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