Changes to Pollinators and CityHive services

This post is from March 2015 when it was published privately and only viewable be members. The proposed changes have now been implemented, with some improvements and clarifications based on member feedback.

A common ethos across our Board, staff and members is that we are ‘always learning’ and applying that learning to grow the impact, resilience and health of our ventures and community. Based on our recent learning, Pollinators Board want to make some changes that will improve the quality, sustainability, accessibility and impact of our services.

These changes are being recommended and prioritised based on strategic planning, business planning, member and staff consultation and some deep reflection on the purpose, value and nature of what we do. All the proposed changes are also considered against our values, mission, vision and ethos of ‘win-win-win-win’ alignment of individuals, organisations, community and humanity-scale aspirations.

Improvements have already been made to the way we run our member events, prioritise new projects and services, resourced funding applications and new leads, opportunities and projects. More changes are in the pipeline, and more of Pollinators operations, policies and decisions will become increasingly transparent and accessible to members.

Change to services and pricing for membership and space

Pollinators Board has endorsed:

1. A new policy for annual review of member satisfaction, services and pricing,
2. New pricing and services for members proposed to apply from April 2015 (below),
3. A consultation period for these proposed changes,
4. New membership offering to be formalised in Membership Terms and Conditions,
5. Changes to pricing would be at time of renewal, while changes to services would be immediate upon effect.

All members are invited to review the proposed changes, ask questions, share reactions, suggest improvements or raise objections.

Please make your contribution by 5pm on 27th March

The best means to share your questions, reactions, ideas or objections are:

• Via the member’s online forums.
• At a Member Meetup on First Wednesday and Third Friday,
• Via email to the Board: board@pollinators.org.au
• Or via direct personal communication with the Board or Executive Officer: http://pollinators.org.au/about/people/

Reasons for changes

The primary motivation for changes are to increase the sustainability of services that will satisfy our members. The Board’s vision for the changes are that:

• Members are much more deeply engaged with Pollinators and each other engaged as innovators and collaborators,
• Members have higher levels of satisfaction, and attribute more of their success to our support,
• The “Community” (membership) service area is profitable, allowing investment in innovation

Issues with current pricing and services include:

• Aspects of the membership offering are unclear, ‘fuzzy’ or inconsistent in their application e.g. discounts with partners,
• ‘Community’ (membership) services operate at a loss and unsustainable e.g. individual membership doesn’t cover costs,
• Synergies between membership and other services, projects, programs are limited, poor or poorly understood,
• Expectations are being set too high and prices too low e.g. frequency and quality of communications,
• The limited options don’t meet the diverse needs of our members.

Proposed changes

Current pricing and services are online: membership and space.

Membership

Membership’s core benefits are about being part of a nurturing community of innovators and entrepreneurs:

• Staying connected to people, information and resources,
• Easily communicating, collaborating and learning with other members,
• Contributing to creative and innovative projects and initiatives.

Features of all membership include:

• Newsletters, social media and online network,
• Meetups, networking and peer-to-peer learning events,
• Discounted access to Swarm, Flock, Catalyst, Goodness and other training and events.

Proposed changes to membership services include:

• Improve newsletter and communication to better serve members (and reduce access to non-members),
• Make it easier and more transparent for members to present, promote, propose ideas, projects, ventures or training,
• Increase the range of discounts and benefits from other members and partners,
• Increase the range of high-quality supporting services e.g. advice, mentoring and training exclusive to members,
• Clarify and constrain the times and terms under which members use of space at CityHive e.g.
  • Limited free monthly coworking hours for members,
  • Free meetings for community groups, outside business hours,
  • Discounted meeting space for members.

Proposed pricing tiers are (including GST – current pricing on website is excluding GST):

• Individual — $165 — individuals whose organisational affiliation (or identity) is secondary,
• Sole Trader — $220 — individuals who’s business or organisation is their primary identity,
• Community — $330 — groups with up to 5 volunteers representatives can access member benefits,
• NFP / Social enterprise — $440 — up to 3 representatives can access member benefits ,
• Business / Government — $550 — up to 3 representatives can access member benefits at any one time,
• Network — tbc —  for provision of admin, marketing and space support non-incorporated networks,
• Partner — tbc — partners co-investing for social, ecological and and economic outcomes.

Space

Space’s core benefits are about accessing flexible, professional, collaborative space to do work:

• Ability to work when and how you want, with stress-free, shared-cost services (internet, printing etc)
• Easily organising and having productive meetings using great technology (conferencing, projectors etc)
• Being connected with and supported by other workers and staff (hosting, networking, mentoring).

Proposed changes to space services include:

• Making it easier and clearer for coworkers and visitors to look after themselves and use technology at CityHive,
• Increasing relative discounts for longer-term coworking commitments e.g. $100/wk for long-term, full-time,
• Clarifying and consistently applying pricing for additional services e.g. hosting, printing,
• Increase pricing for meeting rooms to cover increases in rent and maintenance costs,
• Cap free use of meeting space for coworkers during business hours e.g. 2 hrs/wk for full-time coworkers,
• Increased opportunities to apply for additional sponsored space and support.

Proposed pricing tiers are as per the table below (including GST – current pricing on website is excluding GST):

Further details of changes are being developed, and any member is able to contact any staff or Board member at anytime to discuss or request an update: http://pollinators.org.au/about/people/