Cape Cod Time Bank

TimeBank, Pay It Forward, Community Exchange, Harwich Community Exchange, Cape Cod Banks, Cape Cod Time Bank, Timebanks.USA, Cape Cod Community Exchange, Cape Cod SkillShare, SkillShare

How Much is YOUR community worth to you? Membership Fees $10 - $50 per year.

Please send your membership donation to:
Cape Cod Time Bank 5 Stage Coach Road Harwich, MA 02645
We are a Massachusetts Incorporated, Non Profit, 501 (c) (3) (IRS pending), federally recognized community based agency. EIN 80-0401886
Cape Cod Time Bank was is spearheaded by local activist, John Bangert and co- founded by a group of like minded, dedicated folks who have committed to each other to meet monthly at home based community potlucks dinners after the inauguration of our new president, as a way to weave the Cape Cod community together one hour at a time.
What can we all do to rebuild or community, the 1st 100 days, or 1st 1000 days of this year to serve all Americans by serving in our own communities on hour a at a time?
A website was established on March, 2009 and so far, more than 120 individuals and families have joined together to share their gifts and talents and to earn Time Bank Dollars to spend when needing assistance at a later time.
To join Cape Cod Time Bank or any other TimeBank just go to: TimeBanksUSA
We expect more than 3500 volunteer hours of service to occur over the next twelve months. Any individual may join by voluntarily donating $10 – 50 per year to help underwrite communication and website costs.
Volunteer assets are documented on a simple interactive computer questionnaire each member completes, and then each member records time volunteered and needs for assistance. Volunteer coordinators keep track of the time dollars and send emails to participants to document volunteer services rendered or received.
Time Bank is an equal opportunity nonprofit organization operating in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. We are a nonpartisan, nonpolitical and we are not affiliated with any particular religion, creed or doctrine. Anyone may join hands and stand with other Time Bank members to work together to meet community needs. With Time Banking, sharing gifts means building trust.
The premise behind the Cape Cod Time Bank is to link together people who have time and talent with those who need help. This is not a barter system, but a goodwill offering of time and talent to selflessly help others.
Edgar H.Cahn, the founder of the Vista Program and author of Time Dollars and No More Throw-Away People, founded the first Time Bank in 1986. The movement now has more than 100 affiliated Time Bank organizations from coast to coast and from north to south. It also has affiliations in Wales, Ireland, Great Britain and dozens of other international locations.
The Cape Cod Time Bank is dedicated to five Core Values:
1. Assets We are all assets. Every human being has something to contribute.
2. Redefining Work Some work is beyond price Work has to be redefined to value whatever it takes to raise healthy children, build strong families, revitalize neighborhoods, make democracy work, advance social justice, and make the planet sustainable. That kind of work needs to be honored, recorded and rewarded.
3. Reciprocity Helping works better as a two-way street The question: “How can I help you?” needs to change so we ask “How can we help build the world we both will live in?”
4. Social Networks We need each other. Networks are stronger than individuals. People helping each other reweave communities of support, strength & trust. Community is built upon sinking roots, building trust, creating networks. Special relationships are built on commitment.
5. Respect Every human being matters. Respect underlies freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and everything we value. Respect supplies the heart and soul of democracy. When respect is denied to anyone, we are all injured. We must respect where people are in the moment, not where we hope they will be at some future point.
Currently, the organization operates by volunteers who serve the community. Over time, as the Time Bank membership grows, a part-time manager will be hired and as the need dictates, within four or five years a full-time Executive Director will be appointed by the board of directors. The organization’s board of four members is being expanded to 9-10 as the by-laws describe, with revolving three year terms.
Residency from all along Cape Cod will allow Time Bank board members to share the message to civic groups, hospitals, libraries and schools.
While board members may wear many hats in their work, civic and social lives, they will not lobby or seek to influence legislation while performing their Time Bank duties.
All board members serve without compensation.
All are required to be Time Bank members in good standing and all contribute time, talent and personal donations to further the mission of Cape Cod Time Bank.
A conflict of interest statement was adopted by resolution at the first board meeting and is attached for review.
New board members will be given a copy and asked to sign it before being seated on the board of directors.
How Does Time Bank Work?
First, take a look at our website, capecodtimebank.org. A Time Bank is like a food bank or food pantry, which is a collection of nourishment for needy members of the community.
A Time Bank is a network that allows members to exchange assistance and services and this service is tracked and reported by computer. Time Bank members offer activities they enjoy, like cooking, gardening or tutoring. When a member needs something, they review the computer database of services on offer, check availability, and create a request.
A member can also request a new service and hope that another member will step up and meet that need. No money ever exchanges hands. Instead, for each hour of work given, one Time Dollar is deposited in the member’s account. Time Bank activities allow one individual to serve one individual or one individual to serve many individuals. It also allows many people, collectively, to serve many others, or to serve just one.
Please review copies of articles and testimonials to round out the picture of the Cape Cod Time Bank
The only asset currently owned by Time Bank is the software valued at approximately $500 that manages our member’s accounts and tallies hours needed and exchanged.
Fundraising
Funding in the past has come from individual donations and member donations. In the future, once we have received the IRS letter of determination, fundraising will follow four or five paths to success:
1. Emails to community leaders, business owners and elected officials will solicit cash contributions or in-kind support. A brochure will be included with the email.
2. Letters requesting a variety of assistance will also be sent to identifiable community donors.
3. Grant requests to corporations, foundations and governmental entities will provide up to 50% of operating revenue by our third year of operation. Written requests will include a copy of the brochure, annual report, DVD of sample Time Bank projects, an audited financial statement and testimonials from volunteers and recipients.
4. Special event fund raising will include online auctions, dinners with silent and live auctions, round robin dinners in Time Bank members’ homes, and concession proceeds from Craft Fairs, or local Summer League Baseball games on Cape Cod. etc.
5. Annual meeting that will bring all Time Bank members together at one time.
If Time Bank is offered large gifts of real estate or property such as a vehicle or boat, the board of directors will seek legal advice and adopt a policy before accepting any such gifts to insure that the gifts are handled legally and in the best interests of Cape Cod Time Share.

