At the time of its 50th anniversary, Acem had become an international organization with activities in a number of countries. In many places, Acem has its own venues and offices—in Norway and Sweden, even its own retreat centers. The venues are not luxurious, but are of a good standard. How was it possible for what started as a small student association with no property at all to establish such an organization and acquire these properties?
The organization’s consistent attitude toward economic management is one of the crucial factors that have made it possible for Acem to develop as it has. The course fees for learning to meditate and participating in follow-up courses, retreats, and other activities have always been moderate in order to allow as many people as possible to take part. The fees have never provided enough income to finance the running of the organization or the acquisition of venues.
Four principles have been important for the financing of Acem and its use of money:
1. A consistently price-conscious and careful use of money on behalf of the organization.
2. A comprehensive volunteer effort. In addition to the unpaid work of course instructors and administrative leaders, a large number of Acem meditators have helped to raise money through flea markets and other activities and to save money when refurbishing venues or doing other practical work.
3. Acem has consistently tried to buy properties during the low stages of the business cycles, when prices were low. Insofar as possible, parts of the properties have been rented out in order to finance the acquisitions.
4. The organization has had very few employees.
Nearly all the teaching and administration has been based on idealistic, volunteer effort. No one has profited financially from work for the organization; even leaders have paid for the cost of courses and often covered their own travel costs. Some money has come from donations to Acem from volunteers and others who wanted to support the activities of the organization. Historically, Acem has received very little support from the government, and only sporadic monetary donations. The first decades were characterized by donations of time and work, not primarily of money.
When Acem was founded in 1966, it owned nothing. Acem Meditation courses were arranged in private homes and venues were borrowed for free from public libraries and universities. For four years from 1968, Acem was able to rent a small office in downtown Oslo cheaply through personal contacts for use in the evenings. The course fee for the beginner’s course was modest, and used to cover rent, envelopes, stamps, publicity material and other necessary office equipment. In this office, Acem could produce letters, have a printing machine, hold small meetings, etc. In 1972, Acem’s office moved to a larger, moderately-priced rented space in Oslo. It needed quite a bit of renovation, which was done by dedicated volunteers. There were more rooms for meetings and office work, which was strongly needed, as the level of activity had increased considerably.
During the first years, the people running the organization were young students who did not have more money than most other students at the time. These students wanted to contribute to making meditation more available in the culture and were not interested in economic compensation. Their contribution also included covering expenses when making telephone calls on behalf of the organization, and those who happened to have a car most often did not ask to be compensated when driving shorter distances for the organization. It was possible to receive compensation for longer trips but at much lower than the going rate. When Acem needed to buy something, it was essential that one did not spend more money than absolutely necessary and to consider thoroughly whether the organisation actually needed the item. In this manner, the limited income went a long way.
In the beginning, the organization tried to borrow stencil machines through contacts whenever letters needed to be printed. In 1969, Acem started to issue a magazine for meditators in Norway, at first as a stenciled print. (It was originally called AMS-Informasjon, reflecting the original name of the organization, but in 1971 it developed into a cultural periodical with a meditative perspective and changed its name to Dyade.) Very soon, the need for a small offset printing machine became clear. Acem acquired a cheap, second-hand machine for NOK 10,000 in the fall of 1969. Before the purchase, interested members were asked for small donations.
This is how the organization was run during the first years. The dream of a space owned by Acem grew in strength, a space that could be ideally adapted to Acem’s activities where the scheduling could be done independently of the accessability of rented venues and where larger meetings could be held. The need grew in tandem with the amount of activity. Acem had little money, and the course fees would never suffice to acquire such a property.
During this period, weekend and week-long retreats were always held at rented venues. To have one’s own space for retreats was also a strong dream.
It soon became apparent that the organization would have to rely on its own resources. There were no wealthy benefactors, and since Acem did not qualify as an established cultural activity, none of the existing larger and wealthier organizations were likely to support Acem’s growth. In Norway, many cultural activities and non-profit organizations are funded to a large extent by the government. As Acem’s activities have never belonged to the mainstream and have never been part of the political agenda of those in power, this important source of financial support has only been available to Acem to a very limited extent.
