C.Holland

I can tell you from both my own homelife in an entertainment family, and as an employee in the industry of too many years, that in drumcorps/theatre/opera/dance/ballet/arts camps...etc etc etc this is pretty much the standard config. Board fuels the machine, ED operates it. Because its simply too much to do for one person, or even 5. The boards main task... is money. find money. keep that 51% or more unearned revenue coming in. Because the more unearned revenue you can find, the more earned revenue a non profit is allowed to earn elsewhere. Boards range in size. Their give/get (what you have to donate to be on the board) varies as well. However, 51% has to be unearned revenue for a group to maintain non profit status. How everything is claimed as earned vs unearned i won't dig into, because i don't know everyone's books. I will say that often you'll have 8-20 members on a BOD. (depends on how many voices you want in the room. (or how rich/poor your board members are) Some of these positions are "In-kind" meaning they offer their services for a voting place on the board. Webmaster and social media for example. That's a pretty daunting task that can be done from almost anywhere AS LONG as you have someone on tour providing great content for the webmaster/social media chair. Otherwise that role is on tour, constantly updating. You also may have a person for "Alumni Relations" who offer their networking and bookkeeping time to manage the old farts and are constantly begging them to donate more, as well as planning gatherings, building beer bongs, and trying to maintain morale when things go bad, so that they can get alumni to again... donate more. The rest, not only offer their expertise in any number of fields (law, operations, logistics, fundraising...etc) AS WELL as offer a sizable donation and promise to beg/borrow/steal/amputate to come up with. Mainly, their role is for legal compliance and fundraising, with oversight that the organization is adhering to its mission, assisting with strategy and structure, and that the ED is facilitating this.

there's much more to it than that. in non profits the board of directors fuels the machine and the ED drives it. organizing of people, space, equipment, overseeing that grants are applied for on time, continuing to build on existing donor relations, working to find new donor relations (teeing it up, so the board can collect), as well as tirelessly working for other steams of revenue. Yes, in drum corps, buying and selling these items is part of their job, its also part of their job to deal with merch, appearances, scheduling the season, hiring and scheduling staff, finding space for (sleeping, eating, ensemble, sectionals, showering, storage...the list goes on). Organizing people, space, and equipment, is a full time job on its own. When your organization has to find other revenue streams besides grants (and unlike theatre/dance/opera who sell tickets to an existing facility or a few choice facilities and have lots of similar expenses year to year) and your expenses can be erratically different from the previous season, it becomes two jobs slapped on top of each other. No one does any of these jobs alone, but they do require more than one person to complete them. If you have someone doing this part time, its gets completed part way.

Here's the items that are often either a wash OR a fundraiser for the corps. uniforms, instruments, props. - all are often bought, and then sold to make up the cost, or used as a fundraiser for the corps. So on brass, they'll often get them deeply discounted and then sell them to bands for profit or at least breaking even. Props and uni's are the same. Often donated as a marketing pitch for the top 16 groups, or bought at a discount and sold with a slight markup if possible. Staff are paid pittances for the amount of time they spend teaching.

think 90 days. Because you have to have all these spaces for move ins when you're learning the show. And you need space to hold camps. you're charged by amounts of the rooms needed. so you need to separate membership by gender, and also by age group, and then staff, and admin, and on tour for drivers (cause their sleep schedule is different from the rest). you also have all the other costs from the school. admin fees, security fees, utilities fees, trash fees.. etc etc etc. Let's assume that 1 free place to stay with a couple fields is provided per show day. However, additional fields you want is a la carte. And then the stadium, and then the stadium with lights after 7pm for ensemble. On non show days you cover the entire cost of the facilities. 100k for an Exec Director of a non profit, especially in areas with high living costs, isn't unreasonable. For the amount of work an ED does, its low. ED's of opera, theatre, dance, arts schools all make much more. True they have larger budgets and full time staff and facilities to manage, but the work is still relentless, the hours are long, and there's few 40 hour weeks. The majority of budget is spent on housing, moving, and feeding the corps. The rest is less than %20 of the overall budget. Often MUCH less.

