with defining alternative, and collective. My project would have been more effective had a define these terms at the beginning of my project. I’m left with a number of questions: Can collectives function without paid staff when their goal is to produce a product or service? How can the process of starting collectives or worker owned businesses be made easier? What legal/legislative changes are required and what supports are needed? Can PCAJ be financially sustained by donations and sales of products and services?

CONCLUSION
This project has been an exploration of wisdom from people who have chosen to work in collectives. This information will be useful to PCAJ, and other collectives in terms of designing a strategy for structural and financial stability. PCAJ will need to consider its short and long-term funding options, and well as sustaining itself as a group, and avoiding burnout. PCAJ will also need to seriously consider how to include more people in the collective, to avoid burnout of existing members, and to provide for revitalization and renewal. In terms of financial strategies, we need to search for those in the community who have financial resources, and are willing to apply them to the development of alternative media.

REFERENCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY
CED
Albert, Michael. Some Questions and Answers About Participatory Economics. Znet. On-line. Internet. 1999. www.parecon.org/writing/faq. Campfens, Hubert. Community Economic Development Around the World. Toronto. University of Toronto Press. 1997. Ministry of Small Business, Tourism and Culture. Preparing a Business Plan. On-Line. Internet. www.sb.gov.bc.ca/smallbus.workshop/busplan Perry, Stewart and Lewis, Mike. Reinventing the Local Economy. Vernon, B.C. Centre for Community Enterprise. 1994. Roseland, Mark. Toward Sustainable Communities – Resources for Citizens and Their Governments. Gabriola Island, BC. New Society Publishers. 1998. Shragge, Eric. Community Economic Development – In Search of Empowerment. Montreal. Black Rose Books. 1997.
Fundraising
Canadian Centre for Philanthropy. The Canadian Directory to Foundations. Toronto. Canadian Centre for Philanthropy. 2000. On-Line. Internet. www.ccp.ca. Also on reserve at Vancouver Public Library – social sciences references. City of Vancouver – Cultural Grants. On Line. Internet. www.city/vancouver.bc.ca/commsvcs/socialplanning/oca/grants.htm Flanagan, Joan. Successful Fundraising. Chicago. Contemporary Books. 1991. Flanagan, Joan. Grassroots Fundraising Book. Chicago. Contemporary Books. 1982. Fundraiser’s Choice – Cool Sites. www.fund-online.com. Guide To Writing a Funding Proposal. November 14, 1999. On-line. Internet. www.canr.msu.edu/aee/dissthes/hintsone.htm. Law Foundation of British Columbia. 1340 – 605 Robson Street, Vancouver, B.C. V6B 5J3. Fax: 604-688-4586. Phone: 604-688-2337. McLean Foundation. 2 St. Clair Ave. W. Suite 1008. Toronto, Ont. M4V 1L5. Ministry of Co-op Development. Personal Interview. February 29, 2000. Ministry of Community Development, Co-operatives and Volunteers. On-line. Internet. www.cdcv.gov.bc.ca Ministry of Community Development, Co-operatives and Volunteers. Guide to coop Business Development. www.cdcv.gov.bc.ca/ComEnterprises/gdfinal.htm Ministry of Small Business, Tourism and Culture. Press Release. Wadell Announces Millennium Funding for Arts, Culture, and Heritage Projects. www.bc2000.gov.bc.ca/news/990218 Nichols, Judith E. Targeted Fund Raising. Chicago. Precept Press Inc. 1991. Peter F. Drucker Award for Canadian NonProfit Innovation. On-line. Internet. www.innovation-award.ca Quintessential Consultant. Financial Support – Fundraising Strategies and Projects. On-line. Internet. www.bcpl.gov.bc.ca/qc/finsupp/fs_fund VanCity Community Partnership Program. www.vancity.com/vancity/csr/grants/partner.cfm VanCity Community Foundation. www.vancity.com/vancity/group/vcf/programs.cfm. Vancouver Foundation. www.vancouverfoundation.bc.ca Vancouver Public Library. Non-Profit Survival Kit – Part 2: Fundraising. 1994. Available at Vancouver Public Library.

