• Unit of Currency: The Womanshare unit of currency is the credit. The smallest fraction that can be reported is 0.25 credit. All charges that involve calculations or are for services of less that 0.25 hours should be rounded up to the next 0.25 credit.

• Cash: Cash should be charged for any costs incurred by the provider regardless of credits charged. This may include carfare, Xeroxing materials, food purchases, etc., but should not include such social amenities as refreshments served at meetings. Cash charges should be thoroughly discussed and understood prior to any exchanges.

• Preliminary Preparation: Preliminary preparation and other work performed alone is to be charged at the same rate as the service to which it is related (see Womanshare Work, One-to-one Service, and Workshops). However, time should be counted only for substantive work performed (e.g., stuffing envelopes, writing committee minutes, specifying workshop exercises) and not for wool-gathering, musings and obsessing, despite our belief that the latter activities have great creative value. It is recommended that providers keep track of preparation time as they go since it is very difficult to estimate accurately later.

• Waiting Time: Credits should not be charged for extensive "waiting time" involved in services such as cooking or transferring records to tape. However, credits may be charged if the waiting time cannot be otherwise used, such as some instances when the provider is in the recipient's home or when the recipient is late.

• Negotiations: The credits for sharing not included in this document are open to negotiation by the women involved using categories defined here as a framework. However, for Womanshare work, contact the Credit Committee for clarification.

• Definition: Travel by the provider to and from a recipient's home, workshop location or any other place where a service will be performed. This does not include Womanshare work for which no credits are allowed for travel.

• Charge: 0.5 credit per hour for round trips of more than 30 minutes. No credit for round trips of 30 minutes or less.

• Definition: Organizational, administrative, and clerical work performed for the benefit of Womanshare, usually as a member of a committee. (The proviso in the General Information section restricting charging to "substantive work" is particularly pertinent to Womanshare work. The fact that these credits are not debited to another member creates an inflationary situation that should be limited as much as possible.)

• Examples: Typing newsletter, attending committee meetings, copying material for distribution, calling Womanshare members regarding official. activities, providing apartments for "pot luck' gatherings.

• Charges (debited to Womanshare):

  1. Work for a committee or other individual or group work for Womanshare: 1 credit per hour.  

  2. Committee meetings are periodic gatherings attended by committee members, to serve the operational, growth and developmental needs of Womanshare.
  Attendance: 1 credit per meeting of three hours or less (not counting social time), 0.5 credit per hour after three hours.  

  3. Monthly "pot luck" gatherings are get-togethers of the general membership on the second Sunday of every month.
  For providing space: 5 credits per meeting (2.5 credits for setup and cleanup, 2.5 credits for the space).
  Helpers: 1 credit for setup, 1 credit for cleanup.
  Facilitators: 1 credit per meeting.
  Attendance: No credit  

  4. The Womanshare Council, comprised of committee members and members at large, is the decision–making body of Womanshare and meets on a regular basis.
  Attendance: 1 credit per meeting.  

  5. Travel time: no credits.

• Definition: Service provided to one person, which may be in person or over the telephone, and which includes preliminary preparation time, if any.

• Examples: Massage, language instruction, building shelves, cooking a meal, explanation of Social Security esoterica, transportation, organization of materials to be lent out.

• Charge: 1 credit per hour, debited to the recipient.

• Definition: Service provided to several members simultaneously, including preliminary preparation time, if any. The provider should indicate the minimum number of participants acceptable and may cancel if that number is not met. All participants must be notified of cancellation at least 24 bows in advance. Conversely, a workshop registrant, who cancels less than five days prior to the workshop is still obligated for the credits she would have paid had she attended the workshop, regardless of the reasons for the cancellation. However, the workshop provider may, at her discretion, waive payment if the number of remaining attendees is such that the impact of the cancellation is minor.

• Examples: Mother/daughter workshop, group cooking class, providing transportation for a group.

• Charge: One credit per hour, debited to the recipients on a prorated basis, except the recipients may not be charged more than 0.5 credit per hour of actual workshop or class time. If any of the participants are not Womanshare members, the credits should be prorated as if all participants were members, with the provider, naturally, receiving fewer credits. It is assumed that the provider is being compensated in some other way by the non-Womanshare participants.

• Sample Charge Calculations

1. If Sarah leads a 2-hour workshop, prepares for 4 hours and has 8 participants, each participant is charged 0.75 credit (2 + 4 divided by 8). If one of those participants is not a Womanshare member, Sarah will receive only 5.25 credits (7 times 0.75) rather than the 6 credits she would receive if all participants were in Womanshare.
2. If Laura's class is 3 hours and her preparation time is 7 hours and she has only 5 students, the formula (3 + 7 divided by 5) would cause each student to be charged 2 credits. However, since each participant may be charged only 0.5 credit per hour of class, she may charge only 1.5 credits to each member and, therefore, receive only 7.5 credits for her work. Laura can ensure that she will get her full 10 credits by stipulating that her class must have at least 7 students (7 times 1.5 is 10.5). Alternatively, she may choose to be satisfied with less.