I teach a monthly class on how to make soup. Some of my students don’t pay.
I’ve offered a sliding scale that goes below $0 since I started teaching online cooking classes. Seriously — if you want to cook with us and are short the money for groceries, we will buy your ingredients for you. Nobody gets left out of soup class.
(I also try really hard to make sure soup class ingredients are inexpensive and easy to find. Some classes are better about that than others, if I’m honest, but I try not to make people spend a lot on things that’ll just take up space in their pantries.)
I’ve watched people take my classes over the last year and a half and change the amount they paid every time. I’ve had students pay the top of the scale one month, and $0 the next. I’ve got students who’ve asked if they can pay more than the top of the scale. I’ve got students who pay me in different multiples of chai, which is the most touching gesture for a Jewish teacher. I’ve NEVER had to pay myself less than $25 an hour, which is what I consider a break-even cost for myself.
I’m honored both by the generosity and the honesty — and sometimes the vulnerability — my soup community has trusted me with. I hope that’s evident in class.
I just wanted to talk about that a little bit here, since it hits me every time how wonderful it is to be part of this self-sustaining little shindig we’ve got going.
Any other teachers/organizers/event people have soft fuzzy stories about sliding scales?
