SkyRyder_FMM

This is all other staff. Some of the increases are due to relying more on paid positions (i.e., drivers, cooks, admin team) than on volunteers, as well as the addition of some part time help to assist with the growth of the organization (increased fundraisers, increased number of shows, etc.).

The increase in performance fees in 2011 was due to participation in the TOC shows and an increase in the revenue sharing from shares earned for making Finals in 08, 09, and 10.

2010 included money won in one of the Chase campaigns, and 2009 and 2010 both had some one time donations derived from targeted campaigns to fund purchases of and upgrades to the fleet. The 2011 is consistent with the baseline amount for donations.

Losses the past two years, increasing debt to fund the losses, and liabilities that are approximately 2 times assets. It seems your summary paints a different picture.

I believe the shows you are referencing here are run by the same organizations, so the same name is due to branding by the corps running the shows.

Based on how they categorize expenses, food likely comprises the majority of this line item.

This likely includes the bus lease and tractor trailer leases, as well as fuel, staff travel costs, etc.. Didn't they add a third trailer in 2010?

2008

According to the 990, Adolph is not paid (though not all corps report the compensation paid on Part VII). It may be office staff.

Independent contractors, perhaps.

This may be a classification issue between years. There is a significant increase in Other Expense in 2010 and 2011, all of which is program related.

TOC shows paid $5,000. Murfreesboro has evolved over the years, but in the past few years, it has been a $5,000 payday.

Performance fees were $2,600 each of those years (except for Murfreesboro and TOC shows). The rest being the payout based on their shares seems reasonable. There may be some other noise there, but it passes the sniff test.

They have their limitations, such as lack of consistency is expense categorization and level of granularity. But they tell plenty if you have a basic understanding of finance or how a corps operates.

Volunteer hours are specifically excluded, and not unique to corps in the activity. I'd wager a lot of money that most every corps would fail without colunteers. So that item alone is not all that telling. "Loaned" equipment is not recognized or depreciated, as it is loaned. Corps are not required to impute rent expense. If equipment is given (I.e., endorsements), the in-kind value should be recognized, but so will the expense for the equipment itself. The IRS regs do permit netting, but gross presentation is encouraged.

Under this approach, there would be no savings on food, staff costs (salaries or transportation), insurance, or equipment costs. Three would be lost revenue from performance fees and souvenir sales foregone by staying at the "home base" vs. touring and performing. Under this approach, the cost of housing would increase. When you perform, you get a night of housing provided. If you are not performing, you might have to find your own housing, and you likely pay for it. Housing is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain (especially for long durations of time, as you propose), and it is increasingly a larger percentage of corps budgets. This approach may reduced fuel costs, but there would be as much asvings on the bus lease, which is typically the single largest expense for a corps. Once you get the busses, you have them for the summer. It's more expensive to get them on again, and off again, then it is to have them for a set period of time. The fuel savings would hardly be a small fortune. The fuel budget is quite simple. There are 7 or 8 vehicles on tour in addition to busses. Fuel for the busses is usually included in the bus lease. The 7 to 8 vehicles get about 7 to 8 miles per gallon, so every mile traveled consumes 1 gallon of fuel across the fleet. Fuel is simply the miles traveled times the cost of fuel. The bus lease is a bit more complicated, as fuel is only one component of the cost. You have use of the equipment, drivers, insurance, hedging costs, etc., all embedded in the overall lease. You can get savings on the bus lease if you reduce milage, but unless you reduce the number of days of use, the savings are not as significant as you might think.

Farming out souvenir logistics is not practical. It is too expensive, and there are minimal sales in theoff season. Most sales occur on tour. Kitchen trailers are simply not an option for farming out. They do not meet standards necessary to obtain the necessary licenses and permits. Only one corps has a kitchen trailer that could serve tis purpose. Tour logisitcs can't necessarily be farmed out by the corps. The folks that do this are typically not full time employees (or even part time employees). Look at the 990s - you will see the number of employees is minimal. These folks already operate at capacity to do what they already do to keep the lights on. Setting up a clearinghouse for "local" staffs? There are not many corps that could say their staff is local to make this work. There are so many issues with this idea, it is simply not practical. I do not know of a sinlge corps paying 4 people $20,000 to help them find money. Look at the corps 990's. you will see that most operate with minimal staff. You hit the nail on the head early on - non-touring revenues. Expansion of the revenue base is necessary, as is diversification of revenues, and corps must do everything possible to look for fundraising opportunities that expand beyond the alumni and support base (i.e., non-drum corps related fundraising). Think golf tournaments. All you need are golfers that like to play in tournaments - they do not need to be drum corps fans (and it would probably be best if they were not - donor fatigue will come into play at some point). Corps that have all their eggs in the bingo basket are ticking time bombs. Donations, fundraising, grants, fundraising, performance fees, fundraising, member dues, fundraising -

Been voting daily for Pioneer. Come on DCP - this is a simple way to help a corps get some much needed cash. It takes about 10 seconds of your time. Surely we can get more than the 140 or so votes they have accumulated so far.

The corps that are flush with cash (i.e., 2 corps in CA with significant bingo operations) can pay for it. The rest scramble to find a way to pay to remain competitive and relevant. It's called a death spiral.

These cost estimates are quite low (we've looked into these), unless you order in large quantities. A corps is not likely to sell larege quantities of seat cushions, which drives up unit cost and traps cash in unsold inventory. Then there is the space issue. You are correct in your assessment - this would not be a "serious" cash raiser. It would raise some cash. Most corps seem to have concluded they are not worth it, or more of them would be selling them.

Guidestar.org is your friend. You can see all corps financial statements there.

Updated.

Here you go! Blue Stars VIP Events Blue Stars Banquet

43/43!!

Updated for tickets available for sale. Mike - I sent you an e-mail about the remaining tickets.