Cape Cod Time Bank Membership LOG IN / OR HOW TO JOIN!

Donations To Build Our Cape Cod Time Bank!

Weaving Our Community One Hour At a Time!

Monday, July 13, 2009

Pictures from TimeBanks USA Annual Conference Madison, Wisconsin

Panelists Jo-Ann Wallace, from The National Legal Aid & Defender Association and panelist as well as our Conference Co-Host from Madison, Wisconsin, Dane County TimeBank's Director Stephanie Rearick
Cape Cod TimeBank was mentored by Woodstock TimeBank
Christine Gray, John Bangert and Edgar Cahn
Dr. Edgar Cahn Founder of TimeBank USA

Christine Gray- Executive Director of TimeBanks USA
and John Bangert President of Cape Cod Time Bank, Inc.




Sunday, June 21, 2009

Gail Bangert Writer for Cape Women On Line



Time bank logo

Can You Do Me A Favor?

by Gail Bangert

How Time banking logocan transform our Community

The Cape Cod Time Bank has been launched, and it’s getting people’s attention. The idea is simple: members give an hour of service to someone else and are entitled to receive an hour of service from another member in return. If you’re new to the concept, you might be wondering, “What’s the big deal? Countless organizations already enlist volunteers or even pay people to do the right thing.”

The difference between time banking and many other ways of helping people is subtle, but profound. Time banking works because everyone involved is valued. Consider for a moment the way we usually think about giving. “It’s better to give than to receive,” our simple mantra for teaching compassion, inadvertently sums up how demeaning it can be to need help. Whether the receiver is a senior citizen asking for help with home repairs or a poor person in need of free professional services, when only one person has the opportunity to give, the other feels useless or less valued. People want to give back.

