Welcome to the Santa Barbara Time Bank

How it Works

Time Banking means every time you spend an hour doing something for someone else in the Greater Santa Barbara community, that hour goes into your Time Bank account as one Time Dollar. You can spend that Time Dollar by having another Timebanker do something for you. Time Bank members use this simple Internet tool to list the services they want to give and receive. The website brings Time Bank members together, facilitates the exchange of services, and keeps track of hours exchanged. Santa Barbara Time Bank members meet each other in person and set up service exchanges at our monthly potlucks. This is a fun time to meet members of the community and discover the services that are being offered by others.

       One of our special projects                  One of our Monthly Meetings

The Timebanking Premise

All service hours are equal.  So here, no one's time is any more valuable or less valuable than other individuals.  Time banking puts us all on equal footing; this values humanity; this values individual effort, and fosters team work and community building.  If you’re drawn to work together in community then time banking is for you.

Our Mission

We intend to strengthen the bonds of our community by making it easier to know the needs of our neighbors and to give and receive service. True wealth is in the relationships between people, and interdependence is a cause for celebration. To really express Love, we seek to exchange our most precious asset - time, to make the community stronger, more resilient, and more enjoyable for everyone. Receiving service is as valuable as giving - every time you receive an hour of service, you allow Time Dollars (TD$) to be earned.

Who We Are and Who Can Join

The Santa Barbara Time Bank is egalitarian - anyone on the South Coast, Santa Ynez Valley, and western Ventura County can join. We come from many different walks of life and belief systems. We honor each other without necessarily agreeing. We are part of the transformation from the linear, disconnected, competitive system to the emerging interdependent and cooperative way.

Want to Join?

It's free, and you get 2 Time Dollars just for joining.

While anyone can join, because we operate on trust, we do a little screening process before you have rights to access the web-based exchange and time dollar (TD$) accounting system. We'd like to meet you face-to-face, or have two members vouch for you.

How to Register

Click on the "Become a Member!" button below our logo at the top of this page.  Fill out the short form and submit. Use your real name. (Don't worry about the "Reference Form" that may be mentioned on the confirmation page; we are not using that optional procedure.)

Look for your "New Member Application for..." confirmation email.  (It could be in your junk/spam folder). You are now a registered "New applicant."  It will say it's from the "Santa Barbara Time Bank" and come from admin@hourworld.org.

How to get Approved

Forward that email to sbtimebank@gmail.com with the info appropriate for how you want to be approved. Here are three options to choose from:

1)  Look at the list of Coordinators on the bottom of the right column.**  If you already know a coordinator, state who and how you know them.

2)  If you know two non-coordinator Timebank member's already, state who and how you know them. We will contact them to vouch for you. (You might want to let them know in advance that we will be contacting them for this purpose.)

Now What?

1. While you are waiting, you can view the orientation video (see Notices above right.  And right above that is the link to the Member guide you can review.
2. It may take a week before we get back to you to confirm how we plan to approve you.  If we don't, use the Contact Us at the top of the page to get our attention a second time.
3. Once you've registered, and we've gotten to know you one way or another, we will approve your membership within a few days.  And we will credit you 2 TD$ as a welcome gift.
4. You will get am e-mail notification you are now a member.  (It may be in your Junk or Spam folder)
5. Now you will be able to access the TimeBank to indicate what you need, how you would like to earn TB$, and see if see what services are offered by other timebankers. 
6. You can also build out your profile.  We ask that you add your photo and some info to the "About You" section of the profile so other members get a snapshot of who you are and what you'd like to give or get help with. 

Your partners in time,
Bob, Johnny, Sarah, Michael, Leslie, Margaret and the Santa Barbara Timebank

(End of SBTB Content)