Hi fellow shared weight organizers :)
Wearing my CDSS hat, I'm wondering ----> Does your dance have sources of
revenue BEYOND the door entry price???
A few great ideas were shared at the October CDSS Executive community
meeting in Toronto and we're looking for more! Do you have successful
experience with:
- sponsorships (individual/company/other)
- grants
- donations (collected at the dance OR one-off/ongoing donor programs)
- other fundraising (e.g., pie/cake sales anyone?)
- membership
- merch … that make money?
- special events … that make money?
- other?
I'm pulling together a curated collection of success stories on this
subject for CDSS that will then be shared back out early in the new year. I
would love to hear your ideas and if you know of someone I should talk to
about this, please let me know.
Thanks!
Emily
PS - I asked shared weight about posters/flyers last month and so wanted
to update you that that collection will be available in January. I'm just
waiting on a few more contributions.
A small thing we do, but it adds up (in cash and good community), is once a month, during one of the dances I regularly run (Experienced Contras in Greenfield MA) is a Contra Clothing Exchange. I offer barter (bring two, take one) or buy ($5 for tops or bottoms and $10 for dresses) OR have nights where I just say "Pay whatever you want!" The proceeds go to Friends of the Greenfield Dance. I am one of those people who has been dancing forever and like to pass on oldies but goodies, and then get something new-to-me. It is super fun to see my old clothes dancing around on the floor in a new body. It isn't exactly a revenue stream. It has probably brought in a couple hundred dollars over the last 2 or 3 years, but it good community, fun, and hey, it's something.
Katie Olmstead
-----Original Message-----
From: organizers-request <organizers-request(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
To: organizers <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
Sent: Tue, Dec 4, 2018 6:55 pm
Subject: Organizers Digest, Vol 44, Issue 6
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Today's Topics:
1. Re: Ideas for revenue BEYOND the door entry price (Winston,
Alan P.) (Lisa Marie Lunt)
2. Re: Ideas for revenue BEYOND the door entry price (Winston,
Alan P.) (Terri Widergren)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2018 18:25:19 -0500
From: Lisa Marie Lunt <lisalunt(a)gmail.com>
Cc: organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
Subject: Re: [Organizers] Ideas for revenue BEYOND the door entry
price (Winston, Alan P.)
Message-ID:
<CABZLU-X5zaO44_x_uFvLZxyUXA8uvmaqy8ecnCjxY3Qjxz0CKA(a)mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
The Rehoboth, MA Contra uses the Amazon Smile prgram. I'm pretty sure you
need to have a 501(c)3 (a legal, non-profit designation in the U.S.) in
order to do this. You have to make sure that you have the Smile program
turned on or logged in when you make orders in order to do this.
There is also the Facebook 1:1 match on Giving Tuesday (the Tues after U.S.
Thanksgiving). I don't know what the details are, but again, non-profit
status is required, and because the match is limited, people need to be
logged in and ready to donate exactly when the clock turns to the
designated match time.
On Tue, Dec 4, 2018, 4:46 PM Terri Widergren via Organizers <
organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net wrote:
> This is in response to Emily's question,
>
> We are fledging contra dance group in Tri-Cites, WA. This was our first
> year bringing contra back after a 5 year hiatus for lack of volunteers. We
> are a fairly inexperienced group and coordinating the dances, but we're
> committed!
>
> We do one contra dance a month, and have a raffle with items we've had
> donated by local businesses It does not bring in much revenue, but we only
> average about 24-28 in attendance. Depending on the item, we make between
> $20-40. We do have to have a license with our State's gambling commission
> which has its own cost and labor involved. We will decide mid-year when
> our license has to be renewed if its worth the effort and expense.
>
> Thanks,
> Terri
>
> On Tue, Dec 4, 2018 at 1:24 PM Claire Takemori via Organizers <
> organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
>> Alan,
>> Actually Amweek last year applied for a CDSS grant to help us cover
>> scholarships and the change in registration pricing for last year.
>> We went from $700/person to a sliding scale and we were not sure that we
>> would get enough full & over-paying folks to cover the lower-income folks
>> and scholarships.
>> We were able to use the funds to bring in a new to the scene band that
>> has grown in leaps and bounds over the past year & half and will be the
>> band for our NY Eve dance this year.
>>
>> Claire Takemori (also BACDS dancer, caller, organizer, cat herder)
>>
>> On Dec 4, 2018, at 1:11 PM, organizers-request(a)lists.sharedweight.net
>> wrote:
>>
>> Send Organizers mailing list submissions to
>> organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
>>
>> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
>>
>> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net
>>
>> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
>> organizers-request(a)lists.sharedweight.net
>>
>> You can reach the person managing the list at
>> organizers-owner(a)lists.sharedweight.net
>>
>> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
>> than "Re: Contents of Organizers digest..."