This is the insight that Edgar Cahn, creator of time banking, gained lying in a coronary care unit. In his book, No More Throw-Away People, he explains that before the heart attack that landed him in the hospital in 1980, he had proudly spent his life helping others by fighting for justice.

Cahn worked with Robert Kennedy at the Justice Department and Sargent Shriver in the War on Poverty. He challenged the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the hunger and injustice faced by Native Americans. With his wife, he created the Antioch School of Law with a unique teaching law firm that represented thousands of poor people. Cahn realized in his hospital bed that being a person who could do things that other people needed was central to his self-worth, and he didn’t like feeling useless.

Cahn’s other key insight was about money. Perhaps you’re content in the knowledge that you have the means to buy the services that you need, that the economic market values your contribution, and that you can value others by paying them in turn.

The catch is that in the economic realm, not only commodities but also human abilities are valued based on their scarcity. Scarce items have a high value. Abundant items have a low value. When judged against this standard, the most common human capacities, like caring for each other, are devalued.

In the economic marketplace, values are assigned in a hierarchy, and everyone is well aware of how high or low they fall on the ladder. In a time bank, an hour of service given by one person is equal to an hour of service given by any other person. The hierarchy is gone.

For me, the truly fascinating element of time banking is this reshuffling of the social deck. We trudge or glide through our days, the heaviness of our steps determined to some degree by our status and the amount of money in our pockets. Our assigned rankings inevitably color our interactions, in spite of egalitarian myths.

That a time bank member, perhaps previously unknown to another, can step into that other person’s life and be judged by a single act of kindness (and maybe how the recipient’s garden looks without weeds) seems to me an amazing gift of fresh perspective.

When my husband, John Bangert, first shared the time banking concept with me, and announced his determination to start a time bank on Cape Cod, I found the idea immediately appealing. This is a remarkable statement for me to make after living with a community organizer for thirty four years.

John and I share deeply held values, but he’s the one with the zeal for outreach, always out front with a new idea. I listen, steer, edit, sort, and carry boxes. I have been known to try to stifle his irrepressible urge to act, if only to dig out the office from the last adventure. Our home is strewn with flyers, contact lists, and life-sized candidate cutouts, and there is always a project afoot.

I work 75 hours a week at my paid job and come home to a buzzing community headquarters. I’m not even sure how I’ll find hours to give. And yet I’m excited and energized by this simple idea. I should be balking at the prospect of more to do, but time banking sounds more rewarding than burdensome.

An amazing thing happens when people fill out the membership form. As they begin to list services they want to offer, there’s often a wonderful moment when they realize how capable they really are and how much they have to contribute.

Looking outward, members have the chance to see others with new eyes. A quiet woman you’ve seen around town turns out to be a retired physical therapist and personal trainer. The IT person that you plague with computer questions at work is also a banjo teacher. There are actually people who love to weed!

The financial cost of living on Cape Cod is high, and it requires many of us to work more hours than we wish, leaving too little time to focus on our families and friends. But the price we pay is not just time. The real cost, says Edgar Cahn in his book No More Throw Away People, “is the hold that money has on our sense of what is possible, the prison it builds for our imagination.”

The vision of Cape Cod Time Bank is to help people break free of this yoke and weave a new kind of community. The “free market” may say that you can’t afford a gardener. Time banking says you can. The recession threatens to close the door to home ownership, higher education, and other pieces of the American dream to a growing segment of our population. Maybe the America dream just needs a new definition.

Gail Bangert is a community activist and member of the Cape Cod Time Bank. She lives with her husband in Harwich.

Time Banking Deficit Spending Works!

Subject: Kick Starting the Trading of Time Dollars

There is a psychological hurdle that every Time Bank needs to overcome
to build a thriving core economy of people exchanging services for Time
Dollars. We all need to overcome our training that debt is bad. For the
Time Dollar economy to work half of the members need to be in debt.
Unlike the market economy where people compete for a limited quantity of
dollars, Time Dollars are created on the spot when every people agree to
trade time for Time Dollars. The sum of all member balances in the Time
Bank is always zero.