The first attempt to raise money took place in the spring of 1969. Acem established a refreshment sales stand during a large, annual sports event in Oslo. This was also done the following year, but the result was a lot of work for very little profit. Other methods had to be found. The solution was temporary flea markets. In Norway, flea markets are a common way for volunteer-based organizations to raise money for their activities. In the fall of 1970, Acem held its first flea market. After an extensive effort to collect objects for sale, there was a three-day sales period. The surplus of NOK 19,000 was a good start.
Acem continued to hold flea markets approximately once a year in the coming decade. Each flea market provided new experience of how best to organize them. The collection of objects for sale was systematized. Much energy was put into effective administration and logistics.
Every day in the late afternoon and evening for some weeks before the flea market, Acem volunteers distributed fliers to mailboxes asking people to donate objects they no longer needed. A few days after the fliers were distributed, volunteers would go from door to door in suitably sized districts to ask for things that could be given away and take note of the address of those who responded positively. Then came the pick-up teams, who carried the objects down to the sidewalk before the truck teams came and transported the objects to temporary storage rented for the occasion. The truck teams often worked until late at night, driving very old, cheap trucks that had been bought for the occasion and that were kept running by volunteers with mechanical expertise until they could be sold again after the flea market.
Other volunteers were busy sorting the objects as storage filled up. Finally, the objects were taken by truck to the point of sale. The largest flea markets lasted one week. New objects were transported from storage daily, which meant that objects had to be sorted, transported and clarified daily in preparation for the next day.
Acem’s flea markets became the largest in Norway. Many meditators contributed to the huge effort behind each flea market. In the years before and after 1980, the surplus could reach several hundred thousand Norwegian kroner for each flea market—quite substantial sums at the time. The profit was not great in terms of surplus per hour of volunteer work, but was significant for the organization. The surplus was in fact a product of the many hours of work put in by volunteers. Many meditators understood that this was the only realistic way to build an economic base for Acem.
Volunteers donated their time to flea markets in addition to the time they needed for studies or work. While it could be exhausting at times, it was also fun and rewarding. Everyone worked together toward a common goal, and the work provided varied social experiences. The many strange objects that were collected also provided much amusement. In addition, the flea markets had a positive environmental aspect, promoting the recycling of used objects. The flea markets established a strong sense of the value of money among many of the organization’s active meditators. When so much unpaid effort had been put into earning money for Acem, it was natural to develop a sense of economical and prudent use of money on behalf of the organisation.
In 1976, six years after the first flea market, Acem had earned enough money to buy a building in central Oslo, at the address Sporveisgata 37. The building had 200 square meters of space and encompassed two floors and a low basement level used for storage. The price was very moderate, both because the house was old and run down and because it was regulated for community purposes (forsamlingshus). Two years were spent renovating the building, including manually digging out a huge amount of clay from the basement in order to make it into a full floor with meeting rooms, etc. Most of the work was done by volunteer meditators, though professional help was needed for some tasks.
Even with this huge volunteer effort, the renovation of the building required considerable amounts of money. In order to further improve Acem’s economic situation, the organization sold symbolic shares (Sporveis-parter) in 1977–78 to those who wanted to support the project economically. The price of these symbolic shares was relatively low: NOK 250, 350, and 500. This made it possible for many to contribute. The campaign generated NOK 130,000—an important contribution to the financing of the building. Acem also arranged an annual lottery from 1978 and some years onward.
The building was inaugurated in the fall of 1978 in the presence of the Mayor of Oslo. A dream was realized. The space was soon filled with activities: courses, meetings, lectures, yoga-classes, seminars, and other events. Having this building was experienced as a huge inspiration and relief. Due to its central location, the building has increased considerably in value since it was purchased.
