"I Need to Fundraise?"

What do Band Boosters and Fundraising have in common?...You can't live with them, and you can't live without them!

For a great fund raiser, check out Charlie Bartrug's article in QuickNotes about Band-a-Palooza. It's a great idea and can make tons of money. My band boosters always wanted to make a lot of money with not a lot of effort and quickly found out that doesn't always yield the intended result. Band-a-Palooza, March-a-thons, candy bars, magazine subscriptions, brochure sales, suckers...the list goes on and on; I have been in this business so long that I remember when Donkey Basketball was a big deal! (Ask someone old to explain.)

There is also grant writing. This can be a hard one. Finding the grant, and then doing the paper work -- who has time for that?! However, most school districts have foundations, and if you are willing to jump through the hoops, then there is money to be received. Be sure to follow the writing instructions to the letter. There are people who look at submissions to find out if the number on page 34 has been circled!

We have hosted marching contests, solo/ensemble contests, concert band and orchestra contests. We never seemed to have a huge return, but some people have found them quite profitable.

Our single biggest fund raiser has been a Pancake Breakfast. We have coupled that with some really cool events, like a silent auction, a craft fair and bake sale. The best part is that we invited the feeder middles schools, the high school bands, and all ensembles to play. We even created a fan-favorite vote for an ensemble to earn a trip to the State level ensemble contest. Events that involve a lot of students playing creates traffic and also helps with recruiting! A great idea is to get all (or many) of the food items donated so expenses are not huge.

Early in my career, boosters could go to local businesses, ask for donations, and often times would come up with some extra funds. That has become harder and harder as more activities are needing money. I also had a superintendent tell me a long time ago that if you tell people you are raising money for a specific thing, then you better come up with that specific thing! Lesson learned...always be transparent.

Here is the real point of the quick note! Make a list of priority items your program needs. It could be a generator for the front ensemble, an oboe, a new bass drum and carrier, a flugelhorn for jazz band, or a new bass bow. I would have a variety of low-to-high-priced items, then go to your local music store, Palen Music, and get exact pricing for the item. Make a professional-looking list on band or band booster stationary. Send your band boosters out with the list to those prospective businesses. When business owners see specifics, they seem to like that better than "Would you be willing to donate $1000 to our band/orchestra program?"

Good luck and happy fundraising!