If everyone in the Time Bank decided they weren't going to spend a Time
Dollar until they earned one, no one would ever have a chance to earn a
Time Dollar. Many of us have been taught since childhood that "it is
more blessed to give than receive." In the Time Dollar world it is "as
blessed to receive as it is to give" – it may be more blessed because it
takes some courage to overcome deep habits learned in the market economy
that don't apply in the core economy of Time Banking.

To help people get over the psychological barrier against going into
debt, we strongly recommend that the Time Bank goes into debt to give
people a starting positive balance. We suggest that you pay each member
for signing up and placing ads. Many Time Banks pay their members a Time
Dollar for going through a one-on-one orientation and another Time
Dollar for a pair of ads – one offer and one request. People have a
tendency to put in many more offers than requests, so we want to provide
an incentive to list offers. (Remember the Time Dollar economy can't
work if everyone is focused on offers.) You may even choose to offer up
to five Time Dollars for up to five pairs of offers and requests.

Members of the leadership team are paid Time Dollars for running the
orientations. During the orientations the member coordinator (and their
deputies) goes over the member's profile to fill in any blanks, takes a
picture for their profile if they haven't already uploaded one, and
explores the types of services they would like to offer and receive.

Here is a list of issues that we've found to be important in orientation
meetings:

Don't fall into the trap of only listing what you could get paid to do
in the market economy – The Time Dollar economy is an informal economy
of people doing the types of favors that family and neighbors have been
doing for millennia. Thus mentoring, dog walking, braiding hair, chicken
soup are all fine offers. Someone can offer guitar beginning lessons if
they've only been taking lessons for a year. Many people try out a new
found skill in the Time Bank and then go on to offer it for money
outside the Time Bank.

Neither the giver or receiver should expect professional standards.
Sometimes you get professional quality work, but that is not the point.
The point of Time Dollar trades is to build relationships of give and
take. It about building that village referred to in the phrase "it takes
a village to raise a child."

Be courteous and respond quickly –When members get a request they should
respond quickly and be willing to say no. Though the services may not be
at a professional level, our courtesy to each other should be more than
professional. These are people who will become extended family. Don't
leave them hanging. One shouldn't say yes when you would prefer to say
no. That's a dysfunctional extended family. If one is swamped that week,
just say so. We all get swamped.

Offer what you like to do, not what you can do – Sometimes people go
crazy and list everything they could possibly do. Then when someone
calls them, they drag their feet on doing the service. Members should
only list they would be thrilled to do.

It is as blessed to receive as it is to give – Please make sure that
everyone understands at asking for a service is what drive the whole
Time Dollar economy. Many of us have blocks against asking. Askers are
the heroes in the Time Dollar economy. Each Time Bank sets its own limit
for how much member can go into debt. We recommend that the member
coordinator have a chat about earning opportunities when a member's
account gets below negative ten.

Trust and verify – Time banks are all about building trusting
relationships you can count on. Trust is built from time spent
together – at potlucks and doing trades. At the beginning, trust comes
from knowing that everyone has had an orientation meeting, everyone has
two character references, and personal contact at potlucks.

There are some services where assuming the best may not be the best
policy – specifically, child care, elder care, transportation and
letting someone in the house while away. Members may want to be in
earshot for the first few times that they hire a babysitter. Member
should be encouraged to call the references listed in a person's
profile. Time Banks don't generally do criminal checks or driving record
checks. It is the responsibility to of each member to determine the
safety of each exchange as they would with any other neighbor that
offers to baby sit, house sit, drive, etc.

Membership Fees – Orientation is the best time to discuss membership
fees. Some Time Banks charge the fee during the orientation. That is
harder to do in a brand new Time Bank where there isn't already an
establish economy of giving and receiving. You may want to explain that
fees will be charged three months after the Time Bank has started.

