Time Banking (who needs money, anyway?)

[Nenuphar]

I recently came across some information on something called "Time Banking". It is a community-based program that has been implemented in cities and towns across the world. While I do not have the time or resources to implement the program myself right now, it is certainly something I would participate in once in place.

In a nutshell, time banks are a more flexible and fluid form of bartering/trading services in which the unit of exchange is an hour. No money is exchanged. People exchange services based on an hour of time (or a fraction of an hour). This way, people of all ages and skill sets are valued equally - for example, an hour of carpentry work or gardening is worth as much as the hour taken to bake 2 dozen cookies by a senior citizen or an hour of math tutoring by a high school student. There's a nice cross-over into environmental benefits - for example, some of the services can include carpooling, lawn mowing (1 person owns the whipper-snipper, leaf blower, and lawnmower and trades this yard service with 20 people, instead of all 20 people owning these pieces of equipment).

For more information, here are some good links to begin with:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Banking

http://www.timebanks.org/international.htm#CANADA

http://www.timebanks.org/

http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/sma.../banking-time/


I thought this program might interest you to know about. Feel free to spread the word!

[Niobe]

I think this is an awesome concept! I've read up on this a bit as well. Our community has a small program which involves "community money" and is basically a barter system trading goods and services. I put up a website for trading services/goods in our community, but haven't followed through with it much. Would love to see the day when money is not what makes "the world go round".

[Nenuphar]

There is also a good interview with Stephanie Rearick on the Conscious Media Network site about time banking, though you have to be a subscriber to view it.

Niobe, it's great to hear that something similar has started in your community. How large a community do you live in? How many people, would you say, are participating in the program? Or is it just starting up?

What I have read about time banking appeals to me because such a wide variety of services are valued and exchanged (everything from plumbing & carpentry to drives to appointments and flower bed weeding) and because of the age range of participants (children right up to senior citizens). Seems pretty neat!

[rhythm]

Yes i know of this ..great stuff .. the way to GO ..indeed

i belong to a local system called LETS where we trade money free..

it is an exchange of energy not cash ... a great way back to the old way of Bartering

there may be one in your area if you live in the uk ...look it up on the net .. i know it is

country wide ...or start one your self if you feel so inclined ....

love and sharing rhythm ...

[THE eXchanger]

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[shybastid]

I would love to work for someone on their farm here in Northern California in exchange for some of the harvest at the end of the season.Cutting trees.hoeing pruning whatever. Although Lake Tahoe is "Eye Candy," it does not grow crops up here very well. OK SOME crops grow well up here indoors. Yeah, We're up at higher ground and pretty safe here if the SHTF..but I wish to be selfsustained or offer services to trade for FOOD. Then? when TSHTF down below? My new best friend Farmer Brown can come up here..because I helped him when he needed help..and I have a food connection.

[SteveX]

This is a really cool way to do things. I think I'll look into it. Thanks for posting.

[Ross]

Great Idea,

When we were kids we would share a farmers paddock with other neighbours in town. We would grow mass Potatoes, Pumkin, Sweet potatoes, Carrots. We would do all the hoeing, planting, caring and harvesting. We all got an equal share and it was a lot of fun with lovely veges for all. See now that was from the old days that the folks grew up with.

Peace

[SteveX]

This was very similar for me Ross. When I was a kid on my Uncles farm we used to help out with the haymaking. Next doors farm had a combine / bailer and in exchange we would help with their haymaking.

My cousin, now on a farm in Canada, does exactly the same thing over there... lol on a much larger scale. This is indicative of country life but the hardships of urban life could benefit greatly from this Time credit / share platform. Neighbours might actually interact lol.

[shybastid]

Supurb..... I'm renting out one of my boat docks with a discount to a family down the Mountain in exchange for some of this years Harvest of their corn,blueberries, apples, and walnuts. I can't afford to buy a boat,so I rent out the docks. I'll work on the other slip to discount so when Avalon members come to Tahoe....we can go yachting using their boat. Good? Is that being a Team player?
I feel better....AND I'm not kidding.

[Nenuphar]

This is a short video (less than 3 minutes) that sums up Time Banking nicely!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=uR8ArHGgA7A

Here is another good one, less than 9 minutes long, coming out of the UK:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Q_nW__d0Yr4


Enjoy, spread the word, forward these links!

[sjkted]

I tried something similar to one of these and it didn't work for me. That said, I don't think the concept is flawed, it just needs to be tuned a bit.

