At Working Dog, we believe that maintenance work should be accessible to everyone, regardless of financial circumstances. The Working Dog Mutual Aid Fund is one way we put that belief into action.
The Working Dog Mutual Aid Fund
Financial Accessibility StatemenT
We understand that financial circumstances can vary person to person and even week to week, and it is important to Working Dog that our services remain accessible to everyone in our community. If the prices you see are beyond your current financial means, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Working Dog is committed to working with you to find a solution that meets your needs, regardless of your financial situation. Our community's well-being and satisfaction are our top priority, and we’re here to help in any way we can.
Why Mutual Aid?
Mutual aid is a practice rooted in community solidarity, not charity. It’s about people supporting one another and redistributing resources based on trust, care, and shared responsibility. Rather than a one-way act of giving, mutual aid is collaborative and horizontal - it acknowledges that we all need help sometimes, and that we all have something to offer. It's a model that resists systems of scarcity and exclusion by building real, reciprocal support networks. From Day 1, mutual aid efforts have been at the core of what we do. It’s why we’re here, and why we created The Working Dog Mutual Aid Fund.
HOW THE FUND WORKS
The Working Dog Mutual Aid Fund is split into two equally important parts:
Community Support Pricing - One part of the fund directly subsidizes maintenance services for clients who need financial support. By pooling contributions from clients with more financial flexibility and funds sent to the Mutual Aid Fund generally, we’re able to offer lower or no-cost services to those who might otherwise go without. If you’ve selected a “supporter” pricing tier when booking a service, this is where that extra contribution goes.
The Extended Support Fund - The second part of the fund goes beyond our immediate work, helping to support other mutual aid efforts, emergency fundraisers, and organizations doing direct community support. Whether it’s contributing to a neighbor’s GoFundMe, a local tenants' union, or another grassroots effort, this portion extends our values into the broader ecosystem of care and solidarity.
TLDR: Here’s a diagram.
Where your contributions go
When someone selects “community support pricing” while booking a service, 100% of the additional amount they pay goes directly toward subsidizing maintenance services for others—this is the Community Support Pricing part of the fund.
If someone makes a one-time or recurring donation to the Mutual Aid Fund as a whole, that contribution is split evenly: 50% supports Community Support Pricing, and 50% goes toward Extended Support Fund.
At the end of each year, any remaining funds in the Community Support Pricing pot will be transferred to the Extended Support portion of the fund and distributed to mutual aid efforts beyond our direct services. This structure ensures we can meet immediate needs within our client base while also contributing to broader networks of care.
There are two ways to contribute to the fund:
The bottom line: Working Dog pockets none of the funds you contribute to the Mutual Aid Fund - we spend that money either meeting operational costs to support clients who couldn’t otherwise afford our services or we give it to other mutual aid efforts.
TRANSPARENCY MATTERS
We’re committed to financial transparency. Once the fund is fully up and running, we’ll post quarterly reports detailing exactly where the money goes so you can see the impact of every dollar.
This fund is just one way we aim to make our work more equitable and rooted in the values we believe in. If you have questions, ideas, or suggestions for where mutual aid dollars should go, we’d love to hear from you - submit your ideas below.
Please note: Where we send the funds is not limited to organizations or groups. You are welcome to suggest your own fundraiser, refer us to other individuals in need of support, or tell us about events coming up that we may be able to send funds to.
TRANSPARENCY REPORTS
This is where the transparency reports will go once we’ve been in business long enough to have them :-)
WANT TO CONTRIBUTE NOW?
OR BECOME A REGULAR?
Use the form below to contribute to The Mutual Aid Fund.