We recommend a sliding scale of $10-40 and TD$ 1-4 per year. Explain why
the Time Bank needs both federal and Time Dollars to run.

Member survey – Filling out the member survey is very important for
getting grants. This allows you to get data on the type of people in
your Time Bank and later you will be able to generate statistics for how
lives have been improved by belonging to the Time Bank. Hard data needs
and benefits will greatly improve your chances in getting grants.

Writing better ads – The orientation is a great time to spiff up the ads
the member's ads. Be creative. Make them fun to read. The member will
get more activity if the ads are well written and everyone will have
more fun reading the ads if people put time into make them fun, enticing
and creative.

Invite into Leadership – A member-led Time Bank needs lots of leaders to
keep the burden of leadership light. Every role should have an
understudy in case the designated person for the role is unavailable for
some reason. Leadership roles should rotate every 6-12 months to keep
the leadership fresh and to provide new ideas and contacts for the Time
Bank. Ask new members if they have any interest in participating in any
of the Time Bank leadership roles in the next six months.


It is hard to overstress the importance of the orientation. Time Banking
is a new cultural experience and there are many things that need to be
explained. The necessity and valor of going into debt for the Time
Dollar economy to work needs to be explained because it is so foreign to
our standard money culture. The informal nature of the offerings, doing
what you love to do, ability to say no, the courtesy of quick replies,
the central importance of potlucks for building community are all part
of bringing people into a new culture.

At the beginning we are letting the Time Bank take the brunt of peoples'
weird feelings about going into debt. The Time Bank goes into debt so
everyone can start with positive balances. Many people ask what are the
consequences of the Time Bank going into debt. When the federal
government prints too much money, the money is worth less. Similarly, if
everyone has very high Time Dollar balances there will be less incentive
to say yes when someone responds to a service ads. That's the only
problem we know of with a Time Bank going too far into debt.

Even with high positive balances, many people will continue to happily
do Time Bank activities. They just like to give. After all, there are
millions of people who do volunteer work for years with no TD$
compensation. Volunteers on average burn out after about three years.
Time Bankers stay engaged in helping their neighbors for much longer.

If people's Time Bank accounts get too high you can raise your TD$
membership fee or hold a TD$ fund raiser. With a Time Dollars$ fund
raiser, you will probably get your biggest donations from the people
with the highest balances and they'll be charging off to earn more.

So far we have only spoken about priming the pump. Once your Time Bank
economy is in full swing, you'll still need to juice it every now and
then. The primary strategy is to get people to come to potlucks.
One-on-one time is the most important driver of trust to build trades.
The secondary strategy is to have the membership coordinator comb the
list of wants and offers and play match maker. "Hey Jim, I noticed that
you were looking for someone to sew drapes. Have you met Sara Smith who
has an ad up for sewing projects?" These introductions are best done in
person at the monthly potluck, but can also be done via email.

Cheers,
TonyBudak@TBMW.org
www.tbmw.org

"Failure is impossible" - Susan B. Anthony

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Cape Cod TimeBank Member Policies

Cape Cod TimeBank Member Policies



Policies:


Liability: Cape Cod Time Bank refers members who state that they are able to perform services. Cape Cod Time Bank cannot guarantee the performance of anyone who is referred, nor will the Cape Cod Time Bank or its staff or members be held responsible for any injury to persons or damage to property experienced while involved with the transaction.


Limitations:

No service is guaranteed, and there may be situations when the service provided does not meet the expectations of the receiver. Wherever possible, appreciation of another’s best efforts is part of what makes the TimeBank work. Additionally, all problems should be brought to the attention of a COORDINATOR.

Confidentiality:

All members must protect the privacy and confidentiality of other members. A member can be dismissed from the program for violating this rule. The only exception for sharing information is when a member feels that the health and/or safety of another member is in danger. Please communicate these concerns to a coordinator immediately.

