State of the Lab, November 8 2025

[Brett Neese]

Members,

I am writing on behalf of the board to provide some much needed transparency on the "state of the lab." I apologize for taking so long on delivering this - getting the information we need, and double checking that information has been a bit of a challenge for us. We wanted to make sure we weren't misleading anyone before putting this report out.

Before I get into the nitty gritty, here's a where we stand at an extremely high level:

• The good news: the reports of our imminent death have been greatly exaggerated. We are not drowning, we are treading water. And our membership numbers are close to an all time, pre-pandemic high. Also, we have identified ways to rectify the ~$3K deficit we are currently running, but are interested in discussing more about this with the membership.
• The bad news: we effectively have $0 in discretionary spending available to us, and the board is concerned about the impact of potential economic headwinds come 2026. We can survive for a while on the money in the bank, but we won't be thriving. That's why it's critical that we position the organization to flourish. That means: more grants/donations, more classes, more activity, more participation, more revenue, more making, and, perhaps most importantly, more fun! 

Anyway, to the numbers! These can be reviewed in more detail in the reports I'm attaching to this email, and we will be happy to address any questions you have. I plan to add discussing this to the HYH agenda. If we don't have the answers, we'll try to find them.

• We currently have about $30K cash on hand. My understanding is that somewhere around ~$3-5K of this is restricted, which means it's earmarked for particular stations (mostly this is instructor fees that have been earmarked for the wood shop.) This may sound like a lot, but the big picture is that it's essentially what we need for our emergency fund. To put it in perspective, our yearly rent and utility expenses are around $50K/year.
• We are running a year to date (YTD) deficit of -$2,129.07, and a year over year deficit of -$3,240.64
• YTD, we've received $8,776.27 in donations. This includes $532.98 from the United Way, $2,991.96 in donations from individuals over $100 (including a few very generous gifts over $500), and $1500 from employer matching gifts. Thank you to those wonderful humans for supporting the lab. The rest has been relatively smaller donations we've received through the general donation box or the snack fund. 
• YTD, we have received $40,015.00 in membership dues. We currently have 95 members.

So, that's where things stand right now. I want to reiterate that our financial position is that we are treading water and have effectively $0 in discretionary spending. But that shouldn't mean we stop investing time, energy and effort into turning the lab from running a slight deficit to being in a position to thrive. 

I am working on a small year-end fundraising drive that I hope will cover, or come close to covering, the deficit we would have at the year's end so that we can position ourselves to flourish in 2026 (and I have personally committed to a matching gift to start off this drive). 

And recently, we've seen examples of very creative ways to finance investments into the lab. I love that energy. Let's keep it up.

Onward and upward,

Brett

PS - I am also working on projecting our 2026 finances. I plan on delivering that report in December or January, when we have more data from the end of the year. That should help inform our plans moving forward. This is why it's important to discuss this now, so we can plan for tomorrow. As a board, we have already identified ways that we can improve our financial position - for example, finding ways for members to pay dues with less fees than what PayPal charges us, and we are open to hearing what y'all think we can do to reduce expenses and improve revenue when you see these numbers.

[Moheeb Zara]

THIS IS AWESOME. (in that ya'll put so much effort into compiling this data and coming up with actionable plans..deficit not so awesome)

Its a much clearer and less grim picture than what I think the general assumption has been. While its short on what we want, its still really amazing that heatsync pulls 40k a year from memberships! 

Thank you for the effort and transparency <3