Small world - I'm the (as of 4 days ago former) board chair of a makerspace in Salt Lake City[0]. Our former shop manager is from Port Townsend and couldn't say enough about you guys.

We are also a financially sustainable nonprofit. I'm convinced that's the only long term viable way to do a makerspace that targets hobbyists and small businesses/craftspeople.

[0] https://makesaltlake.org

That's awesome, small world indeed. Make Salt Lake looks great.

Yeah I share that conviction. This space is less about creating value and capturing a part of it than creating community (though done well the value created by a thriving community _is_ substantial). And for reasons I've only partially grokked, many people are willing to contribute to a community backed by a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) corporation but not a regular corporation.

1. They get a substantial tax deduction- as much as half the donation, and the foundation pays no tax.

2. It makes them feel that they have done something good by donating to an educational foundation.

Note that not all tax-exempt nonprofits are 501(c)(3) educational foundations. You need that for the donation to be deductible for the donor.

Likewise, I'm currently on the management team at Hive76 in Philadelphia, and yeah - we couldn't operate as a for-profit company. We're a nonprofit, we're all volunteers, and while that means things move (sometimes a lot) more slowly, we can operate on razor-thin margins. We couldn't afford to pay one person's salary, but as a volunteer org we can keep going so long as we can afford rent/utilities/tools/consumables.