Collectives
Ackelsberg, Martha A. Free Women of Spain. Bloomington. Indiana University Press. 1991. Albert, Michael and Hamel Robin. Some Questions and Answers About Participatory Economics. On-line. Internet. 1999. www.parecon.org/writings/faq Bishop, Anne. Becoming an Ally – breaking the Cycle of Oppression. Halifax. Fernwood Publishing. 1994. Cline, John. The Worker Cooperative – A Vehicle for Economic Development. 1997. On-line. Internet. www.glinx.com/users/jcline Butler, C.T. On Consensus. Food Not Bombs Publishing. 1987. Gastil, John. Democracy in Small Groups – Participation, Decision Making and Communication. Gabriola Island, B.C. New Society Publishers. 1993. Giarelli, Andrew. “Return of the Tribes.” World Press Review. Vol.41 Issue 3. (Mar1994): p29. Huesca, Robert. “Alternative Media in Latin America.” Studies in Latin American Popular Culture. Vol.16. 1997. p69, 22p. Latin America Connexions – Harold L. Personal Interview. March 2000. Left Bank Books – Chris G. Personal Interview. Feb. 15, 2000. Mackie, Gerry. “Success and Failure in an American Workers’ Cooperative Movement.” Politics and Society. Vol. 22. (Jun94). p215, 21p. Mondragon Collective – Statement of Principles. On-line. Internet. www.azone. org/~mondragon/princplz. Mungall, Constance. Worker Cooperatives in Canada. Ottawa. Steel Rail Publishing. 1986. Oerton, Sarah. “Women and Co-operatives.” Journal of Gender Studies. Vol. 3 Issue 3, p289. (1994). 9p. Starhawk. Truth or Dare. New York. Harper Collins. 1987. Ubysessy – Yuki K. Personal Interview. March 2000 Vancouver Co-operative Radio – Howie S. Personal Interview. March 2000. Vancouver Women’s Health Collective – Ana Lisa. Personal Interview. March 2000. Whyte, William Foote and Whyte, Kathleen King. Making Mondragon. IHR Press. 1988. Women’s Self-Help Network. Why Operate Collectively? – A Handbook. Available from the Vancouver Women’s Health Collective. Media: Albert, Michael. What Makes Alternative Media Alternative? On-line. Internet. 1997. www.zmag.org. Albert, Michael. Net Alternative Media Finances Message. 1999. www.zmag.org/znet_internet.htm. Grassroots Radio Coalition News Project Working Group. A New Co-operative New Service for Community Radio. On-line. Internet. 2000. www.radio4all.net/grns Kidd, Dorothy. “The Value of Alternative Media.” Peace Review 11:1 (1999), 113-119. Lovink, Geert. The Importance of Meetspace – A manual for Temporary Media Labs. Distributed By Nettime. On-line. Internet. www.nettime.org. Mondragon Bookstore and Coffee House. On-line. Internet. www.azone. org/~mondragon New York Free Media Alliance. On-line. Internet. www.lol.shareworld.com/ZMAg/articles/albertoct97 Non-Corporate NewsWire – Seattle Independent Media Coalition. March 5, 2000. On-line. Internet. www.simc.org. Pfaffenberger, Bryan. Independent Media and the Survival of Democracy. LinuxJournal. December 13, 1999. On-line. Internet. http://www2.linuxjournal.com/articles/currents/013.html. Radio Free Berkeley. Creating Independent Media. On-line. Internet. www.freeradio.org. Seattle Independent Media Centre Mission Statement. On-line. Internet. www.indymedia.org. South End Press. On-line. Internet. www.lbbs.org TAO Vancouver. On-line. Internet. http://vancouver.tao.ca Verzuh, Ron. Radical Rag – The Pioneer Labour Press in Canada. Ottawa. Steel Rail Publishing. 1988. Van Jones. Media Alliance Moving Right on Track. 2000. On-line. Internet. www.media-alliance.org. Wolschon. Still Growing After 20 (plus) Tumultuous Years – A History of Media Alliance. 1996. On-line. Internet. www.media-alliance.org/history.html Participatory Action Research: Holmstrand, Lars and Harnsten, Gunilla. The Research Circle – Some Educational Perspectives. Uppsala University. 1996. Lew, Arthur J. The B.C. Craft Artist Community’s Economic Assessment and Needs Survey. CED 404 Practicum Project. Simon Fraser University. 1998. Nadeau, Denise. Counting Our Victories – Popular Education and Organizing. Vancouver. Repeal the Deal Productions. 1996. Seymour-Rolls, Kaye and Hughs, Ian. Participatory Action Research – Getting the Job Done. University of Sydney. 1998. Smith, Susan, Willms, Dennis, and Johnson, Nancy, eds. Nurtured By Knowledge – Learning to do Participatory Action Research. Ottawa. International Development Research Centre. 1997.

