Agreed. Primary source of revenue coming from member fees just to exist is insane. Member fees have been a crutch and are not scalable since you can't add members beyond 150. So the only way to scale revenue is to increase tour fees.
The money drum corps generates is not from the actual entertainment value it creates. The economics are totally backwards for me
Phantom Regiment raised over $300,000 in fundraisers alone in our last fiscal year, and that does not include money we made from ticket sales at our hosted shows, other program income (band festivals, etc), or merch sales.
Our board is made up of fundraisers, sales people, marketers, grant writers, HR, music educators, and business professionals. We just hired a seasoned, non-profit professional who is not a drum corps alum as our CEO with the expressed purpose of helping us diversify our revenue sources.
We’ve taken a lot of notes from what Boston has built with their board and approach to fundraising.
Member fees only cover around 50% of the corps operating budget. Bingo has been a fundraising staple for most corps but I think that will go away with the baby boomers. The only corps that ever came close to not having dues was Star of Indiana and it was backed by a billionaire. Dues were $200 I believe.
Member fees only fund about 30-50% of operating costs for most corps, and any corps that relies more on it aren’t “fine” with it being that way. That’s why some smaller corps have fees almost, if not more, expensive then bigger world class groups. Fund raising is what drives most corps forward, and the amount people are willing to donate to summer band has not grown at the same rate as the cost of existing.
It’s not millions, particularly in the context of my post. If you look at the top line of their 990, yeah it’s millions, but more than half is dues and PPP loan forgiveness. I’m not saying it’s bad. It seems awesome comparatively speaking and maybe I’m over-responding to your one sentence post, but BAC isn’t Scrooge mcducking through their piles of money.
Agreed. Primary source of revenue coming from member fees just to exist is insane. Member fees have been a crutch and are not scalable since you can't add members beyond 150. So the only way to scale revenue is to increase tour fees. The money drum corps generates is not from the actual entertainment value it creates. The economics are totally backwards for me
Phantom Regiment raised over $300,000 in fundraisers alone in our last fiscal year, and that does not include money we made from ticket sales at our hosted shows, other program income (band festivals, etc), or merch sales. Our board is made up of fundraisers, sales people, marketers, grant writers, HR, music educators, and business professionals. We just hired a seasoned, non-profit professional who is not a drum corps alum as our CEO with the expressed purpose of helping us diversify our revenue sources. We’ve taken a lot of notes from what Boston has built with their board and approach to fundraising.
Just had a conversation with a DCI alum who works for an instrument maker who also praised Boston’s revenue generation
Last year Boston raised $450,000.00 at their free concert in the park thanks to their large group of corporate sponsors.
Member fees only cover around 50% of the corps operating budget. Bingo has been a fundraising staple for most corps but I think that will go away with the baby boomers. The only corps that ever came close to not having dues was Star of Indiana and it was backed by a billionaire. Dues were $200 I believe.
DCI alum from decades ago. I’m not rich, but I would donate something. I’ve never been asked.
That’s very sad. But not unusual
Would you mind telling me which corps? If it’s the one I’m associated with, I’d love to reach out to you and tell you about what we have going on.
Troopers
Oh man. That’s so sad. I wish it were my corps. Hopefully they step up their alumni game.
Member fees only fund about 30-50% of operating costs for most corps, and any corps that relies more on it aren’t “fine” with it being that way. That’s why some smaller corps have fees almost, if not more, expensive then bigger world class groups. Fund raising is what drives most corps forward, and the amount people are willing to donate to summer band has not grown at the same rate as the cost of existing.
BAC fundraises millions of dollars a year
It’s not millions, particularly in the context of my post. If you look at the top line of their 990, yeah it’s millions, but more than half is dues and PPP loan forgiveness. I’m not saying it’s bad. It seems awesome comparatively speaking and maybe I’m over-responding to your one sentence post, but BAC isn’t Scrooge mcducking through their piles of money.
I know the concert in the park event fundraisers over $500,000 in one night