Fund Raising, what works?

[Mitch Man]

The best fund raising item I have had the
experience with is band T-shirts with a
really cool caption on it!

The City of Detroit PB had a shirt with a
look-a-like police logo that had the caption,
"Loud Pipes Saves Lives"
We always sold 4 or $500 bucks worth of shirts
where ever we went!

Another quick idea is a Mini Disk produced
CD of your band. The Quality is good enough
for most people and you can use your home
computer to burn off CD's as needed, so it
eliminates the need for coming up with capital
money to print the minimum runs that a printer
requires! Some players will do a minimum of
300 copies, but most a 1000 copies!

Their good for hand out's or for a quick 10 bucks
at functions where you might only be making
$500 bucks for the Job. This is a quick was to
make an additional $200 if you bring the CD's along.

Any other ideas?

BTW, do not sell these CD's over the internet!
The last thing we need is a flood of piss poor
recordings that is will damage the piping industry.


JM

[ December 03, 2001: Message edited by: Mitch Man ]

[Mitch Man]

One things that doesn't work!

Pipers are piss poor sales people, so don't
expect them to sell tickets or even bring people
to the band fund raiser!

JM

[Matt Buckley]

Our band recently had great success with a kilt
raffle. We needed to order a number of kilts in
the band tartan anyway, so we arranged for an
extra, and sold tickets for several months. It
went so well, and was so easy, that we plan on
starting a new kilt raffle in January.

Matt

[Mitch Man]

Matt, I'm glad you guys had success, but for me
it's a real chore to sell raffle tickets or
any tickets of some sort! This goes for most
pipe bands in General! The members are musicians,
not sales people!

I would have thought there would be more of a responce to this topic!

I guess everyone must have enough money that
they don't need to bother!

Come on, where's the ideas?

John

[Rick James]

I'm sorry there hasn't been more response. I find this topic beneficial as well.

I took your original post to our pipe major and we may have an idea that grew from yours.

We had a concert in September that was very well received. We had it video-taped with three professional grade digital cameras with an eye on making tapes we could sell. Unfortunately the lighting was less than adequate and most of the band stood in the dark. Very dissappointing.

However, the sound was superb. So after reading your post I thought perhaps this might be our salvation.

We're going to try loading the sound track into a digital sound system and edit a two hour concert down to a CD length and see if we can make something worthwhile.

It won't be as good as a studio recording, but still might do the trick for some of our fans.

I'll let you know if it works.

Rick

[Steve]

I think this is an interesting topic as well. I'm the Band Mgr. for the Pipeband I play with and part of my duties along with scheduling is running our fund raisers.

We try to have two a year, one at the beginning of the season (April, the big one) and one at the end (November). So far we've been pretty lucky and have done well .

We hold them at one of the local Irish Pubs. Advertising is the key because we do them on a Sunday afternoon/evening (3 til 8). This usally brings in a good Sunday crowd for the Pub and we'll get a percentage of the beer and food sales (don't count on this, again we've been lucky).

We try to get singers on the local pub circut to perform along with a local step dancing school. We haven't had much luck in bringing in another pipeband, but we have had solo pipers fom one of the top bands in the area come in to perform. Our Pipeband will open the show, do a set in the middle and close out the evening. We've never had a problem filling the 5 hours with entertainment.

We'll ask for a donation at the door (usally $5), sell door prize tickets (shirts, coffee mugs and B-ball caps), a 50/50 and two baskets of cheer. A dollar a ticket or 6 for $5 for these last three. Our shirts (polo shirt w/embroidered emblem) haven't done that well. I like the idea of T-shirts. Our b-ball caps are a good item and we always sell these out. I like the idea of a kilt raffle also.

Our next F/R is in April and we're having it a the local Fire Dept. Union Hall. It holds over 300 people. Unfortunately we have to sell tickets (at least 3/4 of them) prior to the event. I think the kilt raffle will help.

Sorry for being so long winded.

Steve

[Mike Szarka]

You can put your whole band (and spouses) to a huge amount of work putting on pub nights, dances, etc. and make enough money to buy a couple of pipe bags.