APPENDIX A: SURVEY
Survey Questions - Collectives
1. How long have you worked/did you work in your collective? 2. Are you a volunteer or a paid worker? 3. Are there different roles for volunteers/paid workers? 4. Is the collective structure still relevant? Why? 5. What have been some of the challenges of working as a collective? 6. What have been some of the rewards? 7. How do you avoid burnout? 8. How did you finance your project? 9. How do you define a collective?

APPENDIX B: INTERVIEW RESULTS
Table 1: Interviews with Collective Members – Tabulated Results COLLECTIVE YRS? PAID? CHALLENGES REWARDS DEFINITION STRUCTURE

UBSESSEY
Student Newspaper 5 Years 1988- 1993 $2500/ YEAR
Lots of ideas, no follow-through, problem being a collective with a production schedule, disparate volunteers with different skills, no mechanism for getting rid of collective members
One of my best experiences, people could use their voice and be involved in decisions, learning how to lead by example instead of dragging people along
My creativity spikes in a way I couldn’t really have imagined. Anarchic energy like no where else.
A collective is a bunch of people who have agreed with each other that they will work together to achieve a common goal. Equal or balanced say. Defined through example. Tend to be left wing.
Elected, paid editorial collective. Volunteers staff all part of collective. Change in paper once the student economic situation worsened. Decision made by those at meetings. Ombudsperson system for conflict resolution. Money came from student levies.

Labour program group –
Co-op Radio 3 years 1975- 79 No Some grants
Took a lot of time to sort things out, how to designate “power” jobs like production, there was an inner-group even though it was a collective, people burned out working at the station and doing other paid work to pay the bills – people felt guilty getting “real” jobs at the CBC. Meetings were open, allowed people to extend themselves and grow politically, weren’t relegated to a specific job. There were a lot of social ties, friendships, marriages – a community.
A collective is a group of people working together toward a common goal that all have part in the decision making process. The program and the station ran as collectives – everyone could attend although there were people with more power. Station originally grew from a political collective called muckrakers. We chose a collective structure because we thought it was the best way to divide work, and because we were a political collective of volunteers. Dealt with conflict with long political discussions, sometimes people would mediate. Money came from grants/fundraising.

Latin America Conexions
Newspaper 13 years No
Challenges are: finding a certain commonality, decision making, developing shared values. Resource/material problems. Rhetoric is democratic, but there are informal hierarchies. Recruiting/transforming /renewal.
A sense of solidarity. You can accomplish more as a group than as an individual, pooling of resources/energy. Friendship. Should be empowering. Shared decision making is empowering since it is an experience denied to most people. Community building. A collective is not a committee, not a coalition. It is a matter of self-definition. A voluntary organization with common understanding and principles/common work, common purpose. It is a way of making decisions, and an element of shared responsibility.
Collective includes all volunteers – no paid staff. Decisions made at collective meetings. Sustains itself because: don’t hype product, collective personality, don’t have instrumental view of people, reasonable task/not pushing people beyond limits, realistic expectation of people’s behaviour, don’t have sense of false importance, active in many different things, task oriented, informal socializing, process of renewal/new people. Money from ads, subscriptions/fundraising.

Vancouver Women’s Health Collective 3 years Yes – parttime Recruiting volunteers, not all volunteers attend collective meetings
Every woman’s opinion is valued, no one woman has all the power and the information
A collective is making decisions together, not alone. Reiterate “collective process” a lot.
Working together on projects, not alone. Work by consensus. Staff and volunteers are in collective – as soon as you become a volunteer, you become part of the collective. Need to attend at least 1 steering committee meeting per year. Developed the document: working collectively as a resource. Encourage women doing projects together, not alone, do volunteer appreciation, staff are very assertive in setting boundaries. Important to evaluate if collective structure is working – did this last year. Use vibes watcher in meetings.

Left Bank Bookstore Seattle, WA 5 years Paid
Avoiding burnout, making sure that one person doesn’t retain all the knowledge/info to do a job (example payroll), finances and low pay. We’ve replaced the boss with the landlord, to some extent. The bookstore breaks even, but not the bistro. A tight group, casual, but effective meetings can depend on co-workers to cover for us. A collective is a group that makes decisions by consensus.
6 part-time staff and 20 volunteers. 2 monthly meetings – 1 general (all attend), 1 budget (paid staff attend) plus weekly meetings of the distribution project. We have an “onion” like structure with staff at the centre. Use journals to communicate with each other. The bookstore is one of the longest running collectives in the U.S. at 26 years old.