yes. im aware of those costs, the operations, the legwork. I'm also aware that staying at a school for a day with fields, all the rooms needed to separate membership, showers, heating, cooling, security, admin costs can charge the corps now $3000/day. No longer is it "everyone go to the gym". So trading the ability for show ops to make more money, and gambling that against elevated costs might be a way to get the corps to monetize the students less, and encourage more show operators to sponsor. However, the current state of the activity has created a situation where the governing body (DCI) would be happier having less shows but all managed under their umbrella. Controlling the event for QC is fine, but it also limits outflow of cash, and puts more burden on the individual corps for the rest of the season.

There needs to be better development overall. Again, this is a tough barrier. However, housing could be better managed and there could be a better exchange between show appearance fees, versus housing provided. IF you change how many days of housing are provided for FREE, in exchange for show operators (the few who aren't DCI adjacent) you could really make a dent in corps costs. You have to feed the corps, you have to rent equipment to move everything (at a monthly rate for cost efficiency), and you have to house the corps. When schools were free for use, this activity cost much less. Gotta find a way to get more show ops, who can keep what they make off of ticket sales and concessions, and then have them provide 3 days minimum for each group at sponsored schools. That may change the costs issue of this activity pretty drastically. But again, this requires a full overhaul of how tour and show sponsors is handled.

It was a VERY young corps last year agewise. Not that that should matter, but the membership moved forward in mega large strides, with many of them returning. I think last year was a great entrance into a new era. The song choices killer, the new ideas for design matching today's standards, and the design team more collaborative than years past. I dig it. I'm excited for this year. If there's as many returning vets as I think there are, this should be a solid year.

Hearing a Boerma version of 23x82 (a chart i played in many a group, as well as at East Coast Jazz)... word up. Let's ice this ****

TV we're too small a market. Premier League soccer has two 45 (plus extra time) halves, very few commercials, very few stops in play, and has no problem getting airtime. But its got a viewership that's huge. Versus our activity. Corps operating though... At top 12 level the students pay barely half (hopefully 49% for those of you who know non-profit legalities out there) the overall operating costs, however, as you go down the ranks, that funding % changes. And open class is nearly all student tuition. Hence its volatility.

once that truck leaves the rental facility, you're paying for it. regional/national, its all the same. you need that truck to move all your stuff to a practice facility, where it will sit. you dont rent the truck for a day, then send it back. its all one big estimated sum in equipment rental for the summer, wrapped up with drivers and estimated fuel in it. drivers are not rented hourly. they might be paid hourly, but they come with the rental. (unless you're crazy enough to try to piece meal equipment and drivers separately... though this is not a good choice as there's no guarantee you'll have a driver when you need one) The way to bring these costs down is to simply not have to move anything on a semi until as absolutely late as possible.

I know that this has been stated ad nauseum... but the equipment is paid for whether it moves, or sits. you dont rent tractors and such by the day or even the week, as its not cost effective. so you rent them for the month. you save nothing on gear by being regional, and you save nothing on housing either. which is why many corps have not pushed their move ins so far back, and their first legs of tour even further. (some not coming out until July... and later)

the basics... Find a way to bring housing cost down. Schools charge more every season for use of their facilities. (and then add on admin costs, security costs, and yes... a la carte costs for every field and room used) change the scoring sheets to be less geared towards 5-7 people in polos diagnosing the art on the field and reward the people buying tickets instead. The activity is currently geared towards attracting students, on students, on students. Because that's who fills the ranks. Students and alumni are who largely funds the activity. When you get outsiders with disposable income to fill the seats, those become more potential donors. Marching music's major league can't get a TV spot as it often feels unapproachable for those outside of the activity. And the activity (band included) has become its own industry which feeds on itself. Can't feed on yourself and expect to exist down the road. Find a way to get corps to stop monetizing the students. Read that last one again. and read it yet again. Seriously. This means finding funding for non profit groups that is not dependent on students and their bank accounts. (or the debt they rack up trying to do this activity) World class ( or at least the top 16) all have ways that they develop revenue apart from the students, yet still charge the students the cost of a used car. Open Class are dependent on student dues, and their operating cash is largely dependent on how many students they bring in each season. And yes, tours costs cash. Rental of equipment, health professionals, athletic trainers, stage managers, drivers, housing, all costs cash. Much of this is outsourced instead of donated. For ethical, safety, and operational reasons many of these things are better off outsourced. But the costs, when not afforded by the corps, are passed back onto the students.

