Dance Temple Financial/Business Structure

Dance Temple is currently a sole proprietorship business.  6 women, that we call the collective, function as the administrative team that supports and make decisions pertaining to this business.  The word ‘collective’ refers to how we make decisions internally, but not to our external structure.  We’re not a not for profit.  We all get paid per contract, and pay other contractors (djs and guests) on an individual basis.  

On regular high-season week we bring in a gross (before expenses) of $1000 from both Monday and Thursday nights. 
-52% goes to the facilitator and door person.  This works out to aprox. $15/hour with the time and work that is put into each set and time spent at the hall.  This doesn't include music purchase (we buy all of the music that we play). 
-15% goes to rent. 
-25% goes to general admin.  This pays a monthly stipend to main admin, book keeper, web and newsletter/writing as well as $ that gets dispersed 6 ways for meeting time, ongoing conversation online to arrange calendars, report back about each night, manage feedback, interpersonal and personal issues that arise at Dance Temple and the many many unnamed things that come from running a business with 6 people.   This ends up looking like around $8-10/hour.
-5% goes to equipment purchases or charities (we have bought $5000 worth of gear in the past 2.5 years as well as paid out $1500 to charities and local causes).
-3% goes to tending to the kids who come to dance.
-Other regular costs include insurance and extra door people when needed.  

We hope this helps to clarify! We love what we do and are grateful for the nominal income that we receive from the community for it. We are proud to have kept the entry cost the lowest of any ecstatic dance that we know of internationally.  Because we are 6 people running the show, we make much less than other successful dance floors, but feel that this is part of the magic of our Salt Spring Dance Temple.