As a not-for-profit entity, Memberships are the lifeblood of the Free Skool programs. They show our larger donors and grants that we have a broad base of community support. Every five Supporting Memberships put a Poet on Pearl Street, every eight Supporting Memberships fund one of our classes. As a Supporting Member your name will be entered on the rolls of the Our Patrons page. Further benefits are listed below.

Donations are tax-deductible through the fiscal sponsorship of Boulder County Arts Alliance, if you wish to report your generosity.

Beyond Academia LLC accepts donations via cash, check or paypal. We also have a card reader at most events.

Supporting Member
$20/year

As a Supporting Member of Beyond Academia, your name and a personal (non-corporate) link of your choosing will be displayed on the Our Patrons page. Example: you may wish to link to a page on Walt Whitman instead of your personal site, and that is acceptable. You may also link to a non-profit such as Poets.org, but you may not link to a for-profit such as Exxon, even if you work for them.

More importantly, being a Supporting Member allows you priority access to any classes which have a restricted size. You must be at least a Supporting Member in order to be hired for any position within Beyond Academia, such as instructors, performers, and staff. Lastly, you will be first in line for any schwag we may produce.

Small Green Business Member                        $50/year

We support small, Green businesses. A Small Business Membership is equivalent to being a Supporting Member, except that we will list your business name and website. Your business must have less than 10 employees, net less than $100k annually, not exploit foreign labor, and have a low environmental impact on the planet in order to qualify for this level of Membership. Larger Green or Arts/Education non-profits may also join at this level. Businesses which do not meet these parameters or have other needs are encouraged to contact our Marketing Director.

Chair Member              $100/year

Our next level of Membership is the Buy A Skool Chair program.  For these Members, our staff will purchase a comfortable folding chair and paint any given name or quote on the backrest. At any workshop that you attend (where we have the chairs), the chair you purchased will be reserved for you for as long as you are a Chair Member. All the benefits of being a Supporting Member also apply to Chair Members. We have 14 Boulder Valley School District desk/chairs currently stored at LSR as Boulder Writers Warehouse hasn’t enough storage.

Sponsoring Member     $200/year + $150/each additional class

We are very excited to offer the opportunity for our Members to directly influence our programming via our Class Sponsor program. A Sponsoring Member may choose to fund a specific Class from our Curriculum to be sure it stays in rotation, or may designate the funds as general use. In either case, the Sponsoring Member will be able to add a short blurb (<150 words) to their membership profile about why they chose to support that class(es). All benefits of being a Chair Member also apply to Class Sponsors. A Class Sponsor is automatically enrolled in the course(s) they sponsor.

Major Donor                $1,000 or more

At this level of commitment, our Board of Directors will want to interface directly with the donor to understand what their vision is in relation to BAFS or other Community Presence programs. A Major Donor may join our Advisory Board if they choose. In addition to any arrangements made with the Board, a Major Donor enjoys the same benefits as a Sponsoring Member. A Major Donor may claim automatic enrollment in up to five size-restricted courses.

Primary Donor
$1,000 or more annually, $5,000 or more single donation

The needs of our Primary Donors will be handled on a case-by-case basis by the Board of Directors. Primary Donors will also be presented with a fine cotton undergarment.