Group planning pay-what-you-can cafe seeking volunteers

Early last year Kevin Meese, a member of Wake Forest Presbyterian Church, started campaigning for a community, non-profit, pay-what-you-can café in Wake Forest. By Sept. 24 he had generated enough interest that about 60 area residents met to discuss the possibility/feasibility of such a project.

Now the idea is becoming much more of a possibility. Meese and George Show, a member of the Northern Community Food Security Team, are about to assemble a group of volunteers who will work on a restaurant business team in the first three months of the new year. “We are looking for folks with strengths in non-profit management; marketing, communications & fundraising; setting up a 501(c)3; restaurant management/operations; & nonprofit finance.”

If you are interested, you can contact shaw – g0b07shaw@gmail.com – or Meese – kjmeese20@gmail.com – or you can sign up for specific teams at Sign Up Genius – https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080D4DAEA629A3FC1-wake. You are asked to sign up by Jan. 2 so they can get a head count for the first working session.

The group will start meeting the week of Jan. 6 and continue through March. The time commitment for the volunteers will be 25-30 hours of meetings and working sessions. Those who sign up early will get a package in late December that will help them get up to speed before that first meeting.

The teams are as follows:

1. Coordinating Group

– Manage the Process

– Draft our core statements (mission, vision & values)

– Assess the strengths & weaknesses of existing community cafes across the country

– Draft the executive summary of the business plan

2. Community Engagement Team

– Articulate the interests of diverse groups in Wake Forest in such a restaurant (both full pay & volunteer)

– Examples: Northeast Community Coalition; town & county governments; college students; businesses

3. Business Development, Marketing & Fundraising

– Determine plans for partners for the restaurant, publicity & promotion

– Develop plans for fundraising including grants, events & sponsors as well as creative mechanisms for payments (e.g., tokens, subscriptions)

4. Management & Organization

– Structural requirements of a 501(c)3

– Roles & responsibilities of Boards (Directors + a Community Board)

– Advisory resources (Legal, Real Estate, Accounting)

– Key policies & procedures (management, operations, financial)

5. Operation of the Restaurant

– Restaurant characteristics, hours & location

– Pricing strategy (80/20 rule of thumb, price of meals)

– Service attributes

– Equipment requirements

– Staffing (esp. management, operations & chefs) & scheduling

– Food (offering, sourcing, how distributed to customers)

6. Financials

– Business model & key assumptions

– Start up costs & sourcing options

– Budget – before start up as well as first 2 years of operation

– Financial modeling of different options for the restaurant

7. Other Resources

– Collaboration Space – set up a web site so that we can share information, questions & resources

Shaw wrote in his email about the effort, “This is part of a movement nationally to set up community cafes. 70-80% of the customers pay full price; the balance volunteer in the restaurant in lieu of making a payment. Our mentor is A Place At The Table (APATT) on W. Hargett St. in Raleigh, one of the most successful non-profit cafes in the country.  They are doubling their capacity less than 2 years after opening their doors in January 2018.

“Probably less than half of such community cafes have succeeded nationally.  Many never launch; others fail after a couple of years.  It is crucial to have a business plan that thinks through opportunities & issues before committing to such a restaurant.  APATT in Raleigh took nearly 3 years after getting their non-profit status before opening the doors.  However, they did things right – raising money; hiring & training key staff; and developing policies & procedures to ensure their success.

“To that end, we are developing a plan with a broad cross-section of faith, civic & other organizations.”

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