Really quick – grab a snare drummer from your marching band and ask them how much a marching snare drum costs?
Grab a tuba player and ask them how much their instrument retails for?
Ask a color guard member if they know the exact price of their total equipment set?
(Note – for answers to these questions, you’ll need to read the entire post!)
One of the things that we’ve learned via our experience in the marching arts space is that there is a CANYON that seperates their perception of the costs associated with their activity from the TRUE costs.
At FansRaise, we believe that a crowdfunding campaign is a terrific excuse to bring student understanding in line with the true costs of your program. We help educators and directors create lasting student ownership by empowering kids to take the lead in a fundraising campaign instead of sitting back and having parent boosters do ALL the work.
Question – Is it worth the time spent to educate and inform your members to the true costs?
Answer – Absolutely, because until they really understand the value of things, such as how much a band uniform set costs, they will not “own” the responsibility of making sure that it is cared for properly (and not left out on the curb in the parking lot).
Eventually, creating a culture of student ownership will trickle-over into many other areas, including more mindful, respectful, and grounded kids that truly understand how special their performing opportunities are.
Spend some time with this concept, and over time the returns on a relatively small investment of time will begin to be revealed!
ANSWERS
Many new marching tubas run in excess of $8,000.
New snare drums average over $600 (and you need to purchase several of them).
The total color guard spend per member can vary widely, but can easily be computed by figuring your total outlay on flags, weapons equipment, poles and accessories, costuming, etc – and then divide by the number of members. Thsi final figure will astonish you in many cases.