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Re: [Organizers] How do you, as organizers, support/encourage/manifest inclusivity at your dances?

by Luke Donforth

I tossed a few bullet points up there, but figured I'd elaborate here; since it's more conducive to discussion. Having everyone who is currently in the hall involved in any lesson before the regular dance does a lot to help inclusion. It lets everyone meet more folks than during the mill around between dances, and sets the expectation that new dancers will dance with experienced dancers and vice versa (assuming you're including partner mixing, which I strongly support in most circumstances). I try to keep my lesson to less than 15 minutes, so it's not a big obligation to the experienced dancers in the hall (and continue to welcome people to join if they get there late). Wherever your dance falls in terms of the terms used for the different roles (i.e. where you are after a swing), you can emphasize that anyone can dance either role. Modelling that as dancing organizers (two folks who present as male dancing together), as well as asking callers to announce it from the mic "I'll be using the terms Gents and Ladies to refer to dance roles, but anyone can dance either role." On Mon, Dec 17, 2018 at 3:51 PM Luke Donforth <luke.donforth(a)gmail.com> wrote: > I tossed a few bullet points up there, but figured I'd elaborate here; > since it's more conducive to discussion. > > Having everyone who is currently in the hall involved in any lesson before > the regular dance does a lot to help inclusion. It lets everyone meet more > folks than during the mill around between dances, and sets the expectation > that new dancers will dance with experienced dancers and vice versa > (assuming you're including partner mixing, which I strongly support in most > circumstances). I try to keep my lesson to less than 15 minutes, so it's > not a big obligation to the experienced dancers in the hall (and continue > to welcome people to join if they get there late). > > Wherever your dance falls in terms of the terms used for the different > roles (i.e. where you are after a swing), you can emphasize that anyone can > dance either role. Modelling that as dancing organizers (two folks who > present as male dancing together), as well as asking callers to announce it > from the mic "I'll be using the terms Gents and Ladies to refer to dance > roles, but anyone can dance either role." > > On Sun, Dec 16, 2018 at 10:50 PM Winston, Alan P. via Organizers < > organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: > >> Organizers -- >> >> What do you do or have seen others do to build inclusivity at your >> dances? >> >> What is your vision of inclusivity? >> >> Culturally, how do you balance a culture of consent (nobody *owes* >> anybody else a dance, you can refuse without explanation at any time and >> dance with somebody else) with a culture of inclusion where anybody who >> walks in the door, whether they're new dancers, middle-aged women, newish >> dancers in the zone between "let's take care of the first-timers" and being >> experienced dancers who can take care of themselves, etc. can be genuinely >> welcome and can dance as much as they want to without feeling like they're >> part of an out group? >> >> I was discussing this with Seth Tepfer and he set up a google doc to >> collect ideas. It'd be rude to make people on the list go there to >> participate in this discussion and that format is bad for clarifying >> questions anyway, so you may certainly update that document but you can >> also just post here and I'll try to add new ideas to the doc. >> >> >> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vwc-weK43t9nJ94LJIQg6UxiUeP8iqT1_VvqZO7… >> >> Doc contents right now: >> >> ' >> >> 1. >> >> Caller can be encouraged to program circle and scatter mixers. After >> the circle or scatter mix, the caller can say 'keep this parter for the >> next dance. >> 2. >> >> Callers and dance organizers can reserve the first 1/3 of the evening >> to only dancing with new dancers. Role model this behavior for other >> experienced dancers >> 3. >> >> During the early 1/3 of the evening, the organization can welcome >> everybody, and applaud the new dancers >> 4. >> >> Nametags for everyone. >> 5. >> >> We used to have nametags saying (it's my 1st/2nd/3rd time here: ask >> me to dance) >> 6. >> >> Caller's can remind folks to ask the people sitting out to dance. >> 7. >> >> Try to discourage booking ahead. Talk about why booking ahead is >> detrimental to your community - on listservs, in signs, at post dance >> gathering. >> >> (I'm an organizer for the Palo Alto Contra dance, an English dance >> series, and some camps, and an English/Victorian/Regency/Contra caller. >> Even if what organizers can do is what callers can do, the organizers can >> tell the callers to do what they can do, so caller suggestions are >> appropriate here.) >> >> >> >> -- Alan >> _______________________________________________ >> Organizers mailing list >> Organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net >> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net >> > > > -- > Luke Donforth > luke.donforth(a)gmail.com >

6 years, 6 months

How do you, as organizers, support/encourage/manifest inclusivity at your dances?

by Winston, Alan P.

Organizers -- What do you do or have seen others do to build inclusivity at your dances? What is your vision of inclusivity? Culturally, how do you balance a culture of consent (nobody *owes* anybody else a dance, you can refuse without explanation at any time and dance with somebody else) with a culture of inclusion where anybody who walks in the door, whether they're new dancers, middle-aged women, newish dancers in the zone between "let's take care of the first-timers" and being experienced dancers who can take care of themselves, etc. can be genuinely welcome and can dance as much as they want to without feeling like they're part of an out group? I was discussing this with Seth Tepfer and he set up a google doc to collect ideas. It'd be rude to make people on the list go there to participate in this discussion and that format is bad for clarifying questions anyway, so you may certainly update that document but you can also just post here and I'll try to add new ideas to the doc. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vwc-weK43t9nJ94LJIQg6UxiUeP8iqT1_VvqZO7… Doc contents right now: ' 1. Caller can be encouraged to program circle and scatter mixers. After the circle or scatter mix, the caller can say 'keep this parter for the next dance. 2. Callers and dance organizers can reserve the first 1/3 of the evening to only dancing with new dancers. Role model this behavior for other experienced dancers 3. During the early 1/3 of the evening, the organization can welcome everybody, and applaud the new dancers 4. Nametags for everyone. 5. We used to have nametags saying (it's my 1st/2nd/3rd time here: ask me to dance) 6. Caller's can remind folks to ask the people sitting out to dance. 7. Try to discourage booking ahead. Talk about why booking ahead is detrimental to your community - on listservs, in signs, at post dance gathering. (I'm an organizer for the Palo Alto Contra dance, an English dance series, and some camps, and an English/Victorian/Regency/Contra caller. Even if what organizers can do is what callers can do, the organizers can tell the callers to do what they can do, so caller suggestions are appropriate here.) -- Alan

6 years, 6 months

Re: [Organizers] Looking for innovative door pricing model

by Claire Takemori

Hi Heitzso, Can you tell me how you pay for the dances since you are losing money every time hiring a top band and paying them well? Thanks for sharing. Claire Takemori (campbell CA) Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2018 16:00:14 +0000 From: heitzso(a)growthmodels.com <mailto:heitzso@growthmodels.com> To: "Emily Addison" <emilyladdison(a)gmail.com <mailto:emilyladdison@gmail.com>>, "organizers shared weight" <organizers(a)lists.sharedweight.net <mailto:organizers@lists.sharedweight.net>> Subject: Re: [Organizers] Looking for innovative door pricing models! Message-ID: <91caddc0b02f075dccca48ed4a2d2bd3(a)growthmodels.com <mailto:91caddc0b02f075dccca48ed4a2d2bd3@growthmodels.com>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" (Heitzso for Gainesville, GA, @gaga http://atgaga.com <http://atgaga.com/> responding) We aim for a simple pricing structure that encourages families to attend, so we end up with several family groups attending as an inexpensive, fun, family outing at most of our monthly dances. $20 family (any size, any combination) $10 adults (somewhat in line with area pricing for contra dance, makes it easier to pay at door) $ 5 students teen and up (nice even number, again easy for door to make change) free for children 12 and under. free for non-dancers I regularly offer to comp people I meet in (with their friends) but that offer is rarely taken up so I don't worry about undercutting the dance with hordes of free comp'ed dancers. We are a small (average 35-50) dance but with good energy and a slowly building base of dancers who consider us their home dance. We're in our 6th year as a dance. Roughly half of our dancers drive a distance to come (20-60 minutes) and would consider another dance as their home dance. I try to book regional to weekend quality talent (Toss the Possum is our next band, then George Paul & Ben Schrieber, then ContraForce, then RushFest). So we lose money every month that I cover. BTW, I do pay the musicians well, we have good sound in the hall, and I record multi-channel 24/48 on an RME interface, along with good dancer energy that helps to pull in good bands. Not uncommon for us to tag team with Atlanta who dances on Fridays so a band comes in and plays for the Atlanta dance Friday, then our dance Saturday. The main contribution of this email may be the limited family price because it does bring in families and that means elementary, middle, high, young adult ages at our dance. Heitzso http://atgaga.com <http://atgaga.com/> December 14, 2018 11:09 AM, "Emily Addison via Organizers" wrote: Hi fellow Shared Weight members, I'm back wearing my CDSS hat this morning with a question that overlaps somewhat with the ideas that were shared last week. (I expect that I will be VERY quiet after this question given that there are so many ideas to pull together.) ANYWAY: HERE IS THE QUESTION.... .... What door pricing model do you use for your events (i.e., what do you charge participants)? Does your group do something innovative/creative that works well for your context? There has been a lot of recent discussion on the use sliding scale. I'm hoping to capture how this can be effectively implement. However, there are also many other innovative ideas such as group/family pricing, pay-it-forward, free dance after so many paid, etc.... If you have a model you'd like to share, please include a few ideas on why you think the model works well. For instance: --->Do you have effective signage explaining the pricing model? If so? what does it look like? --->What do the door volu nteers say to make your pricing successful? (If you have door volunteers) ---> How have you explained the pricing (e.g., on-mic announcements; email; website) to your community? Do you connect it to your broader financial goals? If you are committed to being transparent about your organization?s finances, how do you do that? ---?What/how do you communicate to first time attendees? (There's a lot to taken in when you're brand new walking in the door!) If you have ideas you think would benefit other dance, music, and/or song communities, please either share them back onto the list or you can email me directly (Emily(a)cdss.org <mailto:Emily@cdss.org>(mailto:Emily@cdss.org <mailto:Emily@cdss.org>)). (If you share on the list, they have the potential to help others immediately.) It may take me a few days but I'll definitely follow up with you. Then, once I have a completed draft of the resource, I will circulate it among all contributors before it is finalized and made public. With thanks! Emily PS -> I will also be posting th is question on the ECD and Pourparler lists to gather ideas from organizers involved in other traditions. Apologies if you see the message more than once.