The one I did was a local barter group. It worked by each member giving a pre-set number of hours per month. Each member offered services to other members and could receive an unlimited amount of service from other members. If a member was about to go over their pre-set monthly limit of hours, they would still accept service requests from other members, but delay the service until the following month.

It sounded good, but in practice the bar was set way too low. The majority of members were offering services that nobody would pay for and the few members who did offer real services were bombarded with requests. When I spoke with other members, there were always stories about this or that great member who had left the group. After staying in for about 5 months, I decided to leave. I had provided service to about 10 members and when I looked at the roster, I couldn't really see any services anyone was offering that I needed.

One of the inherent flaws with this type of system is that everyone's time does not command the same value. For example, in professional services there is a long training period followed by practice until one gets good enough to offer services as a professional. It's expensive and difficult to go through this process and often when you pay an accountant or lawyer the higher fees, it's partially because they spent so much money and time at school and post-grad training without pay.

I still think this type of a model would work, but I think it needs to be tweaked a little bit...

--sjkted

[sjkted]

The other issue with a system like this is that there is no built-in incentive for barter members to do a better job.

If I have a competitor who is able to do the same work as I do at half the price and half the time, it forces me to re-think the way I do things and improve my level of service. If I don't, I won't be in business much longer.

With a setup like this, what incentive is there for a barter member to work harder, improve themselves and their service, and get extra training? And as a customer, what recourse do I have if the work is not done to my standards?

Ultimately, I think more than the issue of currency, this is the downfall of barter-type organizations...

--sjkted

[Nenuphar]

The success of Time Banks and similar programs does depend, of course, on the integrity and motivation of the participants. Joining up to see what you can get for the least amount of effort on your part is definitely not the right motivation.

Re: incentive to provide excellent service and to keep improving, participant word-of-mouth and a system of ratings/reviews goes a long way to ensure that people who aren't in it for the right reasons get weeded out fairly quickly, especially in a small community.

Posted by sjkted (here)
One of the inherent flaws with this type of system is that everyone's time does not command the same value. For example, in professional services there is a long training period followed by practice until one gets good enough to offer services as a professional. It's expensive and difficult to go through this process and often when you pay an accountant or lawyer the higher fees, it's partially because they spent so much money and time at school and post-grad training without pay.
--sjkted

I completely relate to what you are saying. At the same time, from what I understand, part of the philosophy of time banking is to promote the idea that all members of a community - and the skills they have - are equally valuable. It's a concept that is both appealing and also hard to get used to, living in a society where education and having "A Profession" is held in higher esteem than someone who dropped out of high school, just got out of prison, but can create a kick-ass garden! Speaking from a personal perspective, my Dad was a professional in one of the fields you mentioned (undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees), and I know if we had had a highly organized system like a time bank functioning in our area, he would have participated in exchange for services like gardening/yard work, painting, carpentry, etc.

I think organization is the key, having a program that is well managed, where detailed records are kept, where participants are accountable for their level of service and reliability, and where participant feedback is listened to. I guess that is why the time bank set-up has caught my interest: it seems like it is well thought out and organized.

Here is a short video tutorial showing how Time Bank software works in tracking the exchange of services, informing participants of gatherings and community events, etc.

http://www.timebanks.org/swf/tour/weaver-demo.htm


.

[sjkted]

Posted by Nenuphar (here)
The success of Time Banks and similar programs does depend, of course, on the integrity and motivation of the participants. Joining up to see what you can get for the least amount of effort on your part is definitely not the right motivation.

Re: incentive to provide excellent service and to keep improving, participant word-of-mouth and a system of ratings/reviews goes a long way to ensure that people who aren't in it for the right reasons get weeded out fairly quickly, especially in a small community.




I completely relate to what you are saying. At the same time, from what I understand, part of the philosophy of time banking is to promote the idea that all members of a community - and the skills they have - are equally valuable. It's a concept that is both appealing and also hard to get used to, living in a society where education and having "A Profession" is held in higher esteem than someone who dropped out of high school, just got out of prison, but can create a kick-ass garden! Speaking from a personal perspective, my Dad was a professional in one of the fields you mentioned (undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees), and I know if we had had a highly organized system like a time bank functioning in our area, he would have participated in exchange for services like gardening/yard work, painting, carpentry, etc.

I think organization is the key, having a program that is well managed, where detailed records are kept, where participants are accountable for their level of service and reliability, and where participant feedback is listened to. I guess that is why the time bank set-up has caught my interest: it seems like it is well thought out and organized.