Mondragon Bookstore and Coffee House 2 years Paid
Financial strains Developing everyone’s skills, a balance between creative and empowering work and menial and rote tasks. No hierarchical division of labour based on ownership or management rights. Solidarity, co-operation.
Self-sustainability
A collective is no hierarchical division of labour, each workers shares in the decision making process in order to raise each member’s knowledge and skills, and prohibit conferring power and privilege on the basis of specialized knowledge or training.
Workers’ collective that makes decisions by consensus at collective meetings. Jobs are organized by job complex – a grouping of jobs that provide a balance between rote and creative tasks.

Tao Communications Vancouver 1 year No Getting community to financially support liking services.
Organizing networks as a means of defending public space. Disseminate knowledge and distribute it freely through participatory education. The rise of the free spirit dancing with the open mind.
TAO Communications is a regional federation comprised of local autonomous collectives and individuals. TAO is open to anyone who chooses to participate. Some TAO – Toronto Workers are unionized with the IWW.

Table 2: Fundraising Possibilities for Collectives
FUNDER CHARITABLE STATUS DEADLINE CRITERIA

McLean Foundation Fax: 416-964-2804 Ph: 416-964-6802 YES April, May, August, October
Projects showing promise of general social benefit but which may initially lack broad public appeal. Arts, Education, Media, Social Services.

Vancouver Foundation Fax: 604-688-4170 Ph: 604-688-2204 YES First Friday in January, April, September 2-steps
Program related expenses, capital expenses, projects to respond to identified issues, mobilize or expand skills, capacities, and assets of local people, those affected should be involved in the development, implementation, and evaluation of project, collaboration from community, inclusiveness and respect for cultural diversity

Law Foundation Fax: 604-688-4586 Ph: 604-688-2337 Just non-profit status March August
Legal aid, legal education, law reform, law libraries, legal research

Peter F. Drucker Canadian Foundation Fax: 519-660-2943 Just non-profit status June Non-profit innovation Millenium Funding for Arts/Culture Ministry of Small Business/Tourism No Forms Available March 1, 2000

Arts and Culture Projects, including publishing City of Vancouver Cultural Grants Just Non-Profit Status Capital Grants Spring 2000 Project June 1, 2000
A broad range of artistic activities are eligible. Not eligible: conferences, tours Ministry of Co-ops, Volunteers & CD Co-op Business Development Fund www.cdcv.gov.bc.ca
No On-going Provides Planning and implementation assistance to groups wanting to set up a business co-op. Assistance with legal and financial advice, business plan implementation. The group must have an adhoc planning committee. Assisting with organizing and establishing a business co-op. Up to $50 000 available and up to 50% of project funding

Community Solutions Program Ph: 604-6603463 Ministry of Co-ops, Community Development and Volunteers www.cdcv.gov.bc.ca
Non-profit Status Ongoing Provides funding to community based non-profit organizations, non-profits, and co-ops to develop and implement locally designed and driven projects that support and empower multi-barriered, low-income residents to participate in their communities. Objectives are to facilitate and support grassroots Community development, assess the needs and opportunities in communities, and build partnerships. Funding: up to $20 000 to identify community development needs, up to $25 000 per project for new project development, up to $50 000 per project for longer-term project development and implementation.

VanCity – Community Partnership Program Fax: 877-8226 CSR Group VanCity Head Office, PO Box 2120 STN Terminal, Vancouver, B.C. V6B 5R8 Not for Profit Status The first of each month.
Projects must promote one of the following: economic self-reliance, ecological responsibility, and social justice (including freedom of expression, access to education, elimination of barriers, equitable access to resources and decision-making). Projects must start with a community decision making process and must be locally focused Grants may be for $250 to $5000. Six special partnership grants of up to $20 000 are given out each year for projects that focus on CED or youth.

VanCity Community Foundation 604-877-7647 www.vancity.com/vancity/group/vcf Must be Registered Charities December, February, June, August
Projects are assessed on: Principles of CED, results, development of skills and resources that remove barriers, enhance potential, and build economic self-reliance with disinvested communities and groups. Grants of $2500 to $15 000. Guaranteed loans of $10 000 to $100000, and technical assistance.

Joseph Zuken Memorial Association and Foundation C/o CUPE 500 702-275 Broadway Ave. Winnipeg, MB R3C 4M6 No Ongoing Sponsors events and awards Involve BC Ministry of Co-ops/Volunteers Just non-profit status March 2001 Strengthen the capacity of local volunteer organizations through training in areas such as communications, diversity, leadership skills

Charting the Path to Sustainability for the Pacific Centre for Alternative Journalists, an Alternative Media Collective http://www.sfu.ca/cedc/students/404/ By Maryann Abbs April 4, 2000 This report is copy-lefted. See front page.

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