Can Donation Based Profit be the future of experience design?

Experimenting ourselves out of growth oriented capitalism

“Our Economic system and our planetary system are now at war. Or, more accurately, our economy is at war with many forms of life on earth, including human life. What the climate needs to avoid collapse is a contraction in humanity’s use of resources; what our economic model demands to avoid collapse is unfettered expansion. Only one of these sets of rules can be changed, and it’s not the laws of nature” Naomi Klein, This Changes Everything

The rules of our economy have to be changed. We can sit around and wait for the World Bank, the central banks, the WEF and governments to get their act together (unlikely to happen soon) Or we can in small but potentially mighty ways start experimenting with alternative economic structures, business and value models ourselves.

The current pricing models of products and experiences are often exclusive, artificial, injustice and extractive. Therefor, in all the projects I am co-creating, we are experimenting with alternatives to the Business-as-usual value and pricing models.

Why do we need alternative value and pricing models?

Accessibility

Why in a world full of pay gaps and unequal opportunities are we expecting people to pay the same price? It simply doesn’t add up.

Trust

Creating a society grounded in reciprocal relationships requires trust. Enhancing trust throughout society will increase the likelihood that the regenerative lens will be adopted at all scales. Every solid relationship grounded in trust makes the world a better place and the future a bit brighter.

Honoring Context

Both historically and in the present people have different levels of access to financial means, resources and opportunities. Often caused by extractive systems, colonialism, racism and greed. Honoring the context means recognizing the differences in opportunities and financial means and offering prices that reflect this context.

More than financial value

By moving beyond a pure financial transactional relationship you enhance the opportunity for other types of value to emerge. Only looking at the world with Money Eyes blinds you to see all the other types of value. Once you look beyond, you see that there are so many different ways of exchanging efforts, capacities and other values. Someone might not have the financial means to pay for an experience, but they can enhance it by sharing their skills, wisdom or time.

Experimenting ourselves out of growth oriented capitalism

Businesses, universities and communities around the world are experimenting with alternative pricing and value models. The opportunities are endless, if you have come across one that resonated, please share them in the comments! In this article we will explore; tiered pricing, Geopolitical context pricing, donation based profit and last but not least the gifting economy.

Tiered Pricing

Tiered pricing methods recognize the differences in peoples access to financial means and opportunities. Offering a range of prices increasing accessibility and inclusivity. We are currently piloting a tiered pricing method with the Regenerative Marketing Movement including the following tiers.

• Pay-it-forward Price, Corporate / High Income: You have enough savings for the new few months / you own the house you live in / you are not in debt / you can pay this program out of your corporate education training budget. The higher tired prices make it possible to offer equity based prices.
• Standard Price, SMEs / Comfortable income: You aren’t worried on a daily basis about your financial position / you have the financial flexibility to invest in your personal development / you can pay this program out of your employee development budget.
• Supported Price, Freelancers / Social Enterprise / Limited income: You have no stable or limited income / you frequently worry about money / you work for a social enterprise / as a establishing freelancer in impact or regeneration.
• Scholarship: We have limited scholarship spots (1/3 of supported price) available for those who don’t have the financial flexibility to participate in professional and personal development trainings.

Geopolitical Context Pricing

Geopolitical context pricing honors the differences in opportunities, fiat strength, minimum income, background and other geopolitical factors that influences people’s ability to access opportunities. In an increasing global context, were many experiences are delivered online across the globe it is vital we acknowledge these differences and offer pricing accordingly.

“Our pricing is determined by geopolitical context. We have different pricing options for different people’s access to wealth and opportunity.” Rebiz.io

Donation Based Profit

What if the cost of experiences reflected the true perceived value and recognized people’s differences in financial means? Instead of you as experience designed deciding on how much an experience is worth you build a space of trust from which participants can donate based on perceived not projected value.

We are testing Donation Based Profit (DBP) with Regenerative Food retreat Taste The Shift The retreat hasn’t started yet and we already learned a lot. During this pilot we are only charging the participants the cost price for the realization of the retreat (food, accommodation, travel expense for facilitators).

This approach makes the whole experience a lot more accessible to anyone who feels comfortable with the DBP approach. On the other hand, it might exclude people who feel uncomfortable about not having the financial flexibility to donate in a way that reflects their experience. The experience of this experiment has led us to think about the following questions:

• How do you create a space of trust were co-creating valuable experiences is prioritized over realizing projected expectations?
• How to we offer accessible donation based pricing without self-sacrificing our time, efforts and financial means?
• How can we invite more than financial value into the relationships?
• How to navigate the discomfort of individuals and clients who don’t have the money to reflect their experience?

In full transparency, this experiment so far has led to a lot of learnings but also a lot of stress. We came together in a collaboration without a financial buffer from previous projects. On top of that DBP leaves us with no upfront margin or buffer. This was all well and good until two participants had to cancel the day after we made all payments to our partners in full. Leaving us in a financial very tight position. Time will tell if this is a nourishing, insightful but financially costly experiment or a successful pilot of DBP Experiences.

We need your support getting one step closer to Normalizing Donation Based Profit!

It is a small step, yes. Yet, every project that adopts an alternative pricing model is a step away from Business-as-usual and a step towards a new norm. We really hope DBP can become the new norm in experience design. You can help us to make it happen! How?

1. If you've been on the fence on joining Taste The Shift, this is your time to join this immense opportunity!
2. If you know a friend, family member, colleague, hedgehog or neighbour who would love this experience, please share far and wide.

Find out more and book your Sport Here

Gifting Economy

In gifting economies products, experiences, capacities and other valuables aren’t sold but gifted without an agreement or immediate or future expectation to give something in return. Gifting economy’s are grounded in the connectedness of a network rather than in direct transactional relationships. When you gift to one person in the community, you don’t expect anything from them in return, but because you are both in a network with a gifting mindset, you often find the answer to your needs emerges from somewhere else in the network.

Earlier this year me and my partner were at a Natural Wine Vineyard in Dauphine after a long conversation the winemaker gifted us one of our favorite wines. We travelled back to the Netherlands and decided to gift the wine to two dear friends of mine, who I knew to be new to Natural Wine. We started talking about the farmer who was seeking partnerships in the Netherlands. My friends then invited me to join them to their wine importing friend, share the bottle with him and hope he falls in love with the taste and the story. A kindly gifted bottle to two tourists, turned into a gift that kept on giving and a potential new partnership. The winemaker didn’t expect anything in return, yet, what he was seeking emerged from an unexpected direction. What I learned from this experience?

• Communicate clearly what you are seeking, but don’t expect it to come directly from the person you are talking to.

• Believe in the power of connected networks. Amplify the stories and needs of others, you never know who might be able to help them.
• The story is often just as valuable as the gift.

Resources on Alternative Economics

The space of alternative economics is rapidly expanding. Movements and policiy makers are exploring and experimenting with degrowth, impact investing, doughnut -, wellbeing-, circular or regenerative economics frameworks. These frameworks and schools of economic thought both overlap and differ.

Transitioning out of Business-as-usual towards a modern form of regenerative society is not something we or any other living being on this planet has ever done. Therefor I think it’s wise to keep an open mind and continue exploring the pathways these alternative economic methods open up.

Here are a couple of resources that I found helpful in this (un)learning journey.

• About Doughnut Economics - Doughnut Economics Action Lab
• The Introduction to Degrowth Thinking - the Post Growth Guide
• Introduction to Degrowth - Erin Remblance
• The Regenerative Economic Shaper Perspective Paper - Carol Sanford & Ben Haggard
• 8 Principles of a regenerative economy - Capital Institute