How much higher can fees go?

[VOReason]

How much higher can fees go?....How much money you got???

[stifled4mallettechnique]

Once you move into spring training and go on tour, you are no longer a local. You are a Drum Corps.

Well, obviously tour would require everyone to be together, but "spring training"? Come on. Why would a corps require a kid to pay for lodging if he lived near the training site? To keep out the less advantaged? To kick back fees to the staff? So parents don't see their kids come home tired and sunburned? Nahhh... I'm not buying the "You are a Drum Corps" excuse. <**>

[Cathie Wiener]

Total Cost -----$2799 ($2574 if early bird for both spring training and tuition)*

Just $2800 would have been great when I marched. I paid more than that in airplane tickets alone in 96. There is always ways around this. ALWAYS. Sponsorships... you gotta work for these. They're not easy, but they can be lucrative. Haven't heard from Aunt Midge in a while? Let her know what you're doing now with a pretty little sponsorship packet with a self-addressed stamped envelope for her to easily return her donation to you. Also make sure to include an official tax deductible donation form. (Your corps should have these available for you.) The $10 here and $20 there from the extended family and family friends tends to add up pretty quickly. If you are an active churchmember, churches are typically very good about sponsoring activities, especially those that provide the wholesome (okay mostly wholesome (they don't have to know everything :P )) lifelong lessons that drum corps provides. Provide them with a sponsorship packet or see if you can get a blurb or mini-story of what you are looking to accomplish in drum corps in their weekly or monthly bulletin for additional sponsorship. Stay aware of any and all volunteer opportunities for the corps. And though being an "out of towner" does keep you from most opportunities it doesn't keep you from all of them, you just have to look for them. It's tough, but if you're determined, you should be able to "find a way." Get creative!

I marched for five years with all the support (and questions) in the world from my parents except financial support. My first two years they did have a car that I could drive a few days a week for school so I didn't have a car payment, but I bought a car in 94 so I had a car payment for 2 1/2 of those years. I was going to college on a very minimal scholarship (barely covered the tuition), and I paid for books and supplies, rent, gas, insurance and most of my food and I still was able to march. How? I worked my tail off. Typically three part time jobs at a time, sent out packets again and again for sponsorships and volunteered for anything that would reduce my tour fee even though I was an out of towner. Anyone heard of painting crew? Yeah... I did it for three of my five years. Huge help!

Is all this stuff consuming and hard work? You bet. But if you want to march corps badly enough, you need to work hard and find a way to do it. It's possible if you want it badly enough. Do I think it sucks that it takes this much work and money to have to march corps? You bet. But I still think it's more than worth it.

Is there not a band budget given to the organization for the school district?

What is this enormous amount of dues money being spent on?

I have no idea where TXMystreaux is located, but I know here in California in Northern Los Angeles County in the high desert the high school marching band students have to pay fees of few hundred dollars a year to be a part of it. The sad part is in the whole scheme of things, our bands aren't even all that competitive. The six high schools up here tend to compete in "local" competitions not affiliated with BOA or any official circuits and typically just use "Band in a Box" shows. Not always, but pretty darn close. The majority of the fees the kids pay is for the buses and tournament entry fees. That's right they get a budget of $0 each year from the district for these items.

Then those kids that do percussion and guard in the winter (where we are much more competitive and actually pay additional staff for this) have to pay another fee for... what... oh yeah, buses and competition entry fees, PLUS whatever the cost of the uniforms will be for the performance.

And this is on top of all the freaking fundraisers the kids are required to do during the year. It's crazy.

I remember my parents struggling to find $50 for a drill team uniform when I did that however many years ago. I can't imagine parents having to come up with that kind of money now FOR AN EXTRACURRICULAR SCHOOL ACTIVITY. Come on.

That is all.

Carry on.

[^Michael^]

<snip>

I marched for five years with all the support (and questions) in the world from my parents except financial support. My first two years they did have a car that I could drive a few days a week for school so I didn't have a car payment, but I bought a car in 94 so I had a car payment for 2 1/2 of those years. I was going to college on a very minimal scholarship (barely covered the tuition), and I paid for books and supplies, rent, gas, insurance and most of my food and I still was able to march. How? I worked my tail off. Typically three part time jobs at a time, sent out packets again and again for sponsorships and volunteered for anything that would reduce my tour fee even though I was an out of towner. Anyone heard of painting crew? Yeah... I did it for three of my five years. Huge help!

Is all this stuff consuming and hard work? You bet. But if you want to march corps badly enough, you need to work hard and find a way to do it. It's possible if you want it badly enough. Do I think it sucks that it takes this much work and money to have to march corps? You bet. But I still think it's more than worth it.

<snip>

Cathie - you are my hero! I'm so impressed with what you did to finance your marching career. I agree that these opportunities are open to anyone who wants to march. It just takes determination, persistence, and creativity! I hope many potential marching members read your post carefully and take the lessons contained in it to heart. Where there is a will - there is a way!

[liebot]

Well, obviously tour would require everyone to be together, but "spring training"? Come on. Why would a corps require a kid to pay for lodging if he lived near the training site? To keep out the less advantaged? To kick back fees to the staff? So parents don't see their kids come home tired and sunburned? Nahhh... I'm not buying the "You are a Drum Corps" excuse. <**>

Honestly, I'd prefer to have lodging for spring training than live at home and pay for my own stuff (which is what BD does). I'm pretty sure I'd end up paying more in food/utilities/gas/extraneous expenses living at home/or with someone than the $300 flat rate or whatnot.

