$MONEY$MONEY$MONEY$
Putting on this retreat has always been about the magic and not the money. So much so that we simply broke even every year until The Empress year (of course!). The facilitators do not get paid, our “perk” being we also do not pay to come to the retreat. Any money that is made has gone into a reserve to help if we don’t break even or need money for scholarships.
Being the Temperance year, of course we’ve been trying to work on balance and sustainability for the retreat. Being 2025, prices have risen considerably and Four Springs has changed from charging a set fee for the venue to per person. Because of this, we have had to raise our rates. Here’s hopefully a simple equation that is understandable:
The cost per person for the venue is $75 a night. The cost for food is $230 a person. We have 6 of us who don’t pay (the facilitators and one full scholarship)
So that means if we have a full camp of 31 people the cost for the venue, per paying participant, is $263.72 and food is $320, which equals $583.72 total. This is not including our costs for insurance, supplies, our website, and the partial scholarships we provide. Given this, the year of Temperance gives us the magical challenge of doing a bit better than breaking even. Of a balanced budget!
We want to make Fool’s affordable and sustainable. Our website does not allow for a sliding scale, but we ask you to consider seeing it that way. We have set prices as low as we can. We know, however, that even the lowest price may be a stretch for some of you. Fool’s has a wide diversity in financial privilege. Some are worried about paying for medical bills and eggs, while some are worried about losses in stock portfolios. If you are the latter, please consider donating so we can continue to be generous with scholarships. One challenge of the future will be sharing. Sharing is one way of fighting fascism and the culture of greed and self-interest. Make a donation! Even $10 helps and is a magical act! This may allow us to cover all the scholarship costs, as well as offering more. *IMPORTANT*: If using Venmo for your donation, be sure to write FJ RETREAT in the “what’s this for” bar.
Divination Day and the funk trunk help with covering some of the cost of scholarships, but not all. If you can’t make it for whatever reason, we will gratefully accept any donations to defray costs and enhance our scholarship fund. If you are able and interested, click the one of the “donate” buttons below where you can make a donation of any amount.
Part of our planning involves envisioning how we go forward; including how we continue to bring new people on board, while allowing those in leadership to take sabbaticals, and all around making this something sustainable for the long haul of this foolish journey. We are over half way there!
We post every year an accounting of what it costs to put on the retreat. Last year, due to accounting error we thought we lost money, but happily found the error. Here is our revised accounting:
Year 2024, Year of the Death card:
REVENUE
Tuition: $14,584.14
Divination Day: $1,115.48
TOTAL REVENUE: $13,679.62
EXPENSES:
Four Springs: $5,100.00
Caterer: $7,555.46
Insurance: $300.00
Planning expenses: $137.52
TOTAL: $886.64
Thank you!
YOUR FOOLISH FACILITATORS