Money is a contentious topic around Dancing Rabbit. As a cohort of environmentalists, activists, land lovers, and members of the intentional community counterculture, many of us have a complicated relationship with capitalism. For some of us, this relationship is outright adversarial; for others, it’s friendly. As for me, well, I think of capitalism as a kind of large and menacing slug creature. I would squash it if I could, but I’m horribly outmatched. I would rather it wasn’t in my garden, but it always gets in there anyway. If it’s there, I want it on my side. I doubt it ever can be, but it’s oozing on my kale so I might as well sidle over and attempt to make friends.

Anyway, all this was a roundabout lead up to me saying: Hi! It’s me, Emeshe, and I’m here to ask you to donate to Dancing Rabbit for our Give STL Day campaign on May 10th using THIS LINK. 

You may be wondering, what does STL stand for and why am I being asked to give on a specific day? Well, STL stands for Saint Louis (yes, apparently they’ve hopped on the catchy acronym bandwagon along with every other city trying to prove it’s cool). And Give STL is an online day-of-giving event created to ignite the spirit of generosity across the region. 

And how shall this spirit be ignited you may ask? By awarding participating nonprofits with extra money when people donate during specific Power Hours, and cash prizes for donations during other specific Prize Hours.  Who came up with this? Don’t ask me. I’m just the schmuck who works for a tiny nonprofit trying to scrape by in this dog-eat-dog world. 

(If you’re sold on this fundraiser and want to just scroll down to the bottom of the page for more details, go for it. If you want to keep reading, I commend you on your tenacity.) 

Now, where were we…all of Dancing Rabbit’s contentions around money really come to a head around our nonprofit asking for donations. Some people feel strongly that we are doing cool things and there is absolutely nothing wrong with us reaching out to people who want to financially support our cool things. Some people have a hard time with us asking for money. 

Part of me falls in the first camp. I love Dancing Rabbit and what it stands for. It was transformational for me to come here and discover a radical collective of people willing to do things the hard way in the name of their values. I love my life here; my support structures, my work, my kitchen co-op, the gritty reality of trying to make The Dream happen–and donations to our nonprofit, the Center for a Sustainable and Cooperative Culture (CSCC), allow us to share this life with the outside world.

It takes a lot of time and energy to run visitor programs and workshops. It takes many hours and much patience to keep up with the stream of inquiries flowing in from researchers, writers, ecotourists, people getting community curious, potential residents, and old dudes who really want to know if Harold still lives here. What? No. Nobody named Harold has ever lived here, sir. A website takes maintenance. Mailings need to be edited, formatted and sent out. Someone needs to process payments. Someone needs to do the taxes. Being a 503c nonprofit takes a lot of labor. A lot of not particularly sexy labor. And interfacing with the “outside world” takes capital. So, if we want to continue to be a real nonprofit that does outreach and education work we can’t just eschew development work (nonprofit talk for fundraising,) in the name of pure idealism. 

There are many boons that come from having a healthy and professional nonprofit. It gives us a form of legitimacy and longevity which will ensure that our work continues into the future. It keeps employees from burning out because they can make a living doing what they do. It broadens the scope of our project to inspire social change by allowing us to reach. It supports people who are looking for solutions to the climate crisis who come here and either stay, or take lessons back to their own lives. It helps us maintain a robust network of friends and supporters, many of which first came to DR as visitors, work exchangers, program participants, and interns. 

There is, however, a part of me who agrees with Rabbits in the second camp who cringe a little at the idea of asking for financial support. We are an independent lot out here, dedicated to the principles of DIY (do-it-yourself) culture, and pioneers in forging a way of living ecologically while surrounded by anti-ecological systems. Nobody moves to Dancing Rabbit because they love modern society and want to depend on it. I, for one, want Dancing Rabbit to be a thriving experiment in self-sufficiency and post-capitalist prefabrication, while still working with existing realities to achieve our goals. I don't want DR to be a charity.  

Luckily, I don’t think this is the case. We do have robust internal systems for meeting our own needs. Money we ask for from the outside world does not go to the daily upkeep of village life, although it aids this in indirect ways. It goes towards our education and outreach work, and to special projects that align with our mission. For example, last year money went towards funding two mutual aid trips to a Maskoke ecovillage reclaiming their homelands as well as our visitor programs and natural building workshops. This year it is helping bring our primary interface with the outside world, the Milkweed Mercantile, back to life after the pandemic, in addition to continuing our intern program to bring people here in a low cost way. So, I may not like the way capitalism works (a bit of an understatement), nor love asking for donations, but I do want us to do these things and continue to grow our village.

So if you want to help our little project continue to do these things, you’re welcome to play the weird fundraising game called Give STL Day on May 10th by donating to us through this link during one of the Power Hours. 

You can help us spread the word by telling your friends, and following us on Facebook and Instagram to be in the know about Give STL Day. 

If you can’t donate on these days or times, you can donate early and still increase our chances for winning prizes during the course of the event.

Or, you can do none of those things and know you are still a valuable and worthy person who deserves good things in life. I trust you to know what’s best in your quest to either vanquish, befriend, or create an uneasy allyship with the slug creature of capitalism. I wish you well.

In love and solidarity,

Emeshe



Give STL Day details in a dryer format:

Give STL Day is a 24-hour, online day-of-giving event designed to ignite the spirit of giving across the region by providing prize incentives for participating nonprofits. Most importantly, there are seven Power Hours which will amplify all donations received in these windows:

Here’s how you can get involved: 

• Mark your calendar for May 10, 2023, and bookmark this giving link: 
  • https://www.givestlday.org/dancingrabbitecovillage
• Make a donation to support us on Wednesday, May 10, 2023 (if you’re not going to be available on the 10th, you can pre-schedule a donation, too! Make sure to schedule it during one of the Power Hours.) 
• Help us spread the word by telling your friends, and be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram to be in the know about Give STL Day!

Feel free to contact us with any questions!