[A LONG BUT NECESSARY READ]

As promised, we come with more info about The Beacons Are Lit: Help Us Save the Black Cat Caffe Bar crowdfunding campaign.

Let us start with thanking you all for your generous support.

Money is, of course, important. It will be one of the crucial elements to keep The Cat alive and kicking.

But you have overwhelmed us with messages of support and encouragement. It was both empowering and humbling to find ourselves awash with so much kindness and love.

In many ways it meant more than any amount of money ever could. We can only hope and strive to become worthy of the tremendous gift you have given us.

OK. Now back to more practical issues.

This was our first crowdfunding campaign ever. Some of us had some experience with campaigns of others and have read about or followed crowdfunding a bit. But for all practical purposes we were newbies. In other words, pretty much clueless.

As such, we went into the campaign wanting to raise the bare minimum needed to have at least some chances for The Cat’s survival. The. Bare. Minimum.

The other, equally important motivation for setting this bar to such a (relatively speaking) low level was not to put too heavy a burden on the community. We were - and still are - aware that the crisis has hit many of you hard as well.

We're telling you this because we want you to have a complete picture and to better understand our next moves.

We set out to raise 4500 euros. At the moment of writing this post it went over 8000 euros, with 85 days to go. It is an incredible feat we're still trying to come to terms with.

After long and careful deliberation we decided not to set a new (stretch, as it is called) goal.

The campaign will remain open until Monday, May 11, for everyone who still wishes to donate and get some of our perky perks for themselves or others.

After that we will close it and get to the business of making and delivering those perks we will be able to dispatch, considering the health crisis restrictions.

What will happen with the money you have so lavishly provided us with?

After we give our due to the crowdfunding platform and the bank, our first priority will be salaries for our staff.

Since we don't know how long the quarantine will last, we'll keep funds required for that in reserve and spend as required on a per month basis. How much will this take is a great unknown at this point.

Next priority will be paying the bills (utility and alike), as well as taxes and whatever we will be obliged to pay for to keep the business up and running.

Then we will take care of our partners, partly by reducing our outstanding debts and partly by stocking up for the upcoming period.

That way we will help them maintain their financial liquidity and survive the crisis too. And we will be ready to serve you all the tasty beverages once again just like before the pandemic.

First in line for this will be crafts and small companies because, oh boy, don't we know what it's like to be one of them right now.

Part of the money will go to people who will design and manufacture perks that need manufacturing, and to cover the costs of shipping those perks to you.

We will try to reduce the shipping costs as much as possible by distributing them ourselves, establish a delivery point at The Cat or any other way we'll come up with. If you have a suggestion how to better deal with this, we’re all (elven) ears.

If there's any money left - and we reiterate, how long the crisis will last is a great unknown - we will pour almost all of it into necessary repairs and improvements of The Cat, to make it more functional, comfortable and enjoyable for you, and to be better prepaired for a possible next round of crisis.

Why not going for the stretch goal, you might ask? Well, we concluded that what has been raised so far will be enough for The Cat to have a fair fighting chance.

You have built a bridge over troubled waters for us. We’d like you to be able to do so for others in need as well, as chances are there’ll be opportunities for that in days to come.

If you still want to keep supporting us, come to The Cat as often as you can once we open it again. Tell your friends about it, bring them over. Do tell them you helped save this bar and do so proudly. You’re entitled to do it.

Have one or two drinks more than you usually would. Throw a birthday or bartchelor/ette party at our place. Hell, throw any kind of party - you know we love them too! :D Tell your friends to purchase the Terrible Creations’ games, for that will be helpful too.

So, that is about all we have to share at this moment. We'll be happy to answer all your questions, in the comments here or in private messages.

And we can't wait to greet you all at The Cat once again.

All our love,

The Black Cat Caffe team