I'm not convinced that there is any practical way to replace a solid sponsorship. We managed to do it years ago in T&D but we got good prize money in those days. A lower-graded band couldn't easily do it on prize money alone. The alternative for them is to do lots of parades (ugh).

Mike

[Mitch Man]

Parades! :mad:

That's why I'm asking Mike!

Sponsorships are great "IF YOU CAN GET THEM" , but the chances of pipe bands getting sponsorships is slim to none!

Part of the band building process is raising
enough funds to buy all the essentials needed
to compete and still have enough money to afford
to go and compete.

Prize money is not an option for most bands as
some bands don't win any all year long, so the
cost of going to the games is a money losing
proposition in terms of planning financial
liabilities.

I was wondering how most bands handle the expenses of competing? Who pays for what and how much? For semi local games, Hotels and Fuel are the two major costs, but airfare is another expense for the distant games.

How much does it cost to run a band?

JM

[Paul Wilson]

there are other ways if your a non-profit org.
goverment grants is a good way in the states we have county ,state, and fed grants
also a golf outing works good too
Paul

[Piperkronie]

Our local pipe band has had success getting a grant from the local arts council. We performed four concerts in various local churches, and the council funded the events.

Don't know the exact details - I'm just one of the rank and file. :D You need to put together a grant proposal, then wait and see a)if it's accepted, and b) how much they're willing to give you.

It worked out pretty well for us - we're planning on doing it again.

Regards, Chris.

[Mike Szarka]

Originally posted by Paul Wilson:
there are other ways if your a non-profit org.
goverment grants is a good way in the states we have county ,state, and fed grants
also a golf outing works good too
Paul

Grants for the arts in Ontario have receded to the point of a rumour. This fall the Toronto Symphony Orchestra was on the brink of folding. Moreover, official charitable status for a pipe band, which would aid fund-raising, is getting harder and harder to obtain.

With so many pipe bands in Ontario, there would be a lot of competition for scarce funds. Still, I agree that looking for this sort of assistance is more relevant than all the bake sales you could ever hope to hold.

Mike

[Mitch Man]

Mike there's a serious difference between a
Pipe Band and a Symphony Orchestra!

Each of those Musicians is earning anywhere
from 40 to $70,000.00 bucks!

Pipe Bands really doen't have to earn that much
to operate, except if their making a trip
somewhere.

Once a band is setup, I think 3 to $5,000
is all they need to operate. That's not much
to raise with a little effort!

JM

[Kenton Adler]

I was a piper for Ozark Highlanders for several years, and our biggest money raiser all year was the Burns Night Supper we put on. We would reserve a ballroom at a local hotel and arrange for dinner, including Haggis. The band would perform, as would various members of the band as soloists, duets, or whatever. I always did a short set on guitar and vocals, or cittern and vocals as well as my piping duties, and other members of the band played accordians and such. Chances are there are enough talented people in most bands to really put on a show that's more than just the band playing for 20 minutes.

We always had the same guy do the Immortal Memory, and all the appropriate toasts and such would get done. We sold tickets in advance and generally had about 200 people attend at $20 per head or so. The band guys would also pay, but for dinner only (like $15). We would make a significant amount of money off the evening. Generally enough for several new kilts or needed equipment. The key is to find out how much you're gonna have to put out and mark up tickets so it's still affordable, but you make enough to make it worthwhile.

I would also point out that we had SIGNIFICANT interest and support from the Scottish society of Northwest Arkansas and could depend on a lot of sales to that organization. This might not work everywhere with as much success.

While I was Pipe Major there we also started selling t-shirts and ball caps with the band logo. Band guys payed for them too, at cost. We marked them up for sale to the public and always had them with us when we played at parades or other public events, along with a cassette we produced prior to my becoming the big cheese.

I think the key to success doing those kind of sales is to have one person handling it, and it should be someone who's not only trustworthy with the money, but also responsible enough to always be sure to have the merchandise onhand. A whole pile of great stuff does you no good if it gets left in the closet at home the day of the big show. You should also make sure someone in the crowd is wearing your merchandise if possible, and maybe have a couple of the pipers or drummers switch to the ballcap after the perfmormance. Gotta advertise.