CCTB Code of Conduct Agreement:

As a Cape Cod TimeBank member, I agree to:

1. Clarify all details of my transaction before meeting with my partner.
2. Respect my exchange partner’s privacy and confidentiality.
3. Recognize that my TimeBank service is voluntary.
4. Respect my exchange partner’s home, property and valuables.
5. Refrain from smoking in or bringing pets to my exchange
partner’s home, unless invited to do so.
6. Post and maintain at least one offer and one request on the CCTB website with my availability.


7. Communication is key to a successful TimeBank and it is my responsibility to answer all CCTB phone calls and emails directed to me in a timely manner, within three days.


8. To be notified via an email from sysadmin@timebanks.org of activity on my website page and that it is my responsibility to check my email in a timely manner. When I receive this email from sysadmin@timebanks.org, I will immediately go to the CCTB website to look at and respond to the email sent to me by another member.


9. To seek out, via the CCTB website, offers from other members that appeal to me.


10. Cape Cod Time Bank members, and administrators, in order to promote the common good and safety of all members, may ask you to submit a CORI or Criminal Offender Record Investigation to be conducted when agreed in writing. This mutual benefit does not exclude the possibility of other character background checks do be asked for and furnished by any member in good standing. If this is denied, then some members will not be matched for offers and requests in the marketplace.


* Under circumstances where the exchange involves services such as transportation, childcare, elder care, plumbing, etc., it is the responsibility of the CCTB requestor to ascertain the competency of the server to the extent that meets the user’s level of comfort.

CCTB Membership Liability:


I agree that all services I give or receive as a member of Cape Cod Time Bank are on a volunteer basis, and that I do not expect to receive or give any money for those services, except if there are related material fees agreed upon in advance (for example, workshop materials or gas money).


I take responsibility for my acts as a member of CCTB and agree that neither CCTB nor any member of CCTB shall be liable in any way for my actions as a member of CCTB.


I waive any claim against any other member of CCTB for any act or commission in the performance of membership exchanges. I further waive any claim against CCTB for the acts or commission by any member.


This waiver shall not encompass intentionally wrongful conduct by a member. However, liability for such conduct shall be limited to the person who takes such wrongful actions.


I understand that there will be immediate termination of membership of any member who has been found to harass, harm, or interfere
with any other CCTB member or the CCTB organization.


I agree to refer any complaints or concerns to CCTB administrator or regional coordinator.


I also agree to provide at least 2 character references.


The annual membership cost is $10 - $50 per family depending of size and use. Checks should be made out to:


Cape Cod Time Bank

5 Stage Coach Road

Harwich, MA 02645

E-Mail: membership@capecodtimebank.org

Office Phone: (508) 470-8587

Friday, June 5, 2009

SHARING SOLUTIONS - Cape Cod Thyme Bank!

Bring Some Thyme to Share!


BOOK TALK AND SIGNING : A The Sharing Solution: How To Save Money, Simplify Your Life and Build Community by Emily Doskow
Friday June 5th, 7-8pm


From housing and childcare to cars and household tools, many people are motivated to share resources but don't know how or where to start. The Sharing Solution is a practical and legal guidebook designed to help people create and maintain successful sharing arrangements while addressing commonly held concerns about liability and individual security.

There will be plenty of sharing at our event! We will share snacks with you, we encourage people to share a ride coming to the event and we will also hold a plant swap!



Bring some plants to share...everyone's garden needs some thinning out at this time of year. Thin out what you don't need and bring it along!


Come to Titcomb's Book Shop in Sandwich and meet Author Emily Doskow of The Sharing Solution will in Sandwich, MA on FRIDAY, June 5th, 2009 at a book signing from 7:00pm -8:00pm. The Cape Cod Time Bank is co-sponsoring this event.

Remember if you are a CCTB member or join Cape Cod Time Bank, you will get 10% discount off this price of this book, you will also get 1 hour of time from your community time bank.


Read the the latest book from Nolo Press, The Sharing Solution: How to Save Money, Simplify Your Life & Build Community.