>>
>>
>> Today's Topics:
>>
>> 1. Re: Ideas for revenue BEYOND the door entry price
>> (Winston, Alan P.)
>>
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 1
>> Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2018 20:17:53 +0000
>> From: "Winston, Alan P." <winston(a)slac.stanford.edu>
>> To: "organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net"
>> <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
>> Subject: Re: [Organizers] Ideas for revenue BEYOND the door entry
>> price
>> Message-ID: <1fe10a73-16b7-4643-f29a-068300982101(a)slac.stanford.edu>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>>
>> Bay Area Country Dance Society:
>>
>> - Offers various levels of membership with no additional perks beyond the
>> entry-level (and that perk is a $2 discount on admission to regular dances,
>> but given that we also have a "pay what you can" option at those dances you
>> don't really save any money on buying a membership).
>>
>> - On the membership form there's also an opportunity to donate for
>> targeted funds, eg youth scholarships, need-based scholarships. (Youth
>> scholarship money then goes to get under-30 people to our camps and
>> weekends, in hopes of encouraging a new generation of contra and English
>> dancers.)
>>
>> - As a 501c3 gifts are tax-deductible, and we've occasionally been given
>> something and had an employer match it. We don't have a development
>> division and we don't solicit donations or being named in wills, but
>> sometimes people give us money anyway.
>>
>> - We're working on implementation, but people have tried to give us
>> money through Amazon Smile (where a percentage of your purchases goes to
>> your designated nonprofit recipient if they provide Amazon with routing
>> numbers, etc) and we think we're going to do that. (I personally feel
>> awkward soliciting people to give our dance organization money through a
>> specific mechanism that could be benefiting organizations that save lives.)
>>
>> - We hold three dance weeks (American Week, English Week / Hey Days,
>> Family Week), one contra weekend (Balance the Bay), one English Weekend
>> (Fall Frolick). The camps and the English Weekend all have auctions which
>> often include items like dance/tune compositions, services (accordion
>> serenade), crafts, and camper-made jams, etc. The camps don't always make
>> money but the auctions make it likelier that they will, and when they do
>> make money it's usually enough to offset losses in other areas of the
>> organization. (When a week-long residential camp tanks badly, it loses a
>> lot of money. A non-residential weekend where food isn't provided has
>> fixed costs (staff, sound, staff travel, rent) which put a cap on how much
>> you can lose and have potentially large upside once the fixed costs are
>> covered.)
>>
>> - We sponsor a number of performance teams. Many cover their expenses
>> via member dues and busking. Mayfield Morris, when it was active,
>> collected no dues but spent a lot of energy on various fundraisers which
>> enabled even less-flush team members to participate in team trips to
>> distant morris ales, England, etc. The team ran an annual garage sale and
>> a series of afternoon teas with entertainment.
>>
>> We've never applied for a grant as far as I know.
>>
>> Queer Contra would count the door money before the end of the evening and
>> if they weren't making rent or couldn't pay the band well enough they'd
>> have an announcement about the shortfall and pass the hat for more
>> contributions, which worked out satisfactorily as far as I know.
>>
>> -- Alan
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 12/4/18 8:25 AM, Emily Addison via Organizers wrote:
>> Hi fellow shared weight organizers :)
>>
>> Wearing my CDSS hat, I'm wondering ----> Does your dance have sources of
>> revenue BEYOND the door entry price???
>>
>> A few great ideas were shared at the October CDSS Executive community
>> meeting in Toronto and we're looking for more! Do you have successful
>> experience with:
>>
>> * sponsorships (individual/company/other)
>> * grants
>> * donations (collected at the dance OR one-off/ongoing donor programs)
>> * other fundraising (e.g., pie/cake sales anyone?)
>> * membership
>> * merch ? that make money?
>> * special events ? that make money?
>> * other?
>>
>> I'm pulling together a curated collection of success stories on this
>> subject for CDSS that will then be shared back out early in the new year. I
>> would love to hear your ideas and if you know of someone I should talk to
>> about this, please let me know.
>>
>> Thanks!
>> Emily
>> PS - I asked shared weight about posters/flyers last month and so wanted
>> to update you that that collection will be available in January. I'm just
>> waiting on a few more contributions.
