An ongoing membership, by invitation.

Updated Thu / 2026-10-08 / 1:27 PM CT
An evolving model · v2.1.0

The financial model

What the Collective costs, and what it brings in.

A pro forma you can argue with, for the Catalyst Collective: an ongoing membership, by invitation. The defaults are Colton's starting assumptions from the September 17 council; every blank is meant to be corrected by someone who knows better. Change a number and the table and charts update. Copy the link to share your version, or send it straight to Colton. Below it sits a second set of numbers: Brittany Lorenzi's preliminary budget from September 18, with its own levers.

Currency: US dollars, per year Horizon: adjustable, five years by default Rounding: people are whole numbers

Every number adjustableThu / 2026-10-08 / 1:27 PM CT

The model

Inputs

Presets are starting points, not positions. The defaults are Colton's; the others are labeled with whose number they carry.

Pipeline from Catalyst

Catalyst members enrolled per yearColton's default. The 2026 class missed its target for the first time.

Graduates per yearColton's default. His 9/17 slide said 35 to 50; graduation attendance runs about a third.

Share of graduates who accept an invitationColton's target: 75%. His 9/17 slide said keep 50%. Today Bridge keeps about 20 to 25% of a class.

Year-1 members recruited from past graduatesColton's default: invite alumni from earlier classes to apply and be accepted before the first new class arrives.

First graduating class joins in year 11 = yes, 0 = the first class joins in year 2 and year 1 is the recruited group alone.

Movement in and out

Members from each new class who join EO within their first yearColton's default: 5 on average. Historically 2 to 4 graduates a year go straight to EO; a big class did 5 or 6.

Share of continuing members who graduate into EO each yearColton's default: 10% year over year.

Retention of everyone else, year over yearColton's default: 80%.

Years to model

Revenue

Annual dues per memberColton's default: $3,000 for the whole program. $2,500 was also said. Bridge is $1,750 today.

Other annual revenueSponsorships, partner support, chapter subsidy. Blank on purpose.

People and fixed costs

Dedicated resourceColton's default: $75,000 for the person who works with the committee on logistics, operations, events, invites and registrations, activation, and volunteers.

Software, registration and toolsGuess, please correct: ChapterPro or equivalent entry, forms, email.

Marketing and recruitingGuess, please correct: the alumni recruiting push, info sessions, printed invitations.

Moderator and advisor trainingGuess, please correct: forum moderator training for the Collective's forums.

Committee and volunteer budgetGuess, please correct: thank-yous, a planning dinner, printing.

EC membership bundle, per member per yearBlank on purpose: Sam offered a discounted Entrepreneur Center rate if it is bundled. Nobody has the number yet.

Events: learning

Learning events per yearMonthly access to learning events: 12. Panels, workshops, fireside chats, think tanks.

Average attendance, learningGuess: EO House fireside chats cap around 30; with EO members invited, 25 is conservative.

Food and beverage per person, learningGuess: coffee, breakfast or boxed lunch at EO House.

Speaker honorarium per learning event$0 if member-led (the plan). Put a number in if outside speakers are paid.

Events: social

Social events per yearGuess: six, with the whole Collective invited, alongside the learning calendar.

Average attendance, social

Food and beverage per person, socialGuess: a hosted happy hour with heavy apps.

Venues and materials

Share of events held at EO HouseThe lounge for fireside chats and socials is free to the program. The rest rent a learning center or outside space.

Rental per event held elsewhereGuess: a learning center or coworking room for a workshop. Sameera's note: the chapter needs the learning center more than 18 times a year already.

AV, materials and printing per event

Contingency on all costsGuess: 10%.

Five years at a glance

Members over time

Who is in the room at the end of each year, and how many graduated into EO along the way.

Carried over from last yearNew from the graduating classRecruited past graduates (year 1)Graduated into EO that year

Money over time

Dues and other revenue against the dedicated resource, fixed costs, and events. The line is net.

