If we were to incorporate a charity or nonprofit of some sort in order to fund a small holiday resort or intentional community for autistics, how much would you pledge on a monthly basis?

Myself and Amy have been looking into precisely this. In order to know how realistic it is we need to know how much people would be willing to pledge.

We are also investigating things such as housing benefit for permanent residents, though that would only be possible after sufficient funds are raised to purchase a property.

Essentially, it would work like this:

Fundraising period during which people pledge X amount of money per month and this is placed into a suitable high-growth investment fund of some sort or a generic savings account.

Once sufficient funds have been raised, purchase of the property and any work needed to get up to decent standards.

Finally, ongoing maintenance expenses paid through voluntary pledges and/or rent payments from residents.

Note that this is more likely to be a nonprofit or social enterprise than a registered charity due to regulatory burdens upon a charity, but it will definitely have strict bylaws defining how money raised may be used.

An example:
1 person pledges £200/month = £2400/year
5 people pledge  £100/month = £6000/year
10 people pledge £50/month = £6000/year
50 people pledge £5/month   = £3000/year

That's £17400/year if we achieve the above goals if we ignore interest.
After 3 years, that's £52200. This is more than enough to use as downpayment for a mortage.
At this point, if people maintain their pledges there will be £1450/month available. But assuming a drop in pledges, let's take that down to just £1000/month.

So, we have £52200 in the bank and £1000/month to spend from pledges.
Let's round down how much is in the bank to £50000.

A deposit on a mortage for a £150k property of £50000 gets a mortage from HSBC that costs roughly £998/month. (this is according to their site, with an APR of 4%, rates may be different for business but it gives a rough guide).

There are properties in this price range in wales that can house about 12 people (and do so nicely too).
So, if we maintain those £1000/month pledges but charge each of the 12 people £50/month rent on top that would leave £602/month for general maintenance costs of the property. And of course if rent goes up to £150/month (that's £37.50/week - cheaper than a lot of places), then £1800/month is available for general maintenance costs or for mortage payments if the voluntary pledges cease.

1 person pledges £200/month for 3 years
5 people pledge £100/month for 3 years
10 people pledge £50/month for 3 years
50 people pledge £5/month for 3 years

Then 12 people pay £37.50/week (£150/month) for however long they want to live there.
Once those 12 are in place, another fundraising cycle can begin to setup another property.

Disclosure: I voted £50/month

would definitely need more info

I voted that I would not do anything but I would consider paying rent if it was in an area I could live in and still pursue my goals. It's just that it probably wouldn't be (and certainly the UK is out).

I'm not behind the resort idea because I think we should help autistic people who are homeless before we start having autistic resorts.

This post was last modified: 04-03-2011 12:51 AM by qwert.

This is a very expensive idea in relation to the number of people this charity would help. Just to get the project off the drawing board, you'd need an intense fundraising cycle of three years. All of that money will be going to help only 12 people. In that time and with that money, you could provide advocacy, food, legal representation, or other essential services now, for people who need it now. Also, that is a lot of money. It's not that easy to get people to donate to charity.

You didn't factor in any costs besides the cost of the building. What about government fees? Utilities? Legal representation? Administrators to run the facility? Will the residents need any supervision? Food? Furniture? Taxes?

You also have very low values for rent. Either rent is much cheaper in the UK than it is in America, or you are counting on continued donations for your survival. Did you plan for some sort of endowment? There are a lot of unanswered questions in your business plan.

Exactly. I voted "zero, but I'll pay rent" ... but I don't actually have money to pay rent and I don't live in the UK.

Living in a house with 12 people doesn't sound like a resort for me. What would be the purpose of this resort or community?

To answer your last point: with pledges continuing, rent can be far cheaper, without pledges rent will of course increase.
With pledges continuing in the example above, rent is only £12.50/week - that is obviously extremely cheap. Without pledges continuing, rent would be £37.50/week. So, there is no real dependence on pledges continuing past the 3 years.

Now, the main thing to consider is the above is only an example, there's definitely ways in which it could be expanded if (and only if) people are willing to support the concept. Once those first 12 are in place, additional fundraising cycles could expand the existing accommodation rather than having to seek out a whole new property.

As for other costs: I have purposely underestimated a lot here. Utilities for example will need to be funded (this would be an additional expense above rent - something quite normal), taxation may or may not be an issue depending upon the status of whatever legal entity is used to do this (whether it's a charity or a regular company).

qwert - on the subject of homeless people, that is precisely the sort of demograph this would be targeting as a priority.

The figures i've given here are definitely only an example, as-is the proposed general model. I'm definitely open to alternative suggestions and would appreciate any input from those better knowledgeable in finance and related matters.

I didn't say a house. I said a property.
There are places in wales with multiple buildings and a small private area of land (including one place with a private beach that is going for £115k).
About 3-4 buildings including a small office situated in a rural region is the kind of thing i'm talking about.

If I was to pledge money I would want to know excactly were it was going to be spent and how it was going to be handeled. Full reasearch and calculations.

I would also need to know how you belived the intended project would help our cause and the needs of autistic people, and afterwards I would expect to see evidance of the result.

If you were to ask for government funding, these would be some basic things you would need to cover.

If you could provide these details, prehaps you could ask for government funding. If you were providing services for autistic people our credibility would be improved by 100% and it wouldn't be such a burdan on the little/no funds we have.

This post was last modified: 04-03-2011 04:27 AM by Mytelli!.

Same here, and also what about those that can't always get to the UK. :-/

What about accepting international donations  "that is not just the UK but US and other countries as well" which could be setup through paypal or something similar setup as a donation account not sure if one could set it up to transfer funds from there to a primary account in the UK possibly doable but I would not be against giving a donation esp if it went to a worthy cause my only gripe is that it should not have to be a fixed amount but a separate box that allows users to type in the amount they choose followed by a confirmation..

Iam only writing this to try to get more details - like another poster mentioned:

I would only pledge IF I was SURE the project eventually would come to fruition.

I would then pledge a somewhat small amount (like $20.00 every other month) AND pay for a share to actually ge to stay (like a time share).

If I was NOT a pledger - of a certain amount.  If I pledged nothing.  How then would I be allowed to stay there? (when a there was there) IF I was allowed to stay there - say for a vacation time frame - I would guess I would/should be charged MORE than people who did support of pledge - or who were members.

So a question is... if I could stay there and not pledge then why would anyone pledge?

I would guess there would have to be LEVELS of pledge membership...

Eventually if the project got off the ground - business models could be put into place where you knew how much would need to be charged to MAKE money from people who were not members? Of course limits on how many people can stay where and for how long need to be figured out...

(Perhaps) The "members" (orginal) would underwrite the start up... what would be their benefit? (other than an ideal...)

Would the project eventually end up with rich/er people (corporations/advertisers/for goodwill) donating ? and would the project attract sponsors... or is this an all private ....

yes, more info please...

(and as a person who lives in the continent of north america - I would not mind visiting the UK - I often think that people could consider trading families just to be able to love in other countries).. Ireland sounds glorious to me...

This post was last modified: 04-04-2011 06:17 PM by Walden.

A UK benefactor would be nice. Someone who could put up the whole amount for the property. Someone who could be repaid over time. That way folks could pledge to something already in existence. Instead of having to invest for 3 years before anything would actually happen.

I'd love to take part, but I'm not in the UK. Where would the place be? I'd try and start one in the US, but I don't think I'd be the ideal person to start it since I'm trying to live near Lars and that.