An Update on BBATX: The Impact of COVID-19 And Our Efforts To Stay Open
Times have been weird and wild for us at bbatx (and we’re sure they have for you, too).
In the last month and a half, we’ve lost about 75% of our revenue with COVID-19 closures and have yet to receive a SBA or PPP loan—but we know our work is still necessary. So, we’ve decided to participate in #GIVINGTUESDAYNOW.
For 24 hours on Tuesday, May 5, we’ll be fundraising to continue doing what we do best: create resilient communities invested in gender equality, creativity and inclusion. You can help us show up for the thousands of women and nonbinary creatives, small business owners and leaders in our programs by spreading the word or making a donation directly here.
Everything counts. <3
here’s everything you need to know:
1.) What’s going on in the bbatx community?
At bbatx (#bossbabesATX), we provide education and exhibition opportunities to women and nonbinary creatives, entrepreneurs and professional leaders through large festivals, conferences and events. In the last month, due to the pandemic, our community has been hard-hit, from navigating layoffs to the loss of their small businesses to our collective mental health.
In response, we've done what we do best: share resources and make space. Since March 15, we have distributed thousands of digital resources for creatives and entrepreneurs, supported 20+ artists and freelancers with commissions and connected 60+ small businesses impacted by COVID to new clients and customers. We’ve also hosted free workshops and educational webinars for hundreds in our community to explore financial wellness, mental health, pivoting in a crisis and resiliency in these weird times.
2.) What kinds of barriers is the nonprofit facing?
We’ve had to postpone the majority of our in-person programs (and nonprofits like ours will be in the last group of businesses able to reopen), so we’ve lost 75% of our revenue. We also have yet to receive a SBA or PPP loan. With your support, we can:
Cover our monthly rent: $1350
Cover our monthly subcontractor costs to keep our programs alive: $6500
Cover our monthly administrative costs for technology + web hosting: $1,000
Cover the cost of our paid opportunities for women and nonbinary creatives and small businesses: $7000
Cover the hard costs of supplies and materials to produce our programs and provide services: $5000
3.) I want to donate. How can I get involved?
Donate directly to cover our losses and costs through #GivingTuesdayNow by clicking here. You can also RSVP for updates on our #GivingTuesdayNow events on May 5 here.
Attend a virtual event. Seriously—every time you attend an event of ours, you’re putting your dollar, attention and time toward women and non-binary creatives, entrepreneurs and leaders. Showing up counts.
Join a program. Applying to participate in our festivals, markets and conferences is a great way to get involved with bbatx and benefit from the community we cultivate. You can also become more embedded in the community by attending our intimate workshops and smaller meet-ups.
Explore membership. This summer, we will be introducing bbatx’s first-ever membership for women and nonbinary creatives, small business owners and leaders looking to learn and build community.
Become a partner. Partners donate between $500 to $20,000+ to our programs. They give us the foundational, financial strength we need to employ our staff, hire artists, book venues and invest in community outreach.
Donate to our programs. It takes $250,000 per year to what we do, and every dollar toward those expenses helps us survive.
Buy from our shop. Everything in our store benefits our programs, by directly contributing to our staffing and administration costs. (Plus, it's all cute and for the most part eco-friendly and sustainable.)
Subscribe to our bimonthly newsletter. Opening our emails and tuning into what we do beyond social media helps us become less dependent on Instagram’s and Facebook’s biased algorithms, while ensuring you stay in the loop.
Read our blog. Knowing more about our community and our values helps you become a better advocate for our values and ideas.
Volunteer with us. When you donate your time to bbatx by volunteering at an event, you help us reduce the cost of our programs and keep both ticket prices, booth fees and other things that our community pays for more affordable.