TERM
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The TERM Model - Time, Expertise, Resources, Money
There are essentially four things which individuals can contribute to a group. Time, expertise, resources, and money.
Expertise
Expertise is the most difficult to understand. "Working on LARP" is probably not expertise. Expertise is those skills which make an individual's time worth more. Writing is one skill and it is the skill that the primary Administrator often (but not invariably) brings to the table. Writing is an easy skill to undervalue. Having seen dozens of LARPs, we all fancy that we could, pretty easily do one ourselves. Even those of use who churn them out on a relatively regular basis can tell you that looking at twenty to forty character names and having to thread plots, meaning, and adventure through them is more difficult than it seems at first glance.
Writing
Writing need not be over-valued either. Organizational skills are a must and fortunate is the group where an able administrator brings those to the table. If not then the lead Administrator must learn them. Other expertise stands beside writing - cooking, research, property construction, site relations, costuming and sewing. When it comes to game preparation that which matters is expertise. The ability and willingness to clean toilets is, if applicable, an expertise on a part with any other.
Time
Time is like Expertise, but not as valuable. I'm using a somewhat arbitrary definition here, and doubtless others could be drawn. But I'm using Expertise for those skills which can gainfully be donated by "working on your own" and Time for those people who are able to show up at the pleasure of the Administrators. Some people do not have an expertise that benefits a given event, or any event. Or perhaps their expertise is redundant, or they are merely bored with using it. Time is essentially the willingness to show up, and do whatever work comes along. The more wide the range of work the person can and is willing to undertake, the more valuable their time. Some volunteers are worthless. I once had a perfectly brilliant volunteer - a GM of some caliber. However with a health problem that restricted lifting (or basically any other physical work such as cleaning or scrubbing), an artistic inability of some note, culinary skills bordering on the disastrous, and no computer skills, they were to all intents and purposes, a rather large paperweight. For time to be useful, it has to be donated in such a way as to be useful. Some people cannot do this.
Resources
Resources are wonderful things, but like writing must not be over or undervalued. However, unlike writing which tends to be valued too much, resources tend to be valued too little. The results are self correcting if sad. Two groups of my acquaintance lost a perfectly beautiful event site because they did not value the person who had lent it to them. On the other hand, I've seen a LARP become slave to a property owner - the equivalent of "owning the ball" in sandlot baseball. Resources aren't just sites of course. They are physical objects - props, mechanical devices such as theatrical lights or a fog machine, or any number of other things. Of course this implies ownership. I've become the repository for a fair collection of resources in my community, and consider the only real stake I hold from that being a slight interest for having stored things which would otherwise have been lost, and a fair willingness to be responsible for hauling them around in my car on request. But other folks own resources which may be unique, or simply too expensive for the budget if they cannot be loaned.
A key element of Community Based LARP is the utilization of resources as a first resort rather than a last. A community of LARPers typically owns a fairly wide variety of neat costumes, gadgets, props, etc. When brought together these can create an atmosphere disproportionate to the budget of an event, and Community LARP is predicated on this concept.
Money
Money is the most difficult of resources. People are more likely to quarrel over money than anything else, and hold it dear often out of proportion to the time it is worth. Someone who is paid $20 an hour may resent giving up $5.00 more than giving up an hour of their time. Moreover, the event needs some Money to run - often a fairly large fixed amount dictates that a substantial portion of the needed contribution must be in the form of money.
The trick with money is to neither over or undervalue it. Do not let the person who contributes money become a stakeholder out of proportion to the person who donates Time. But likewise, do not let the person who donates Time belittle the contribution of Money.
In general the less of any other element someone donates, the more money they should pay. Money is the default payment medium, and all payment is seen in terms of money.
