Q: Do I have to live on Madison's Northside to join?
A: No. You can join if you live in Dane County or even if you live in a different county but spend enough time in Dane County to earn and spend time dollars here. If you live far from other members your exchanges might start slowly, but we'll be working on adding new members all the time. And you can help AND earn Time Dollars by hosting a house party to recruit your neighbors!

Q: What are Time Dollars?
A: Time Dollars represent the amount of time one Timebank member has spent helping another one. When you spend an hour helping another Timebank member, one Time Dollar gets added to your account and subtracted from the account of the member who received your service. You can record half- and quarter-hours too. Time Dollars can be exchanged at the one Time Dollar per hour rate for anything being offered by someone in the network, provided the person is willing and available.

Q: Does a Time Dollar have a monetary value?
A: No, a Time Dollar never has a monetary value. Time Dollars operate outside the market economy and just track services (and sometimes goods) people provide for each other.

Q: Are Time Dollars taxable?
A: Time Dollars have been ruled tax exempt by the IRS because an hour is always valued at one hour, there is no legal responsibility on anyone's part to redeem a Time Dollar, and the purpose of Time Dollars is charitable. Read the IRS rulings here.

Q: Are there units smaller than one hour, or one Time Dollar?
A: The Dane County Timebank uses units as small as 1/4 Time Dollar or 1/4 hour. And we always round up.

Q: What's the difference between Time Dollars and Madison HOURS?
A: Timebanks are mutual credit systems where people join a network and trade credits back and forth, marking transactions that have taken place. People can spend before they earn and don't need to get ahold of any currency first. Madison HOURS are a paper currency where one HOUR equals ten federal dollars. Madison HOURS are taxable just like cash transactions, whereas Time Dollars have no monetary equivalent and have been deemed tax exempt by the IRS. To exchange Time Dollars you must be a member of the Timebank; anyone can exchange Madison HOURS, whether or not they are Madison HOURS members. Timebanks have coordinators and actively facilitate exchanges among members whereas Madison HOURS is more self-directed. Madison HOURS may be exchanged at negotiable rates (someone can charge 3 HOURS for one hour of service) whereas Time Dollars are always exchanged at the one Time Dollar per hour rate.

Q: What about liability?
A: The Dane County Timebank has purchased volunteer liability insurance through CIMA. Many Timebanks obtain volunteer liability insurance, which covers problems that can occur during a service exchange, but in the decades that Timebanking has been around no claims have ever been filed against it. Timebanking is based on trust and reciprocity and there is no anonymity in the system, all strong deterrents to misuse.

Q: What about safety?
A: All Timebank applicants are screened. The Timebank Coordinator does a criminal background check through CCAP and calls at least one personal reference. Individuals with criminal records are not excluded from the Timebank but, depending on the offense and recommendations of supervisors, may be limited to certain types of participation such as group events and supervised activities. To protect the safety of our members, we err on the side of caution, and if there is any question about a member posing a threat to the safety of other members that person will not be given access to the online listings of names and addresses and will only work under supervision.
Not everyone is guaranteed a Timebank membership, but the Timebank strives to accommodate as many people with as many different backgrounds as possible.

Screening guidelines
Screening and levels of participation
Criminal Charges to be considered

For more member policies visit the Member Policy Page