6 years, 6 months

Looking for innovative door pricing models!

by Emily Addison

Hi fellow Shared Weight members, I'm back wearing my CDSS hat this morning with a question that overlaps somewhat with the ideas that were shared last week. (I expect that I will be VERY quiet after this question given that there are so many ideas to pull together.) ANYWAY: HERE IS THE QUESTION.... .... What door pricing model do you use for your events (i.e., what do you charge participants)? Does your group do something innovative/creative that works well for your context? There has been a lot of recent discussion on the use sliding scale. I'm hoping to capture how this can be effectively implement. However, there are also many other innovative ideas such as group/family pricing, pay-it-forward, free dance after so many paid, etc.... If you have a model you'd like to share, please include a few ideas on why you think the model works well. For instance: --->Do you have effective signage explaining the pricing model? If so… what does it look like? --->What do the door volunteers say to make your pricing successful? (If you have door volunteers) ---> How have you explained the pricing (e.g., on-mic announcements; email; website) to your community? Do you connect it to your broader financial goals? If you are committed to being transparent about your organization’s finances, how do you do that? ---?What/how do you communicate to first time attendees? (There's a lot to taken in when you're brand new walking in the door!) If you have ideas you think would benefit other dance, music, and/or song communities, please either share them back onto the list or you can email me directly (Emily(a)cdss.org). (If you share on the list, they have the potential to help others immediately.) It may take me a few days but I'll definitely follow up with you. Then, once I have a completed draft of the resource, I will circulate it among all contributors before it is finalized and made public. With thanks! Emily PS -> I will also be posting this question on the ECD and Pourparler lists to gather ideas from organizers involved in other traditions. Apologies if you see the message more than once.

6 years, 6 months

Update on alternative sources of revenue resource

by Emily Addison

Hi fellow Shared Weight Organizers, A quick update as many of you were very generous in sharing ideas for the upcoming CDSS resource on "Alternative Sources of Revenue". Over 30 different organizers/communities have contributed ideas thus far - there are some fantastic suggestions for alternative sources of revenue. I'm currently following up with all of the contributors to flush out details for some of the ideas. It will take a good month or more to write the document as I have a few other CDSS projects on the go and the holiday season is almost upon us. After the draft document is compete, it will be reviewed by contributors before it is considered final. However my goal is that we'll hopefully have the resource out within the first few months of the new year! In the meantime, if you have ideas/thoughts to share, please feel free to send them along to my CDSS email (emily(a)cdss.org). I'll actually be sending a second email within the next day or two asking for ideas on a related topic as it overlaps with this one and I might as well tackle two topics at once right????! With thanks, Emily Addison Wearing my consultant's hat this morning on behalf of CDSS

6 years, 6 months

Wowweee ----> Lots to follow up on regarding alternative sources of revenue!

by Emily Addison

Hi fellow Shared Weight organizers, Wowweeee --- there are sooo many fantastic ideas out there! Thank you Alan, Claire, Terri, Mac, John, Jonathan S & Jonathan R, Jim, Don V and Don P, Lisa, Terri, Nick, and David!!!! I'm sorry I've been quiet the last few days. My CDSS work gets condensed into a few days a week so it sometimes takes me a little bit to catch up. That, and I have a few other CDSS projects on the go at the same time. I've read all your messages and will be follow up individually early next week to see if you're comfortable having your ideas shared as part of the large collection and if so, to find out additional details. With much thanks! Emily Addison writing from Ottawa, Ontario

6 years, 6 months

Ideas for revenue BEYOND the door entry price

by Emily Addison

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.

6 years, 6 months

Re: [Organizers] Organizers Digest, Vol 44, Issue 6

by Katie Olmstead

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 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.) (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 >> >> >>

6 years, 6 months

Re: [Organizers] Ideas for revenue BEYOND the door entry price (Winston, Alan P.)

by Claire Takemori

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

6 years, 6 months

Ideas from Ottawa for revenue beyond the door

by Emily Addison

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

6 years, 6 months

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