Already the following year, in 1979, Acem was able to acquire a new, larger property: 18,000 square meters of land in Asker, approximately a 20-minute drive southwest of Oslo, with several buildings that had previously been used as a private boarding school. The property was bought at a very moderate price from the bank holding it after a loan default. Some derelict buildings had to be demolished, others were renovated, and three new housing units were erected. Once again, much volunteer work was required, though for the construction of the new buildings a professional construction company was hired. The venue was inaugurated in the fall of 1982, and put into use as Skaugumåsen Retreat Center. Another dream had been realized.
The construction costs far exceeded Acem’s savings, so a large sum was borrowed. The costs also far exceeded the original budget. A campaign among artists with a favorable attitude toward Acem resulted in the donation of several graphic works from 12 artists, some of whom were quite famous in Norway. The prints were divided into packages of five prints each and sold both to Acem meditators and to people outside the organization. A door-to-door campaign to sell the art packages was held. The art campaign generated a sizable contribution to Acem’s finances. Two years later, another five artists donated graphic prints to Acem.
Originally, the plan was to rent the venue to others for profit when it was not in use for Acem’s own activities. This proved to be difficult to do, partly because Acem as an organization for meditation and human growth did not want to serve alcohol, and this excluded a large part of the conference market. Some of the smaller buildings were rented out on a more permanent basis to secure some income. The job of resident manager was done on a volunteer basis by Acem instructors, who lived there for longer periods of time while keeping up with their normal day jobs.
Acem’s financial situation was difficult during this period. The organization appealed to the meditators for support. Once again, in 1983, symbolic shares, this time for Skaugumåsen Retreat Center, were sold for NOK 300 and 1000.
The last big flea market was held in 1982. After that, only a few small-scale flea markets were held. The flea market activity had become too demanding for the organization, requiring considerable resources at the cost of other activity. There was also a limit to how many times the organization’s active meditators could be mobilized for the huge effort involved. In addition, other organizations had learned from Acem’s method of organizing flea markets, resulting in a more competitive market.
Later in the 1980s, refugees and asylum seekers entered Norway in large numbers, and the government needed reception centers. As assisting refugees in need was regarded as a natural part of the central philosophy of Acem, the organization offered Skaugumåsen Retreat Center to the government for this purpose. The entire venue was rented to the government from the spring of 1987 for 200 asylum seekers. Acem members volunteered to work in education, activity, and health services for asylum seekers. Partly because of this, Skaugumåsen was considered a well-run reception center, sometimes used as a model for other centers. The rent paid by the government was the same as for other reception centers. For Acem, the flip side of this was that the property could no longer be used for the organization’s own retreats and courses. Again, it was necessary to rent other, less suitable facilities, which gave less freedom to choose the dates for the various activities.
Four years later, the government’s need for reception centers for asylum seekers was reduced. Necessary refurbishing was undertaken and the venue was again used for Acem’s own activities. However, a couple of years later, due to a strong influx of migrants, the government again wanted to rent Skaugumåsen Retreat Center for use as a reception center for asylum seekers. Acem again found that this would be a natural realization of an aspect of the underlying purpose of the organization, and in harmony with its growing international focus. The organization offered to rent Skaugumåsen a second time for this purpose. From 1996, the government no longer needed the entire space, and Acem again started to arrange its own courses there. At the same time, some buildings were rented out to a company running reception centers for asylum seekers, which secured Acem some income.
In 1998, Acem acquired the property Lundsholm, situated in a rural area on the bank of lake Mangen near the city Arvika, Sweden. The property included a main building built in the 1850s and several smaller buildings. It had been used by the local authorities as a rehabilitation center for people with alcohol problems and was bought at an extremely moderate price. Lundsholm became another retreat center in a beautiful and meditative natural environment. In order to increase the capacity of the venue, a new housing facility was built and was ready for use in the fall of 2003.