If i want to watch a concert, i simply go to my normal job. Drum corps was great until it felt like my normal job. sigh.

Sharing of resources only works when all groups contribute equally, and all groups are accepting of the results which occur from this. There's never been an equal share when the flagship underperforms expectations.

I'm well aware of LER. I used to teach in that org. I am also aware of the struggle against the band directors that was part of teaching in this area. At $50/student cost for a band kid to attend a clinic i'm skeptical of this. Hopefully they can prove me wrong. I'm skeptical of this org "partnering" with another org after watching YEA prohibit success of other groups for decades. New board, new life... maybe it'll be different.

no notes about what he'll actually do, or how they'll integrate to the community. lets be honest. there's been drum corps in erie for decades, and its always been a battle to keep it going. this era of drum corps isn't local. Its geared toward the kid who has a bankroll and isn't afraid to get on an airplane.

with it getting harder and harder to get space to perform and rehearse, and school years taking more and more students away for due to expanding calendards, take every bone you're thrown. Even if you get 10 students who watched in allentown, show up to auditions for DCA, that's better than before.

Alumni are often THE secondary form of donated cash flow. In some corps they are the first. But frequently are considered the parachute when things go really bad.

i wore either Nike or Adidas running shoes. (whichever was on sale) simply because they're light, and dry quickly if they got wet. bring two pair on tour. I have duck feet, and for some reason, these worked the best on my feet. I hated NB's. I still do. They don't agree with my heel. But not every shoe is for every human.

this is not new. in any arts org, you follow what the chair or ED does. you try to work under their guidance, as non-profit is seriously hard to understand from state to state, and under federal guidelines. Can you unknowingly do the wrong thing? yes. Can you unknowingly follow poor direction? absolutely. Its unfortunately easy to follow direction, thinking you are doing the right thing when you yourself do not understand the laws, or have been misguided by those in charge. I've watched it happen. I'm watching it happen with two other arts orgs who are closing up shop after many successful years of operations. They are closing up shop because the boards failed due to many reasons, but it all goes back to who was leading the board and the guidance they provided. The board funds the machine, and the ED operates it, hopefully not driving it skyrocketing into the dumpster. Often statements are things that come from the top. When there's no top, everyone sits on their hands. Once everyone involved finds out things are on the wrong track, they then wait. That's better than many people trying to do too many things in too many different ways, sending mixed messages.

as someone who builds more than his fair share of things for theatre, ballet, opera...etc. I'd like DCI to adopt better safety and design standards like we do in professional entertainment. https://tsp.esta.org/tsp/documents/published_docs.php

do they have numbers to prove this? otherwise... its all BS. I've seen more than a few make the same claims. (arts orgs, not drum corps arts orgs) and it was all smoke blown up your orifice of choice.

you'd have to find someone dumb...i mean crazy enough to take over a non-profit with a mountain of debt and a board sitting on its hands. People buy sports teams because they make money, drum corps is more like a boat. Its a black hole you throw money into hoping you get enjoyment from it. heck. finding new ED's to take over non-profits without mounds of debt and good boards is hard. because non profit arts is hard.

anyone need a drinker with his own clubs?

There's a few "Six Flags over (insert religion)" that could easily fund DCI, a nationwide network of soup kitchens, affordable housing, and that's in addition to their existing several million dollars worth of legal fees for HR concerns and suspect practices.