The Participation Model (vs. Pay What You Can)
Most Cafés similar to SAME operate under a pay-what-you-can model in which guests can choose to pay as little or as much for their meals as they like. At SAME, we go a step beyond this and practice The Participation Model.
Under The Participation Model, guests participate by volunteering their time, donating money, or giving produce. We intentionally emphasize volunteering first because the best way to integrate into our community is through volunteering. When you volunteer, you get to work in the Café with our staff and other volunteers. By working together to create the meals our guests eat—be that by washing dishes, sweeping floors, chopping vegetables, or prepping plates—we create community with one another and work towards our mission as a team.
Pictured: Volunteers working in SAME Denver alongside staff
Pictured: Pizza prep in the kitchen at SAME Denver
This exchange of human connection is invaluable which is why we always want to promote our volunteering option as the foremost way to participate. Participation nurtures purpose which makes us all feel more fulfilled. See an example of the Participation Board below taken from SAME Denver.
Pictured: The SAME Denver Participation Board with a transparent budget outlined at the bottom
Note that the financial donations listed above will vary from Café to Café depending on a variety of factors we'll be covering more in later sections of this course (examples being location, overhead, community support, etc). The one thing that will always remain the same is that we do not post a suggested donation—the amounts listed above simply give patrons a transparent idea of our costs.
Pictured: A diverse array of plants from a produce donation for SAME Denver
We do this intentionally, as a suggested donation may make those who are unable to contribute that amount feel less than, which conflicts with our values of Whole People and Belonging. For similar reasons, we also do not have a minimum donation. If someone is giving a penny, we will have a conversation with them about what it means to participate in the community in a meaningful way for both their time and budget and the needs of the SAME Café community.
SAME is a mutual-aid organization and more on this will be covered in Section 3, Financial Model. Why this matters right now is that it emphasizes the point that EVERYONE is a part of the community and we need YOU to make the community. SAME values the resources that each person brings to the table. That’s why we like to ask: What is the resource you bring to the table? Whatever it is—time, money, produce, or something else—let’s put that to work to make the community better. This includes our staff who are a part of the community, not the overseers. That’s why our staff all work side by side with volunteers doing the same exact tasks to operate the Café. We pride ourselves on creating community around two tables: the prep table and the dining table.