[Mitch Man]

Wearing the your stuff, that's has to be the best
advertising yet! :wink:

Have a matching band Hat, band T-shirt, band shorts, and even band shoes if your band is
a slick logo!

This way, Nobody should be left wondering which
band you support!

JM

[Spunky]

We have a great sponsor, so we don't have to worry about it. A couple of times a year we do whatever they ask, and that's it.
There is a Legion in Ontario who was just given a $55,000 grant from the government. What a complete waste of money. Our tax dollars being wasted on a Legion band. I could see the money going to the veterans, but not the band. :mad:

A good fund raiser is to make your band members pay a huge dues every year or how ever much money you need

[Spunky]

John Caller:

No worries about having me show up at your door wanting to join your band. Make people pay!?!?

[Hugh Elder]

If anybody has any info on grants for the California area I would be interested in knowing about them and what types. I have looked into this before and it is a royal pain in the ass to find them. Thanks,

[Lori Wilson-Gaudet]

Originally posted by Hugh Elder:
If anybody has any info on grants for the California area I would be interested in knowing about them and what types. I have looked into this before and it is a royal pain in the ass to find them. Thanks,

Hi Hugh,
I don't know if this will be helpful to you or not seeing as I am in Canada....but I bet there is an American equivalent....
I got ahold of a book full of foundations and grants through working at a Non-Profit organization...there is a website that you pay a certain amt of money for the use of it's listings as well....I think I found it searching foundations/grants
It has literally thousands of foundations that WANT to give their money away.. lots are earmarked for specific things (ie: the arts, higher education for women, kids etc.....)
you pick what is appropriate and apply
Most want a tax # so they get a receipt for tax break purposes...
Network around and find out if any of your friends/coworkers volunteer at a non-profit organization who have experience with applying for grants or know of such a listing..
Cheers,
Lori

:wink: A Veteran at Fund Raising

[Mitch Man]

Originally posted by Hugh Elder:
If anybody has any info on grants for the California area I would be interested in knowing about them and what types.

Hugh, I found a great source for our band
in Modesto here. They have buckets of money
and are looking for more California bands
to give the money to.

Just call 1-800-

Wait a minute, lets talk about this over that
round of golf in January. Make sure you have
plenty of Guinness on hand too! :p

JM

[Jeffrey E. Dyer]

Here is one that works great for my Band. St. Pat's day as we all know is a good parade day. However here in CT it can be snowing and just damn cold. We won't march on St. Pat's, but if you break up the Pipers in to groups of two or three you can book them out at $100.00 to $200.00 a pop for about at 20min to 40min apearance at local bars. Each group should be able to do 3 jobs a night. Advantage is an easy $1000.00 in the Bank, Staying warm, keeping the Pipes Dry, being fed at every stop and also the ability to get real snockered at the last job after playing.

Jeff Dyer

[thesecretary]

For over six years now I have been involved in printing & publishing "Advertisement Calendars" for local Pipe Bands and local Football Teams.

How it works is the Band/Team/Club get together and have a group Photograph taken. They then go out in to the community from where they reside/work they ask their local businesses to sponsor a square on the calendar. Name of company phone number..etc. Usually setting a minimum amount of around £35-40 (all depends on the size of company). Once all the sponsors are got these are designed around the photo and calendar then printed.
I have published calendars with 50+ squares with a minimum of £50, after printing and costs these little earners raised over £5000 each!!!

As with all bands and clubs there are the members/workers for and the members/workers who can talk good ideas, leaving the work for others.
But if a band/club has a membership of 30-40 one square should not be hard to attain across the board.

If you need more info on said article please feel to email me.

piperpublications@ballycoan.com

:cool: thesecretary :ack:: am awa tha 'coan rowad...

www.ballycoan.com (http://www.ballycoan.com)

[Jason_dup1]

Interesting conversations here.

Some of the things we do include :-

1. We charge dues to our playing members and juvenille learners, these are taken once a quarter from each member and over the year with 30 + members start to mount up.

2. We have a fund raising committee, these are typically parents of some of the younger members of bands and typically people who are very well known around the town where our band is located. This committee organises 2 or 3 discos per year, each one raising approx £1000 a time, as well as race nights etc, etc.

3. We charge non playing member bus fares when travelling on the buses as for something like the worlds, this also saves them a £6 entry fee so we think nothing of charging them £6 for their bus and entry.

4. We run a bar on our bus. Two reasons, 1. Keeps the band members together instead of pipers and drummers breaking away into their little groups and heading to beer tent and pubs and 2. We all know how much we love our beer, so this is a proven money maker, even buyin cases of beer / juice / crisps etc, etc and selling them for more than you bought it for and cheaper than the beer tents and parks will make you money. At one contest last year the price of beer was shocking and we even sold a few cases to other bandsmen, our PROFIT that day from one trip paid for our bus.

5. For contests where we need to travel away and take accomodation, we usually strike a deal where the band pays the buses and ferry costs and the players pay for their accomodation. Now that for us is typically only one trip year to Ireland as we're based in Scotland and the band run a savings scheme all year to allow people to put money away for that trip, especially when you have 3 people, sometimes 4 going from the same family.

Just my 2p worth

[ January 11, 2002: Message edited by: Jason ]

[Mitch Man]

Originally posted by Jason:
Interesting conversations here.

5. .... the band run a savings scheme all year to allow people to put money away for that trip, especially when you have 3 people, sometimes 4 going from the same family.

I think it's important for people to realize that
this hobby does cost some money and players need
to budget their money to reflect this.

Too often we expect the band to pay for everything, but it's much easier for me as an individual to raise my share of a trip, than it is for a collection of 20 people to do this as a band.

Do the math, your band charges $500 bucks to do
a parade, they might even win a few prizes for
say $1200. Divide that by the number in attendance and then muliply the number of events you have to participate in for the band to pay for
the trip.

12 pipers, 5 sides, 2 tenors and a Bass is a typical band configuration. (20 people)

$500(parade)/20(members) = $25 x 10(parades) = $250 per player.

How easy is it to raise $250 by yourself?
One piping job and a day of overtime is
easier to do than playing in 10 parades.

Get my drift!

JM
BTW, A little planning goes along way!

[ January 11, 2002: Message edited by: Mitch Man ]

[Rojellio]

T-Shirts, and clothing items are a great idea. Preferably NON-DATED. Its also nice to have some of these on hand for swag. If you have an especialy generous doner, kick them some swag with your name on it. The POC at a lucrative gig, kick them some swag. There is a certain amount of acceptable throw around for swag.

Other possible merchandisable swag, beer or shot glasses with the band logo. (i cant remember where, but there is a place that puts logos on anything. $300 min order)Playing in a Pub on St. Pats? Indeed. Make a deal with the bar tender/owner for 25-50 glasses, they up the special price to reflect the price difference. Fill them up, line them up and the band doesnt play until the whiskey or beer in those glasss is gone.

For a Burns night bash, or similiar fund raising function. Round up the Bachelors, and do a bachelor auction. I have never done this, but heres how I see the deal going down. Bachelors change into the fanciest most formal atire possible. The bachelor struts on stage (runway or whatever) playing a set of solo Tunes. The auctioned bachelor, would of course pony up the dough for a nice date.

[Andy Muir]

Well, we still do it the hard way - largely "jobs" and prizemoney.

Although the odd job (no link to GoldFinger intended!) is a pain, they can be of use for "new" pipers, giving them some experience playing in front of a crowd, before they go on and compete.

We also have a ceilidh once a year - coming up this Friday! At worst, it's a good night. At best, we make a fair bit too. Fingers crossed!

Andy

:wink:

[Lori Wilson-Gaudet]

Originally posted by Mitch Man:
Matt, I'm glad you guys had success, but for me
it's a real chore to sell raffle tickets or
any tickets of some sort! This goes for most
pipe bands in General! The members are musicians,
not sales people!

I would have thought there would be more of a responce to this topic!

I guess everyone must have enough money that
they don't need to bother!

Come on, where's the ideas?

John

Gain Corporate Sponsorship.........that's the way to go!!
Makes one feel like a musician again, rather than a work horse
I know there are folks out there that actually "enjoy" parades....but to me...they are a means to an end only!
My thing is competition and I want to concentrate my efforts on playing better, not slugging away in a 9 mile route march for peanuts often in 100 degree heat....
My opinion only though....
Lori