Giving
Donations
The institute is kept open by the people who study in it, buy from its shelves, and occasionally give to it. A gift goes to the part of the work that cannot pay for itself: a class held for someone who cannot afford the fee, a book kept in the library rather than sold, a shelf of herbs stocked before it is bought.
Nothing is asked for and nothing is expected. If the institute has been of use to you, this is the door for it.
Where it goes
What a gift supports
Four parts of the institute are carried rather than paid for, and a gift goes into one of them. Say which, or leave it open and it goes where it is needed most.
The classes
A capped room, the materials in it, and the teaching given free of charge to a student who could not otherwise sit in one.
The library
Practice editions written for members, printed and posted, and the working books that are lent rather than sold.
The apothecary
Herb stock bought in small batches, the oils poured by hand, and the stones cleansed and wrapped before they leave.
The record
The keeping of the archive itself — the ledgers, the plates, and the material that would otherwise be lost between hands.
Plainly said
How giving works here
The institute keeps its giving simple, because a gift that arrives with conditions attached is not a gift. These are the three things that are true of every one.
- Nothing is asked twice
- A gift is a gift. There is no membership attached to it, no tier, and no list you are added to by giving.
- It goes where you say
- Name the part of the institute you want to support and it is used there, or leave it open and it goes where it is needed most.
- It is never published
- No gift is announced, listed or used as a testimonial. What passes between you and the institute stays between you.
The gift
Give toward the work
Card giving is not switched on at the institute yet. Send a note below saying what you would like to give and what it is for, and the institute will write back with how to send it — and with what it has been put toward.
The other way to keep the institute open is to use it.
A class taken, a herb bought, a book carried off the shelf — every one of those keeps the work going as surely as a gift does.