In the summer of 2003, Acem acquired Halvorsbøle, one and a half hour’s drive north of Oslo, in a rural environment overlooking the lake Randsfjorden. It was originally a conference center and was later run as a conference hotel, but had had to declare bankruptcy. For this reason, the price was extremely low. The property was well suited for Acem activities. The same summer, a deepening retreat was moved from Skaugumåsen to Halvorsbøle. After this acquisition, Skaugumåsen was no longer used for Acem activities. Instead, it was rented out as a center for refugees and asylum seekers, and continued to be used for this purpose for the rest of the period covered in this book. Halvorsbøle was used for a large number of retreats, courses, and seminars in the years that followed.
From the 1980s onward, Acem centers were acquired and established in a number of cities, both in Norway and other countries, including Trondheim, Bergen, Stavanger, and Kristiansand in Norway, Uppsala and Stockholm in Sweden, Copenhagen in Denmark, Taipei in Taiwan, Delhi in India, Groningen in the Netherlands, Berlin, Hamburg, and Cologne in Germany, London in the UK, and Alicante, Barcelona, and Madrid in Spain.
Much consideration was given to obtaining reasonably-priced objects and to running the centers as economically as possible with considerable volunteer effort for refurbishing, repairs, etc. Acem was often able to buy objects that at the time of purchase were considered less attractive, but which proved to be more attractive with time. In order to provide an economic basis for running the centers, much thought went into renting out the entire space or parts of the property whenever this could be practically combined with Acem’s own needs. Over time, this proved to be a very beneficial strategy.
In 1989, Acem acquired a very central property in Oslo, a former municipal property that had been used as a drug rehabilitation center. It was completely renovated, and from 1991 Acem rented it out as a commercial property, resulting in a reliable annual contribution to the income of the organization. Later, in 1995, in the aftermath of a financial crisis in Norway, Acem bought a plot next to this property at a price that in retrospect was extremely moderate. It was initially rented out as parking space, but later Acem set up apartments for rent on this plot. Starting in 2007, this resulted in a very solid annual contribution to the running of the organization. The apartments have increased considerably in value, and the rental income from this property has proven to be stable regardless of the general economic climate.
Acem started as a student organization at the University of Oslo, but 50 years later it had become an international organization with a wide variety of activities in a large number of countries. The underlying idea was always to run activity on an idealistic basis. Running the organization on commercial terms would have required course fees at a much higher level, and many people would have been barred from taking part in Acem activities on economic grounds. Nevertheless, over time it became necessary to employ a few people to work full-time for the organization. The tasks grew to such a size and were of such a complexity that it was impossible to base everything on volunteer work. The wage level was low, and an element of idealism was always involved. Several people who had started to wind down their ordinary work lives and who supported themselves with pensions or savings also chose to do a considerable amount of unpaid work for Acem.
Even if course fees in Acem were moderate, they did of course yield some income. In general, however, the fees were far from enough to cover the expenses of running the organization. Residential courses of one week or more generated some income, but for Acem’s retreat centers there was still a long way to go before income covered capital costs, let alone generated a profit. When Acem turned 50, the retreat centers still represented a net cost in relation to course fees and the costs of running the centers.
Unless necessary for the core activities, Acem has had as a guiding principle as much as possible to avoid activities that entail deficits in relationship to operating costs of the centers.
When Acem started activities in a new country, it would often be difficult to cover marginal costs if travel costs for instructors were included. For this reason, many instructors chose to pay all or part of their travel expenses themselves in order to avoid burdening Acem’s finances. They often combined activity for Acem with job-related tasks, so that only minor additional travel costs were incurred. They also normally paid the expenses they incurred for the organization during residential courses, both at Acem’s own centers and at rented venues in different countries. Some people also donated money to Acem, on a regular or irregular basis. During the latter part of Acem’s first 50 years, donations increased. There seemed to be a shift from contributions in the form of volunteer work toward monetary contributions. Hopefully, this trend will continue. People who have meditated for many years also started to include Acem in their wills. As for many other idealistic, non-profit organizations, such bequests may in the future also be a part of the economic foundation of Acem.