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Organizers mailing list
>> Organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:
>> Organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
>> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net
>>
>>
>>
Alan,
Actually Amweek last year applied for a CDSS grant to help us cover scholarships and the change in registration pricing for last year.
We went from $700/person to a sliding scale and we were not sure that we would get enough full & over-paying folks to cover the lower-income folks and scholarships.
We were able to use the funds to bring in a new to the scene band that has grown in leaps and bounds over the past year & half and will be the band for our NY Eve dance this year.
Claire Takemori (also BACDS dancer, caller, organizer, cat herder)
On Dec 4, 2018, at 1:11 PM, organizers-request(a)lists.sharedweight.net wrote:
Send Organizers mailing list submissions to
organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net
To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net
or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
organizers-request(a)lists.sharedweight.net
You can reach the person managing the list at
organizers-owner(a)lists.sharedweight.net
When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
than "Re: Contents of Organizers digest..."
Today's Topics:
1. Re: Ideas for revenue BEYOND the door entry price
(Winston, Alan P.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2018 20:17:53 +0000
From: "Winston, Alan P." <winston(a)slac.stanford.edu>
To: "organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net"
<organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net>
Subject: Re: [Organizers] Ideas for revenue BEYOND the door entry
price
Message-ID: <1fe10a73-16b7-4643-f29a-068300982101(a)slac.stanford.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
Bay Area Country Dance Society:
- Offers various levels of membership with no additional perks beyond the entry-level (and that perk is a $2 discount on admission to regular dances, but given that we also have a "pay what you can" option at those dances you don't really save any money on buying a membership).
- On the membership form there's also an opportunity to donate for targeted funds, eg youth scholarships, need-based scholarships. (Youth scholarship money then goes to get under-30 people to our camps and weekends, in hopes of encouraging a new generation of contra and English dancers.)
- As a 501c3 gifts are tax-deductible, and we've occasionally been given something and had an employer match it. We don't have a development division and we don't solicit donations or being named in wills, but sometimes people give us money anyway.
- We're working on implementation, but people have tried to give us money through Amazon Smile (where a percentage of your purchases goes to your designated nonprofit recipient if they provide Amazon with routing numbers, etc) and we think we're going to do that. (I personally feel awkward soliciting people to give our dance organization money through a specific mechanism that could be benefiting organizations that save lives.)
- We hold three dance weeks (American Week, English Week / Hey Days, Family Week), one contra weekend (Balance the Bay), one English Weekend (Fall Frolick). The camps and the English Weekend all have auctions which often include items like dance/tune compositions, services (accordion serenade), crafts, and camper-made jams, etc. The camps don't always make money but the auctions make it likelier that they will, and when they do make money it's usually enough to offset losses in other areas of the organization. (When a week-long residential camp tanks badly, it loses a lot of money. A non-residential weekend where food isn't provided has fixed costs (staff, sound, staff travel, rent) which put a cap on how much you can lose and have potentially large upside once the fixed costs are covered.)
- We sponsor a number of performance teams. Many cover their expenses via member dues and busking. Mayfield Morris, when it was active, collected no dues but spent a lot of energy on various fundraisers which enabled even less-flush team members to participate in team trips to distant morris ales, England, etc. The team ran an annual garage sale and a series of afternoon teas with entertainment.
We've never applied for a grant as far as I know.
Queer Contra would count the door money before the end of the evening and if they weren't making rent or couldn't pay the band well enough they'd have an announcement about the shortfall and pass the hat for more contributions, which worked out satisfactorily as far as I know.
-- Alan
On 12/4/18 8:25 AM, Emily Addison via Organizers wrote:
Hi fellow shared weight organizers :)
Wearing my CDSS hat, I'm wondering ----> Does your dance have sources of revenue BEYOND the door entry price???
A few great ideas were shared at the October CDSS Executive community meeting in Toronto and we're looking for more! Do you have successful experience with:
* sponsorships (individual/company/other)
* grants
* donations (collected at the dance OR one-off/ongoing donor programs)
* other fundraising (e.g., pie/cake sales anyone?)
* membership
* merch ? that make money?
* special events ? that make money?
* other?
I'm pulling together a curated collection of success stories on this subject for CDSS that will then be shared back out early in the new year. I would love to hear your ideas and if you know of someone I should talk to about this, please let me know.
Thanks!
Emily
PS - I asked shared weight about posters/flyers last month and so wanted to update you that that collection will be available in January. I'm just waiting on a few more contributions.
_______________________________________________
Organizers mailing list
Organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net<mailto:Organizers@lists.sharedweight.net>
http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net
Hi again organizers :)
It's me again but wearing my Ottawa Contra Dance hat.
