Support PEX with Monthly Contributions via Patreon

We are fortunate to start the new year in a secure spot thanks to the many of you that have committed your generosity through monthly support. Contributing via Patreon provides PEX the certainty that we can predictably pay our bills next month. Early on we created a Patreon target of $1500/mo to cover our monthly operating expenses. For 2025, we were able to sustain an average of $1330/mo together. The number of Patreon members ebbs and flows over time, but we've been able to consistently rely on this income stream to meet our bottom line and keep doing what we love. 

Just over 60% of our overall income comes from Patreon alone. The remaining 40% of our income comes from one time donations and various pay what you can merchandise and event sales. That 40% bucket can be hard to predict. Some months it's a modest $376 extra like July 2025 and other times it's $1296 like December 2025 when we had our two day Pre-Loved Gift Sale and folks were embracing the year end giving spirit with higher than average one time donations. This is why steady, monthly contributions are so meaningful to PEX's sustainability. Those swings in one time giving and merchandise sales can be unpredictable or, when predictable, come with a huge effort of a big event like the estate sales. Those $5/mo monthly contributions help fund the quiet, weekly activities - like open hours, keeping the coffee pot running and community meetups - activities that aren't flashy, or complicated, or filled with 'stuff'. Patreon is funding the everyday operations of offering space and just being here. Many, many thanks to all of you that contribute to PEXs success to sustain two whole years of just 'Existing for Existence's sake. PEX has kept showing up largely due to all of you continuing to show up too.

All of us Stewards are hoping and planning for a larger space in 2026. Our 8k surplus profit from 2025 puts us in a good position to be able to take on the higher rent that comes with a larger space. In the coming months, our Patreon target of $1500/mo will need to increase and we'll have to start planning some fundraising events. While we try to embrace 'everything is free' the vast majority of the time, to move us into a larger space, we will be required to admit - well not rent, not utilities, not supplies, those.... those aren't free at all, and we so appreciate your contributions to cover these very real expenses month after month. 75% of our Patreon support comes from many people giving $5 or $10 a month. Illustrating so beautifully how even participating in small ways profoundly impacts the success of this community built effort. We are stronger together, bit by bit. If you've considering signing up, now is a great time to do so. We've got our Patreon appreciation party coming up this February and we hope to see all of our monthly Patreon contributors there.

Cheers to 2026 and what's to come.
- Mary, PEX Treasurer

Visit our Patreon site https://www.patreon.com/Peoples_Exchange