Oakland, CA attorneys Janelle Orsi and Emily Doskow have put together a lively, practical guide to help anyone and everyone create sharing arrangements.

The book is chock-full of tools, instructions, tips, resources, and sample agreements to allow anyone to share a car with a neighbor, form a childcare co-op, join a co-housing community, start a tool-sharing group, and integrate sharing into a host of other areas of life. Janelle and Emily will share a wealth of great stories, information, and guidance on how to share all manner of things. Their Blog is here! http://www.sharingsolution.com/

They believe the beauty of sharing is that it's a solution we can create for ourselves.

Signed copies of the book will be available to purchase at Titcomb's Book Shop in Sandwich, MA

Cape Cod Time Bank's Newest member Heather Blume brought this video back from visiting her family in California. Please watch and who wants to head this adventure up. Pam, Chuck, Taylor, Heather Anyone?

Also we found this on-line community below. Have fun, share what you know and what you grow.




To borrow the complete video e-mail Heather at She will earn time credits: heatherblume@verizon.com

To Watch a this vedio a bit click on the YouTube video below.

Grow Food Party Crew

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

FYI

The three rules a Time Bank must follow in order to maintain the tax-exempt status of the Time Dollars are:

1. All exchanges must be one to one - an hour for an hour, regardless of the service, NO EXCEPTIONS!

2. Members should have only a moral obligation to participate in making exchanges in the Time Bank. If someone performs a service, there is no guarantee that they will receive a service in exchange.

3. The purpose of the Time Bank should be charitable (not for profit).

Why does this work? Well, in a regular barter or cash economy, you are 100% right in saying that services are taxable. That's because there is still a relative market value to the service, and you usually have to give something in order to receive something. So, if you want that plumber to come spend two hours at your house, you'd better give her something worth her time. If she would normally earn $100 for those two hours, then you have to provide $100 worth of goods or services to get the plumber.

This is absolutely not the case in a Time Bank. In the same example, to have the plumber come to your house for two hours, there is nothing you need to do but ask. She comes, fixes your pipe, and two Time Dollars are deducted from your account. Later, if you decide to earn those two Time Dollars back, you can do it anyway you like - babysitting for two hours for Bob, or walking dogs for a few afternoons for Jane and Roy, or applying your knowledge of tax law to a thorny tax return for Ellie. You are under no obligation to return the favor to the plumber, or to anyone else.

If there are two things that the IRS does not understand, it's morality and equality. Smile

As far as goods are concerned, it is possible, but exceedingly difficult, to exchange goods in a Time Bank. You can only spend Time Dollars on stuff if it can be valued in terms of time. So, for example, if it took me two hours to crochet a hat, I can offer it for two Time Dollars. If you attend a movie that is 3 hours long, the theater could charge 3 Time Dollars. Other things, like manufactured items and agricultural products, would be hard to trade within the Time Dollar system.

At least one Time Bank has solved this problem by creating an incentive program that parallels the Time Bank. For a certain number of exchanges, a person earns a token. The tokens accumulated can be spent on items in the Time Bank's store. Notice I said for a certain number of exchanges - not hours! And they have to be a combination of gives and receives.

I hope that answers your question thoroughly! The IRS rulings that are out there are local, and not national, but as long as everyone is following the same guidelines, there shouldn't be any trouble.


...and this is from Edgar Cahn:

IRS: Time Banking is Not Commercial Barter Edgar Cahn

Beginning in 1985, the US IRS has ruled that Time Banking programs are not “barter organizations” and that Time Dollars are not taxable.

The first ruling, made by a regional office of the IRS in 1985, involved the state-sponsored program operated in Missouri, said that "there will be no taxable consequences" to volunteers who earn credits as ‘reimbursement’ for services rendered. This ruling focused on the charitable nature of the organization, the charitable class served by the program, the fact that the organization was not a commercial for-profit barter club and that any qualifying person would receive such services without regard to cost.