I thought I would share a few ideas that have been working for Ottawa for a
number of years.
1. Membership:
We have had a membership program for over 10yrs and it works really well
for us. Not only does it provide additional funds for us but creates a
sense of additional belonging for our regular dancers which is helpful in
terms of encouraging them to invite their friends, volunteer, come more
often etc.
Our membership program is outlined here:
http://www.ottawacontra.ca/view/?membership
Membership started at $25 a 10+yrs ago and has since increased (more events
in our season and additional costs). We also created a sustaining level of
membership.
We have 80-100 members a year so the additional money is substantial.
Given that our dances have been loosing money overall the last few years,
the membership money has been particularly key to keeping us in a healthy
financial situation. And when we are in a healthy financial situation, it
allows us to try new initiatives or to say, sponsor someone to receive
training at a CDSS camp.
2. Seasons passes:
Similar to membership but additional benefits to the dancer in that they
don't have to bring money every time and they get an overall discount if
they attend most of the events.
We track how many seasons pass holders attend each dance and the seasons
passes have always made us a bit of money at the end of the year. Not a
lot.... but a bit.
We do provide both membership and seasons passes at the start of the year
and then again halfway through the year (at a discount).
I think one danger that can come from this model is that the community
starts to feel more like a closed club which is then exclusive and doesn't
feel welcoming to beginners. However, we've been careful to try to avoid
that from happening and don't think it's happened.
3. Our dance weekend
Our dance weekend makes us some money every year but that's because we
almost always sell out. We are well located to get attendees and have a
strong sub-committee that work on the weekend. The success of Hey Fever is
related to a few factors like that which might not always be replicable.
4. T-shirts
T-shirts haven't made us much money (I'm guessing about $200?). However,
they also haven't been money losers and I think they can be a bit of a
financial win to augment other efforts.
:) Emily
Hi Shared Weight Organizers,
Just a quick heads up that the latest issue of Shop Talk came out last
week. (Shop Talk is a free e-newsletter from CDSS specifically designed to
support traditional dance, music, and song organizers.)
View the latest issue here: https://conta.cc/2QYlA7c
View the inaugral issue (Aug 2018) here: https://conta.cc/2PlKAEr
If you want to receive Shop talk, sign up here: https://conta.cc/2PlKAEr
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=0014j0gmgnFzCpFmgPedCdNt-hzftTyGkQRou7YL3ieZClg…>
Please share the news with other organizers and trad dance, music and song
lovers you know!
Thanks,
Emily Addison - writing from Ottawa, Ontario
Consultant - Country Dance and Song Society
Dear Northeast Dance Organizers*,
We’re writing with an update on Puttin’ On the Dance (POTD)*. As many of
you know, planning had begun for a third POTD conference, but for various
reasons, including illness of loved ones, those plans were postponed. The
Puttin’ On the Dance Advisory Board is grateful to that team, especially
Dela Murphy and Coral Breuer, for their enthusiasm and hard work on behalf
of dance organizers in the Northeast.
Today, we are pleased to announce that Lisa Sieverts will chair a committee
to put on POTD-3, sometime in 2020 in the Northeastern US.
A project manager by trade, Lisa has organized dances in Boise ID, Nelson
NH, and Peterborough NH and she worked closely with Larry Jennings on his
book, Give-and-Take. She is also on the board of the Monadnock Folklore
Society. Lisa attended POTD-1 and believes strongly in the POTD mission.
We’re thrilled to have her at the helm!
In July 2019, we will send out a call for folks to join the organizing team
for POTD-3. If you have ideas, enthusiasm, or questions before then, please
contact the advisory board at puttinonthedance(a)gmail.com .
For ongoing support for dance organizers:
-
Shared Weight Organizers List -- online discussion forum
sharedweight.net/
<http://www.sharedweight.net/index.php?pagestate=org_about>
-
Shop Talk -- a quarterly email from the Country Dance and Song Society
(CDSS) with news and resources for organizers bit.ly/2sqQr4B
-
CDSS Organizers Resource Portal -- includes archives from POTD-1 and
POTD-2 cdss.org/resources/how-to/organizers-resources
<https://www.cdss.org/resources/how-to/organizers-resources>
Yours in traditional social dance,
Puttin’ On the Dance Advisory Board
Emily Addison – chair POTD-2
Chrissy Fowler – co-chair POTD-1
Linda Henry – co-chair POTD-1 and CDSS Liaison
puttinonthedance.org <http://www.puttinonthedance.org>
*POTD is a conference that convenes organizers in the Northeastern US and
Eastern Canada who produce dance events in the North American and English
social dance traditions (e.g., Cape Breton, community, contra, English
country, family, gender free, Quebecois, and square). The objective of this
weekend event is to provide resources and opportunities for learning,
sharing, renewal, and fun! This will strengthen networks for sustaining
dance organizers, who in turn sustain important traditions of participatory
social dance throughout our region.
