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As mentioned previously, we’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about how we can make Save the Machine financially sustainable going forward and how we can give more back to the communities we serve.

From our inception, one of our goals has been to prevent obsolete systems from going to the landfill or being sold for scrap metal. With inspiration from organizations like Free Geek and REPC, we decided to integrate this idea of technology reuse and use it as a platform for Save the Machine going forward.

By adopting this idea, we think we can serve the local and vintage computing communities by..

• Offering still usable hardware at a discount rate or donating to those individuals or organizations that cannot afford brand new hardware.
• Make sure any hardware that has collector value finds its way to a good home.
• Take anything that we absolutely cannot reuse to environmentally friendly recycling facilities, keeping as much e-waste as possible out of the landfills and hopefully keeping Earth a little greener.
• Using local members knowledge and expertise to offer classes focusing on technical literacy and I.T. skill building.

In a nutshell, we’re broadening our focus to intercept technology before it becomes e-waste, and reuse / re-home it wherever, however, possible. We believe this will benefit the local community, the vintage computing community, keep the earth a tiny bit healthier, and provide some sustainability for Save the Machine.

All that said, we’re in the very beginning stages and need help making this plan a reality. If you have the means to help us financially, we are accepting donations via paypal.me/SavetheMachine.

Additionally, if you have experience with nonprofit startups, fundraising, or are otherwise well-versed in other subjects that could be of benefit to Save the Machine, use the contact us page or our Facebook page to get in touch with us.

Over the past few months, we’ve begun to think about the future of StM and started to plan for growth. We’ve taken the necessary steps to formalize what we have created so far to form a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving technology and educating about technological evolution.

To make it official, we put together a board, formed Save the Machine, Inc, filed our articles of incorporation with the State of North Carolina, registered with the IRS to receive an EIN, and lastly, we filed our application to become a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (approval pending). You know.. exciting business stuff!

So, what does growth look like for a technology preservation group in Western North Carolina? Well, we’ve been thinking about that. A lot. We still have to get a few more ducks in a row before we announce anything, but we’ll say that it’s inline with our mission so far, and has the potential to impact our local communities as well as our online community.

Stay tuned!