Here is a short video tutorial showing how Time Bank software works in tracking the exchange of services, informing participants of gatherings and community events, etc.

http://www.timebanks.org/swf/tour/weaver-demo.htm


.

I agree completely and this is why I initially joined up. I was hoping to get some help with gardening, car work and house work, but it seems like many of the services were just laughable such as:

- access to a member's library of health books (can't take them out, but free to read on site)
- can spend the night at a member's residence in Jamaica
- phone consultation on how to improve security at home
- companionship services
- singing telegrams
- referrals to nutrition programs based on internet research

I was astonished that I was the only one providing business-level services. There were no accountants, lawyers, mechanics, electricians, handymen, gardneing people, etc. Nearly all of the services ranged from wacky to barely usable IMO. Towards the end, it kind of felt like I was supporting a private welfare system, as I wouldn't be able to recoup any of my time from services from other members, even though there were some 30+ other members.

I think the key is implementing some bar of standard, although I'm not sure how that would work in real life.

--sjkted

[Nenuphar]

Posted by sjkted (here)
I agree completely and this is why I initially joined up. I was hoping to get some help with gardening, car work and house work, but it seems like many of the services were just laughable such as:

- access to a member's library of health books (can't take them out, but free to read on site)
- can spend the night at a member's residence in Jamaica
- phone consultation on how to improve security at home
- companionship services
- singing telegrams
- referrals to nutrition programs based on internet research

Oh, man - now I see where you're coming from! That is pretty bad. (I can only imagine what "companionship services" consisted of. ) I feel sorry for the person/people who tried to get that program up and running. Good intentions, but....eek!

.

[onawah]

Apologies. Posted this twice by mistake. See next.

[onawah]

I am a Coordinator for a TimeBank. This town is very liberal with a large alternative community, and TimeBank works pretty well here. Our members are mostly self-motivated, and we haven't had any big problems as yet, after almost 3 years, but it was slow in starting and is not extremely active, primarily because people are unwilling to learn how to navigate the TB website, which is cumbersome, though in the process of being upgraded. So just getting people to participate has been challenging, though getting them to join has been easy. We have close to 100 members now.

Some services are certainly more popular than others, for example, massage therapy. But each member can limit the time the number of TimeBank transactions they engage in, so that's manageable. Members can also informally come to their own agreements if they feel a need for some monetary compensation--for example, receiving 1 hour of TB credit plus $20 for a 1 hour massage, which is still a good deal.

We create opportunities for members to do volunteer community work and get TimeBank credits for their efforts. For example, being a traffic marshal during a parade, helping to clean up the downtown or a nearby creek. Organizations appeal to us for volunteer help, and by doing so, we are contributing towards building a more closely knit community for everyone, which is gratifying.

We have a monthly Open Meeting, often a potluck, with planned activities such as demos of skills being offered, showing videos about other TimeBanks, book swap, seed swap, etc. They are always enjoyable, and members get credit for attending and bringing guests.

We have official TB Workdays, where we go as a group to help out someone in the community who is in need. They don't even have to be a member!

There are some much older, better organized and active TimeBanks around. Some are 501C3s and have gotten quite professional, but ours is,in keeping with the character of our small town (pop. around 2,000), casual, loose and fun.

We just avoided setting our expectations too high and went with the flow; the results have been quite lovely!

[Nenuphar]

Thanks for your post, Onawah! It's great to hear about a Time Bank set-up that seems to be thriving. I love the idea of giving credits to people for doing community volunteer work. The monthly meetings/potlucks sound like a wonderful idea too - an opportunity to meet others in the community, to see what kinds of services are offered, and to share experiences - the good, the bad, and the ugly! *L*

Very inspiring!

[Productivemind]

This is a fabulous idea in my opinion, and I'm motivated enough to begin a Time Bank in my little town. I love that participants' times are all valued the same. While I realize that people spend much of their time and money being educated to be professionals, as I have, there comes a time in this world when we all must be equal. There are lots of folks who are uneducated, but very hard workers in many fields that I consider expert because of their knowledge about what it is they do. I see enormous potential in this in a small community like we have here, with no out of pocket costs for anyone on the labor. I am most definitely going to check out all the information I can find on this and put it into action. Thanks so much for all the ideas, and especially the ones that expose potential areas of concern. Every new business has to work out the kinks, and if people who join have pure motives, it should work out.