Sliding Scale Philosophy

The idea of “affordable” can be very nuanced, and is closely tied to class and resource availability. We hope this explanation of our sliding scale helps to demonstrate Vegan Scouts’ commitment to accessibility and equity, and creates a clearer explanation of our fees.

We offer a sliding scale for all of our programs, materials, and membership dues because we believe that financial resources are not and should not be the only determining factor in whether or not a family can access our programs. We do not (currently!) receive any outside funding. Our programs are run strictly on member support, donations, and a whole lot of volunteer hours. By using a sliding scale, we are working TOGETHER to support each other with our program costs, so that everyone who wants to be part of Vegan Scouts can be part of Vegan Scouts.

The difference between “sacrifice” and “hardship”

If paying our fees would be difficult, but not detrimental, it qualifies as a sacrifice. A sacrifice might mean cutting back, temporarily, on “wants” spending. However, if paying our fees would be detrimental to your family and would impact your ability to pay for your family’s basic needs, this qualifies as a hardship. For those of whom paying any fee would present a hardship, we offer scholarships. These scholarships are made available by our wider Vegan Scouts community. Those who are able to pay more, are able to help cover the costs for those who can not.

What should I pay?

We are intentionally creating a community of mutual trust and respect, and as such utilize self-reporting. We each get to identify where our families fall in regard to financial resources, and pay fees accordingly. We’re breaking our sliding scale down into three categories.

We want to thank several sources for their resources on sliding scale:

Join us!

Membership dues are $50-$150 sliding scale/year per child. Dues help cover costs. Vegan Scouts is an all-volunteer organization. Dues may be paid in installments. We provide fee subsidies whenever possible so that no family is turned away for lack of funds.

All Vegan Scouts activities are parent/child.

Join us by completing the membership form.

Subscribe to our newsletter

* indicates required

Intuit Mailchimp

Support Vegan Scouts

We’re a lean, mean vegan scout-supporting machine!

Support Vegan Scouts via Donations (including money, goods, and services) or Volunteer your time & expertise.

More Vegan Scouts

Want to start a Vegan Scouts outside the Portland, OR, area? Contact us.

Vegan Scouts of Portland © 2024 is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Vegan Scouts does not use AI-generated content.