2023 Year-End-Review
Hello everyone!
We apologize that it has taken us so long to update you on the previous year and the year ahead. There have been many discussions and board meetings about the future leading up to our big Year-End Review on March 3rd amongst the Fellowship Leaders. Below you will find a summary of what was discussed, as well as our plan for 2024! Thank you for your support this past year and we look forward to spending the coming cycle with all of you ❤️
Picture from “Big Ass Yule” — our largest event ever!
General Updates
Lawspeaker Updates
Total Gatherings (2023): 19
Total Events: 36
Countries: 3
States (USA): 10
Instagram has over 4600 followers!
Nearly 300 copies of Rituals from the North have been sold.
Treasurer Updates
Please note all updates are from the time of the financial review on 2/10/2023.
1) Total GoFundMe (all time, after fees): $22,343.24
2) Total Gains from Merchandise (2023): $816.63
3) Total Gains from book sales (Rituals from the North): $1,983.13
4) Total Gains from Gatherings: $33,379
5) Total Expenditures from Gatherings: $-39,487
Important: Total losses on gatherings was much higher than expected. The major causes were last minute drop-outs and the rising cost of rental properties. Our goal for 2024 is to break even on gathering expenses by finding cheaper or smaller properties and slightly increasing the cost of gatherings when necessary (10-15%).
We are also looking to get more involved in fairs and festivals to sell merchandise and feature community crafters.
Note: Blade, our previous Treasurer, stepped down in December 2023, and was replaced by Mary temporarily until she was elected the new Treasurer at the Year-End-Review.
Bookkeeper Updates
Our Bookkeeper Raigen will be having a baby in April. Jessikah will be assisting Raigen in her roles as Bookkeeper (Secretary of the board of directors).
The Bookkeeper will begin to assist with management of members during the switch to the official FoNT discord.
From North Carolina Gathering at the Wheel of Bliss house
Leadership Changes
We had three Fellowship Leaders step down in 2023:
Terry (UK)
Ian (Minnesota)
Blade (Illinois)
We also added the Fellowship Steward role to assist the Fellowship Leaders at events and within the online community: Wayne, Toni, Jeremiah, Jared, Christian, Jason, Orion, Dylan, Levi, Kyle, Tiffany, Chad, Will, Drake, Kevin S, Amy, Del, and Robert.
Additionally we have elected three new Fellowship Leaders who have completed their year of training:
Daina (Minnesota)
Jessikah (Texas)
Maya (UK)
Odin Ritual at Ohio Yule
Gatherings in 2024
Here is our community forecast for upcoming events this year. Please understand these are subject to change! Until they are listed on the website they are not official.
Spring
Pennsylvania Spring Gathering (May)
North Central Spring Gathering (May)
Jord Day Community Clean-up events (April, various locations)
Goddess Gathering in the South (May)
Shaman Retreat in Scotland (May)
Summer
Ohio Midsummer Gathering (June)
Midsummer in North Central (June/July)
Midsummer Thor Games in the South (July/August)
Camping Trip in England (July)
Day Hikes in various regions
Autumn
Kentucky Fall Gathering (September/October)
Camping Gathering in North Central (September/October)
Possible Southern California Gathering (October/November)
Samhain in Scotland (October/November)
Loki Gathering Part 2 (TBD)
Ancestor Gathering in the South (TBD)
Winter
Ohio Yule (January 2025)
North Central Yule (TBD)
Yule in the UK (January)
Misc and Possibilities
We want to do another Men and Women’s retreat at some point!
We may host some events at the Ohio Sunhenge around the Ohio Renaissance Festival.
There will be at least two more shaman workshops hosted this coming year.
The Netherlands 🇳🇱
The Netherlands will be taking a break from events for this year. Our leadership there needs to catch up on personal life. But we will be returning with more events in the future!
Imbolc in Glastonbury
Changes to Discord/Online Community
What to know:
The current Discord under the Wisdom of Odin will be replaced by the official Fellowship of Northern Traditions Discord on June 9th, 2024.
This online community will cost $5 a month or $45 per year. Current support of The Wisdom of Odin Patreon will not carry over to this new Discord membership. As of June 9th the Wisdom of Odin Discord will be deactivated.
Jacob is now offering monthly Q+A videos at the $5 tier on Patreon, his monthly vlog and livestreams at the $10 tier, and access to full-length interviews at the $15 dollar tier. Jacob is nervous about this transition but he is the one that recommended it! So let’s make sure we ease his concerns and show him continued support in his work!
Why are we charging for Discord? This was a long discussion amongst the leadership and ultimately came to a vote. The Wisdom of Odin Discord where many FoNT community members now congregate has always been behind a paywall at five dollars monthly - with the new Discord, we had to make the decision of whether to maintain this structure. Ultimately, the deciding factor in whether to charge and how much to charge was financial. We currently do not make enough money as a non-profit to achieve the larger dreams we have for it. In 2023, we discussed purchasing land with our lawyer and he said that we do not make enough monthly income to obtain a loan for the Hall. Finding ways to increase our cash flow while still respecting our members is one of our goals for 2024.
We are offering the membership at a new discounted yearly price for those who may struggle financially.
We are also giving everyone till June 9th so that they can prepare for this transition.
Will there be anything new on Discord compared to WoO? The Discord will largely be structured the same. However, one exciting change is that we are encouraging our Stewards to host one-day events through the new Discord. Being a member of the new online community will allow you to see and attend more local meet-ups. We also hope to host more voice chats and other community-building activities. Additionally, we are considering adding chat channels for upcoming gatherings for people to connect before an event.
Can you attend events/gatherings and not join the Discord? Absolutely! All gatherings will still be planned via the website and through email communication. The new Steward-led events will mostly be Discord exclusive, but there will still be events hosted on the website, as there have been in the past.
What about the Hall?!
The dream of the Hall is very much alive! Purchasing land to build our own sacred space for our events is still our number one long-term goal. But big dreams take time. As previously stated, the Fellowship does not currently have enough money or monthly income to support buying land or obtaining a loan.
We are hoping that the financial changes we are making this year result in our income and bank account being in a much better place to look seriously at buying land within the next couple years. At times it can seem a daunting task to make this dream a reality, but we are a young organization with decades ahead of us to make magic happen. One day we will all be sitting in the Hall drinking a horn of mead saying how fast it all went by. However, we have much work to do before then to make sure we are at a place of strength before making this move.
So please bear with the Leadership as we continue to learn and grow, and never forget the reason we are all here. To honor the Gods, the Spirits, and the Ancestors. We can do that today and tomorrow, in the fields or forest, in a rental property or our own land. So let us continue to honor the ancient magics that brought us together to begin with!
Until the Hall!
Love,
Jacob, Rylie, Logan, Mary, Caleb, Keenan, Lauren, Heath, Nick, Maya, Claire, Kat, Daina, Jessikah, Aayla, Darius, Raigen, and Kevin.