The second was a private ruling covering a program set up to generate “service credit” exchanges among members. The central reason given for the ruling was that the credits were used primarily to motivate members and that no ‘contractual rights’ arose by owing them. The ruling noted that all hours were valued as equal, regardless of market value, and that the primary purpose of the credits was clearly to motivate members. Moral persuasion was the only means of enforcing a debt.

Charitable purposes include the relief of poverty, the advancement of education or religion, the promotion of health, governmental or municipal purposes, and other purposes the achievement of which are beneficial to the community.

The IRS distinguished time money from commercial barter clubs on the following grounds:
• Absence of a commission.
• Cash cannot be used to buy credits or eliminate a debt.
• The predominance of ‘like-for-like’ services in the exchange.
• The equal valuation given to all hours.

There can be no guarantee that the IRS will not reconsider its position at some future time. All rulings apply only to the particular party who applies for the ruling and state that they cannot be used or cited as precedent. Nonetheless, the rationale for the decisions involve basic principles which are consistently invoked in subsequent “individual” rulings.

We believe that the non-contractual nature of the exchanges, the specific charitable purposes pursued, the valuing of all hours equally, the potential savings to the taxpayer and the focus of the program on rebuilding family, neighborhood and community make it unlikely that Time Dollars will be treated as “taxable income” or that local Time Banks will be treated as commercial barter exchanges.

The following excerpts from a 1995 ruling illustrate the reasoning found persuasive by the IRS:

Section 6045(c)(3) of the Code defines the term “barter exchange” as any organization of members providing property or services who jointly contract to trade or barter such property or services.

Section 1.6045-1(a)(4) of the Income Tax Regulations states that the term “barter exchange” means any person with members of clients that contract with each other or with such person to trade or barter property or services either directly or through such person. The term does not include arrangements that provide solely for the informal exchange of similar services on a noncommercial basis.

As explained below, we conclude that X is not a barter exchange within the meaning of section 6045(c)(3) because X’s operations provide a means for the informal exchange of similar services on a noncommercial basis and do not result in the creation of contractual rights and obligations among members (or between members and X) for the exchange of property or services.

Other elements to be considered in determining whether an organization is a barter exchange are whether services are exchanged on a commercial or noncommercial basis and whether the exchange of services is formal or informal. See section 1.6045-1(a)(4). The application of these criteria to X is discussed below.

X facilitates the exchanges of services on a noncommercial basis as evidenced by the following considerations. First, all services receive a point value based solely on the number of hours of service provided without regard to the type of service. Second, a member who has performed services does not thereby have a contractual right to receive any services from X or from X’s members. Third, the organization does not place any limits on when services must be received. Thus, there could be a gap of several years between the time when a member provides services and the time when the member first receives services. Fourth, a member cannot assign (except to family or household m embers) the points that he or she has accumulated for services performed. Fifth, X is a community organization whose membership consists primarily of individuals living in the Y area. Sixth, X does not charge a fee for participation or membership in the program. Seventh, the records maintained by X show significant disparities in members’ accounts as to the number of hours of services provided and the number of hours of services received. Some members typically receive many more hours of services than they provide, while other members – who are apparently motivated by a desire to serve the community – typically provide many more hours of services than they received. Based on X’s records as of July, 1995, there were at that time approximately __ active participants over 25 percent of which have performed services but have not received any services in return.

The informal nature of the exchange of services is also evident. X simply links members in need of services with other m embers who are potential providers of services. It is up to the members, rather than X, to determine whether any services will be performed, to determine the time and place for performance of the services, and to ensure that the services are satisfactorily performed. Also, X does not have any responsibility for crediting the account of the service provider or debiting the account of the service recipient unless a member first contacts X and indicates the number of hours of service provided. Moreover, either member (the service provider or the service recipient) can contact X to indicate the number of hours of service provided, and this information may be provided to X informally through a phone call or postcard.

Section 6045. Returns of Brokers - Private letter Ruling

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Cape Cod Time Bank

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