Fundraising is the necessary evil in the performing arts. Most, if not all groups are faced with having to make some form of fundraising a requirement for participation.
Many performing ensembles struggle with ways to bribe/cajole/force/beg students and their families to put energy into fundraising “for the organization” as opposed to their own son/daughter’s trip/activity fee account.
Many ensembles approach FansRaise to help with a “Capital Campaign” – which could be any campaign that benefits “The Org” as opposed to individual student participants. These campaign could range anywhere from $5K up to $200K for program purchases like:
- Uniforms and costuming
- Trucks, trailers, and transportation
- Capital equipment, instruments, props and scenery
- Staff salaries, consultants, design and choreography
- Organizational costs and overhead
For groups that are looking to get something close to 100% participation, here are some key points of emphasis to make to your members and families to try to get everyone on board:
* By the way, these mindset-shifts will not only work for a FansRaise campaign, but for ANY kind of fundraising you decide to take on…
“If Other Fundraising Has Been Optional, This Campaign Will Be DIFFERENT…”
The one thing that ties all of our successful campaigns together is the willingness of the Org’s “champion” (normally the lead director/educator) to make the campaign exciting, important, and focused.
If anyone tells you that there’s a better person to get your students/members excited and enthused to participate in any organized “thing” – they’re lying. FansRaise doesn’t rely on contractors or local “Campaign Directors” to stop by your rehearsals and “Rah-Rah” your students – mainly because nobody is going to be able to move the needle better than the educators that are in the business of getting the best effort from your members day-to-day.
A smart way to approach it is by “challenging” your ensemble to meet a goal – which is essentially what every arts group does at the beginning of a season, or a school year. If you approach this part correctly, it should be highly congruent with the way you conduct your organizational operations when it comes to your performances.
“Everyone NEEDS to Do SOMETHING – ZEROs are Unacceptable”
When our client administrators log into their FansRaise dashboards, you can quickly see which students/members are achieving and making an effort, and which others are “blowing it off”.
Member accountability is one of the key tenets of the performing arts. Everyone must know their music, their lines, their choreography, or at least be willing to try.
We “coach” our participants to not only hold themselves accountable, but to also check with their peers to see how they’re doing as well. Students can see how they are performing relative to their peers by logging in and peek at their dashboard – which contains a leaderboard.
We don’t suggest “public shaming”, but a little positive peer pressure is a way to shine a light on what’s getting done. REMEMBER – if you aren’t measuring, you aren’t improving!
Be consistent, and hold your members accountable. Even just consistently TALKING about the campaign can be enough to get across the concept that “This is important to me, as Director”…
Long Story Short:
- Point out why THIS campaign is different, and why EVERYONE needs to pitch in
- Challenge your members. Set the bar high, and then encourage them to exceed that level (just like everything else you do!)
- No ZEROs – everyone does something to contribute a little effort. In the aggregate this leads to HUGE results
- Hold your members accountable, and talk about the campaign frequently – who’s crushing it?
If you are looking for an efficient, sensible, and student-centered way to raise the important money you need for your ensemble – you can get started today by clicking below:
