WHen our series was losing money we told our dancers and put a donation hat at the front table. Donations were typically the $2 change on the $8 entrance fee, which helped. What really helped, though, was telling our dancers that we'd rather they bring more friends to the dance than kick something into the hat. Our typical count went from ~60 to ~100.
On Tue, May 13, 2014 at 12:39 PM, Emily Addison <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Dance Organizers! > > I'm pulling together ideas on budget for our dance committee meeting in > June. Our situation is this .... ...We've got a really vibrant dance > community where we get 100+ dancers at each evening dance (we're an urban > dance and have a mix of strong local talent as well as touring/national > bands). However, with various expenses, the last two years have been a bit > tough on us financially. > > *I'm wondering if you'd share your entrance fee rates and thoughts on how > high these can/should go before issues (e.g., accessibility, lower turnout) > arise? * > > *ANNNND if you have any additional brilliant ways of raising funds, that > would be great too! I've listed some options below but for sum (e.g., > fundraisers), we're looking for neat ideas.* > > With thanks! > Emily Addison > Ottawa, ON > > *Here's our fee structure:* > > - Membership is 25$ for full year, 15$ in January... This gives you > discounts on most of our dances (about 28 a year) > - Saturday night dance: 12$ regular, 10$ members/students, free 16 and > under > - Saturday afternoon workshop: 8$ regular, 7$ members/students .... also > a discount to do both afternoon/evening (17$ regular, 15$ members&students) > - Tuesday community talent dances: 7$/5$ > - Family dances: $10 adult, free for kids > > It's our Saturday dances with hired bands/callers, paid sound, and a more > expensive hall that are loosing money. Our community talent and family > dances are breaking even. > > *Other possible forms of revenue include:* > > - Attracting and retaining more dancers > - Grants > - Fundraisers (what have others done?) > - Promoting larger donations OR doing something like a donation/tip jar > - Selling food, tshirts etc > - Avoiding booking dances on holidays/big events as #s may be down > - Other???? > _______________________________________________ > Organizers mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.sharedweight.net/mailman/listinfo/organizers
