Re: [Organizers] Ideas re sources of revenue for dance series - Musicians

14 May 2014

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  Date: Tue, 13 May 2014 22:15:04 -0400
 From: Donald Perley &lt;donperley(a)gmail.com&gt;
 To: A list for dance organizers &lt;organizers(a)sharedweight.net&gt;
 Subject: Re: [Organizers] Ideas re sources of revenue for dance series
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 WHen our series was losing money we told our dancers and put a
 donation hat at the front table.  Donations were typically the $2
 change on the $8 entrance fee, which helped.  What really helped,
 though, was telling our dancers that we'd rather they bring more
 friends to the dance than kick something into the hat.  Our typical
 count went from ~60 to ~100. 
Our organization, Boston Gender Free Contra Dance, does three things

1. We have a "live music fund" bucket on the entrance table and pass it around
during announcements before the break at every dance.

2. We have Sponsorship program where a person or group of people can donate money to pay
for the band - used for special occasions.  Since we are affiliated with Lavender Country
and Folk Dancers (LCFD) which is Tax Exempt, sponsors can donate their money to LCFD to
get a tax deduction. LCFD then makes a grant to the dance.

3. Several people have donated money to LCFD to be used for a LiveMusic Match fund.
Several times a year we have a special Match Night where donations to the bucket get
doubled or tripled. Our donations go way up as a result.   