--
puttinonthedance.orgfacebook.com/PuttinOnTheDance
*You're on the POTD email list because we think you're interested in
conferences for dance organizers. Let us know if you want your address
removed. *
Dear Northeast Dance Organizers* and members of the Shared Weight
Organizers' list serv,
We’re writing with an update on Puttin’ On the Dance (POTD)*. As many of
you know, planning had begun for a third POTD conference, but for various
reasons, including illness of loved ones, those plans were postponed. The
Puttin’ On the Dance Advisory Board is grateful to that team, especially
Dela Murphy and Coral Breuer, for their enthusiasm and hard work on behalf
of dance organizers in the Northeast.
Today, we are pleased to announce that Lisa Sieverts will chair a committee
to put on POTD-3, sometime in 2020 in the Northeastern US.
A project manager by trade, Lisa has organized dances in Boise ID, Nelson
NH, and Peterborough NH and she worked closely with Larry Jennings on his
book, Give-and-Take. She is also on the board of the Monadnock Folklore
Society. Lisa attended POTD-1 and believes strongly in the POTD mission.
We’re thrilled to have her at the helm!
In July 2019, we will send out a call for folks to join the organizing team
for POTD-3. If you have ideas, enthusiasm, or questions before then, please
contact the advisory board at puttinonthedance(a)gmail.com .
For ongoing support for dance organizers:
-
Shared Weight Organizers List -- online discussion forum
sharedweight.net/
<http://www.sharedweight.net/index.php?pagestate=org_about>
-
Shop Talk -- a quarterly email from the Country Dance and Song Society
(CDSS) with news and resources for organizers bit.ly/2sqQr4B
-
CDSS Organizers Resource Portal -- includes archives from POTD-1 and
POTD-2 cdss.org/resources/how-to/organizers-resources
<https://www.cdss.org/resources/how-to/organizers-resources>
Yours in traditional social dance,
Puttin’ On the Dance Advisory Board
Emily Addison – chair POTD-2
Chrissy Fowler – co-chair POTD-1
Linda Henry – co-chair POTD-1 and CDSS Liaison
puttinonthedance.org <http://www.puttinonthedance.org>
*POTD is a conference that convenes organizers in the Northeastern US and
Eastern Canada who produce dance events in the North American and English
social dance traditions (e.g., Cape Breton, community, contra, English
country, family, gender free, Quebecois, and square). The objective of this
weekend event is to provide resources and opportunities for learning,
sharing, renewal, and fun! This will strengthen networks for sustaining
dance organizers, who in turn sustain important traditions of participatory
social dance throughout our region.
--
puttinonthedance.orgfacebook.com/PuttinOnTheDance
*You're on the POTD email list because we think you're interested in
conferences for dance organizers. Let us know if you want your address
removed. *
Hey fellow Shared Weight organizers :)
I'm emailing with my CDSS consultant hat this afternoon rather than my
Ottawa Contra hat ... .... although I'm curious as a local organizer too!
The Country Dance and Song Society in the midst of pulling together a
collection of inspiring print material from across North America to share
among local organizers. All the kind of material you would use to ***BOOST
ATTENDANCE****. Think flyers, posters, schedules, little handouts,
beginner info sheets etc... ... that kind of thing.
If you feel your local organization does print material well and is willing
to share examples, please reach out to me at emily(a)cdss.org.
The submissions that are sent in will be included in CDSS's Organizer
Portal: aA collection point for resources to support local dance, music and
song organizers.
https://www.cdss.org/resources/how-to/organizers-resources
Side Note: I've been collecting posters/flyers for YEAAAARS as inspiration
for Ottawa Contra because I firmly believe that the best ideas have already
been figured out by others and we just need to tweak and improve them for
our own communities. I'd love it if CDSS can help share print material
with local organizers who need help in this area.
Thanks for the consideration!
Emily Addison - writing from Ottawa, Ontario
Consultant - Country Dance and Song Society
Hi All,
I emailed about CDSS's new resources for dance (and music and song)
organizers back in September. However, I wanted to share the recent CDSS
News article about the resources in case you might find it helpful.
Please share with others in your networks as you see fit. :)
Emily Addison
Ottawa, ON