Change #1 – No more membership fees!
Now that we have two years of financial data to evaluate, we have a better idea of our budgeting needs. The surprise? Our expenses are less than originally expected! Therefore, we are happy to announce that we will no longer collect membership dues annually. We will still have expenses, but we have opted to rely on an annual donation drive to cover them.
Change #2 – NEW member software!
The Cville TimeBank is successful, in small measure, because of the Community Weaver website we have used to post service ads and to record exchanges. Created and maintained by TimeBanks USA, it helped us get off the ground, but as members have come to realize, the site is clunky and pretty awkward. Redesigns have been promised for some time but have not yet been published.
Enter hOurworld, an online Timebank exchange site originally created by a TimeBank fan in Portland, Oregon, in 2006. Over the years, the software evolved with loving care by a collection of TimeBankers called Time and Talents. Many timebanks around the country have made the transition to hOurworld, and are thrilled with how easy it is to use, as well as the response from developers to continually improve and customize the site.
The beauty of the software is its simplicity and intuitiveness. Listings are easy to find and exchanges are easy to record. Reports are a dream and communicating with other members is no longer cumbersome. And…. It’s free! In short, the Kitchen Cabinet representatives are completely besotted with this new software and the upcoming evolution of the Cville TimeBank!
We are totally psyched about this change – and we bet you will be, too! Here’s a little peek into the new features we love, love, LOVE about the new Time and Talents software:
- Your personal homepage is now a cornucopia of details and direct action. Your hours? Front and center. Want to post a quick request? Boom! See all the newest posts by others? Right there!
- Printer-friendly email statements of all your exchanges are a page away at the tap of a button.
- Email members directly from the website and receive replies to your email. No more cumbersome contact issues when making exchange arrangements. (Can we get an AMEN?!!!!)
- Create or join a group of members with a common interest and easily communicate activities and meetings. GROUPS! Knitters, Spanish-speakers, gardeners…. UNITE! 🙂
- Exchange interesting work around the world with the Inter-Trade section of offers and requests in many other countries. Yup. That’s right. We said ‘around the world’!
- At the bottom of your home page, the total number of current Cville TimeBank members, as well as the total number of hours exchanged to date, is always available.
- Becoming a member is now as easy as clicking a button on our new homepage. Add your info and you’ll get a reply email with helpful information and an invitation to an orientation. New members still need to attend an orientation before their account is authorized.
When?
The big move happens January 15, 2015, when we will migrate all of our data and activity to the new platform. We’ll focus first on bringing out current members up to speed with the new site, and then our January orientations for new members we begin welcoming new members in to our spiffy new system.
Want a sneak peek at how the new software works? 
