nonprofit

Dane County TimeBank

Mission: To connect people in sharing time and talents to meet needs, improve systems, and address community issues throughout Dane County.

Vision: An interconnected community in which meaningful relationships drive collective change.

 

Contact Information


Summary

What is timebanking? At the most basic level, TimeBank members are a caring and interconnected community of people who help each other by sharing their abilities, talents, and experiences. When members provide a service for another member, they earn one TimeBank Hour for each hour they spend providing the service. Members exchange each TimeBank Hour they earn for an hour of service from someone else within the network.

The Dane County TimeBank, established in 2005, is a network of nearly 3000 individuals and organizations who exchange services and skills to build community, build capacity, and come together to help each other to build a better world. In timebanking, services exchanged help to fill resource gaps in the community. Anyone can join the TimeBank to offer skill or services - and receive services in exchange. By both giving and receiving, we learn to appreciate the value of each and every member and also come to believe in the value of our own contributions. Instead of separating our community into those who need and those who provide, we recognize that we all have needs and gifts to share and that we’re stronger together.

Goals:

1. Achieve wide-spread community engagement with timebanking to meet individual needs, address collective challenges, and promote economic justice.

2. Advance systems change around social justice issues requiring community action.

What does timebanking do?

Reduces social isolation Builds community connections

Links people to one another and to resources

Increases support networks Increase sense of belonging

Provides skill-building opportunities

Increases civic engagement Builds trust, empathy, and confidence

Increases economic and social opportunities

Increases co-production and creative solutions

Shifts power dynamics and creates a more just and healthy community

TimeBank Giving and Receiving: Timebanking is a tool for community-building and for incentivizing community-building activities, for building an alternative or complementary support delivery system, and for building the sharing economy. It can serve whole communities and/or be designed and used to target and serve specific target groups, including groups that are among the most vulnerable in society, those most marginalized, or those with highly specific needs. Timebanking provides an alternative or complementary system to formal services and government support.

There are lots of timebanks, but the Dane County TimeBank is unique: There are TimeBanks operating in 35 countries, with more than 500 TimeBanks in the US. The Dane County TimeBank is one of the largest and most diverse in the world and is considered a leader in how we are applying timebanking to meet community needs.

Projects: Projects initiated through the Dane County TimeBank provide solutions for challenges identified by the community as unmet needs. Through timebanking we are tackling community issues such as access to wellness services, juvenile and criminal justice system harm, school to prison pipeline, transportation barriers, food access, food redistribution, building healthy economies, and more. Restorative Justice and strength-based approaches are woven throughout all of our projects. All projects hold TimeBank values at the center.

Values of timebanking:

Assets – Everyone has something to contribute to the well-being of others in their community.

Reciprocity – We need each other. Giving and receiving are the basic building blocks of positive social relationships and healthy communities.

Respect – every human being matters. Everyone deserves respect from individuals and civic institutions.

Social Capital – Belonging to a mutually supportive network brings more connection to our lives and new opportunities to rebuild our trust in one another.

Work – Some work is beyond price. Those who carry out the really essential activities like bringing up healthy children, helping to keep their communities safe, and caring for those around them, need to be validated and rewarded for their work.

 

Board Position

We are looking for active board members who are passionate about our mission, vision, and values. We are looking for people with a passion for building grassroots community support networks and who can help us grow our organization. We recently completed a strategic planning process and are looking for people who can help us achieve our two main goals: 1. Achieve wide-spread community engagement with timebanking to meet individual needs, address collective challenges, and promote economic justice. 2. Advance systems change around social justice issues requiring community action.

Schedule