RevenueTotal costNet

The pro forma

Today, for comparison: Bridge

14 to 15

Bridge members this year (17 last year)

$1,750

Bridge dues, one year

~$26,000

Bridge revenue at 15 members

Dedicated staff for Bridge

$10k to $12k

Catalyst's expected loss this year, accepted as a recruiting cost

How the model works, in plain words

Each year a Catalyst class graduates. The share who accept an invitation join the Collective that year (year 1 also starts with the recruited past graduates).
Everyone who is a member during a year pays that year's dues. Movement happens at year end.
From each new class, a fixed number graduate into EO within their first year. Of the continuing members, a share graduates into EO each year, and of everyone left, the retention share stays. The rest leave.
Costs are the dedicated resource, the fixed lines, the EC bundle per member if any, and the events: attendance times food and beverage, plus speaker, AV and venue, with the EO House share of events costing no rent. Contingency sits on top of all of it.
Break-even members is the fixed cost divided by the margin per member (dues minus the per-member EC cost). It ignores events, which mostly scale with attendance, so treat it as a floor.
The EO impact line is informational: EO dues and initiation are not Collective revenue, but they show what the pipeline is worth to the chapter.

Still open

Things the model cannot know yet

Whether Collective dues credit toward EO initiation (a chapter revenue question, not a Collective one).
What the EC bundle actually costs, and whether it is inside the dues or on top.
Whether repeat-Catalyst pricing changes Catalyst's own loss.
Belmont's workshop partnership: free, sponsored, or paid.

Perspective: Brittany LorenziThu / 2026-10-08 / 1:27 PM CT

Brittany's preliminary budget

Perspective: Brittany LorenziBlueprint Strategy Solutions · built September 18, 2026 · shared with the council October 8

Brittany built this two-year revenue and expense forecast with Sameera Lowe and David Frazier, before Colton's pages existed, and sent it to Colton on October 8. In her words: "a very very high level start of a Revenue forecast for Catalyst Collective without getting Colton's information. I think we could definitely spend more on this depending on what type of workshops we end up with. The learning & social allocation piece is a big part of the expense. I did put in for Rainey to help with start up and then add $1k/month to her retainer to help oversee the program."

It is reproduced here exactly as she built it, with her numbers as the defaults and every fee and count turned into a lever. Where it touches the concept model above: she assumes $2,500 dues (the model above defaults to $3,000), 50% of graduates joining, 90% retention with half of the retained converting to EO in year 2, Rainey Cronin as the paid operator instead of a dedicated staff hire, and a per-member learning and social allocation instead of per-event costs. Neither table changes the other; they are two ways to see the same program.

Her levers

Members and dues

Membership fee per member per yearHer default: $2,500, paid by new and ongoing members alike.

Catalyst graduates, year 1Her sheet starts from 36.

Catalyst graduates, year 2Her sheet uses 40.

Share of graduates who joinHer note: "Assumes 50% of Catalyst Graduates".

Retention into year 2Her note: "Assumes 90% retention".

Share of the retained who convert to EOHer note: "50% conversion to EO". They leave the Collective's revenue.

People

Rainey Cronin, initial project set upYear 1 only.

Rainey Cronin, monthly retainer additionHer plan: add $1k/month to Rainey's retainer to oversee the program. 11 months in year 1, 12 in year 2.

Facilitation fee per sessionHer note: "Assumes quarterly facilitated programming".

Facilitated sessions per year

Per member, per year

EC membership, CoWork+Her default: $99 per member.

Social and learning allocationFrom the "Learning & Social Events" tab of her workbook, which was not attached; the cached value is $1,256.25 per member.

Training content and materialsHer note: "Increased to include 15 EO Members".

Events

Socials, per member per monthHer note: "Monthly Happy Hour & Snacks at EO House". Her sheet prices both years off the year-1 member count.

Holiday party, per personHer note: "Assumes joining with Catalyst". Headcount is members times two.

Recruitment event, per yearHer note: "Assumes event to invite past Catalyst Participants to learn about program".

Recruitment videoHer note: "Every other year", so year 1 only here.

Her two years at a glance

Her budget, line by line

The table mirrors her spreadsheet: fee times count equals amount, her chair notes on the right. People can be fractional here because her model carries expected values (8.1 ongoing members), shown as she built it.

One transcription note: her sheet's year-2 cell for the recruitment event reads $1, with the fee and count columns transposed on that row. The default here assumes the same one $500 event as year 1.

Your turn

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