[DrumCorpsMom]

Music lessons and/or dance lessons can cost over $50 a lesson for a 1 hr lesson. When you add up the amount of time being spent on instruction, buses, food and lodging for 60 - 75 days, it is probably the best bargain out there. The memories are priceless.

I know it is a lot of money and it is also a lot of time to dedicate and a lot of hard work. Just remember that the payback is enormous.

If you don't think you can afford to march with the corps of your dreams, go out and audition anyway. Talk to them about how you can minimize the financial commitment. Some corps allow you to do fundraising, bingo, etc. to help reduce your fees. Other corps have grants available to those who have financial hardships. Don't hesitate to add your name to the list of those kids looking for sponsors. Some sponsors look for someone in their local area, that they would like to help out. Go out to local businesses and ask if they will sponsor you to compete in 2008 in the World Championships.... you might be amazed at what business can support - for them it is a tax deduction.

I had to hold 3 to 5 part time jobs to march. The fees were not as high back then, but my parents had 5 kids and couldn't afford to support me and my sister's drum corps passion. I babysat, sold things door to door, watched for holes in styrofoam cups as they went down a conveyor belt, sold newspaper subscriptions, and waited on tables. This was in addition to going to school.

The most important is to take the opportunity to MARCH! You won't regret it.

Edited September 30, 2007 by DrumCorpsMom

[stifled4mallettechnique]

Honestly, I'd prefer to have lodging for spring training than live at home and pay for my own stuff (which is what BD does). I'm pretty sure I'd end up paying more in food/utilities/gas/extraneous expenses living at home/or with someone than the $300 flat rate or whatnot.

Obviously, if that is your preference and you can afford it, I wouldn't argue with you over it. I guess the relative expense would depend on a number of factors, such as how far home is from training, whether you have to pay your parents rent/utilities/food to stay in your own home, etc. I guess some teenagers could eat so much food and use so much energy at home that it would be cheaper to pay to lodge them 6 blocks away from the house, but I suspect they are the minority. Just to clarify, I am assuming that "spring training" occurs in the spring, while school is still in session. Am I mistaken? My opinion on this matter is likely unimportant, as it would seem there are so very few locals in the big (expensive) corps anyway. Hopefully the new rules help smaller corps so that those born without the silver spoon have more opportunities to participate.

And since somebody will ask sooner or later.. yes, I will sponsor somebody to march this year. From one to three people. It won't be enough to cover everything, however. That wouldn't be character building.

Oh, and I don't think that excessive expenses are justified by high costs of alternatives. Most of those alternatives aren't non-profit organizations, right?

Edited September 30, 2007 by stifled4mallettechnique

[Cathie Wiener]

Cathie - you are my hero! I'm so impressed with what you did to finance your marching career. I agree that these opportunities are open to anyone who wants to march. It just takes determination, persistence, and creativity! I hope many potential marching members read your post carefully and take the lessons contained in it to heart. Where there is a will - there is a way!

Thanks for the compliments, but really there's nothing heroic about it. I wanted to do it and my parents couldn't really financially help. Simple as that.

There is one very important thing about sponsorships that I forgot to mention. TIMING

1. If you're going to ask for sponsorships from family (remember to include the extended family!) and family friends send stuff out about the end of November and early December. People are much more giving during the holiday season.

2. If you're going to ask for corporate sponsorship, DO IT NOW through the end of the year. Many corporate sponsors, especially the smaller businesses that don't have weird fiscal years, may not have paid much attention to sponsorship opportunities and may be looking for ways to get tax deductions before the end of the year. Plus, the average business has a higher cash flow during the holiday season, and is therefore a little more generous. At least that was my experience. If a business tells you, I'd love to help you out but I have reached my limit for donations this year, say "Thank you so much. I appreciate the opportunity. Would you mind if I stopped by in January to see if sponsorship is a possibility then?" If they say no or are awkward about the answer, just thank them and leave. They were probably never interested. If they say sure, guess what you're going to do about the second week of January?... go say hi and present the sponsorship opportunity again.

3. Another great time to solicit for sponsorship especially at some bigger businesses (with normal fiscal years) is right after the new year. Their "Donation Fund" is full and therefore you are more likely to receive something from that company.

Very important note. Make sure you only solicit donations in locations that DO NOT have NO SOLICITATIONS ALLOWED signs. Here in California, most of our "strip malls" (I'm not sure if that's a nationwide term, sorry if it's not) allow solicitors, especially if there are doctors' and dentists' offices located in the facility. The larger malls typically do not allow solicitors. Do not let this stop you. If there's a few stores in the mall where you're their perfect demographic, just approach the sales clerk and ask if they have a contact number for the person responsible for corporate donations. They may not have the exact number, but they should be able to get you something close even if they have to call a manager over. Whatever you do, DO NOT MAKE A PITCH on what you're asking for. That's soliciting. Just explain you're with a non-profit group and all you want is to get the correct contact information.

I'm sure a lot of this information can now be found online, but I did this all by physically walking into businesses. I liked the face to face dynamics of it all and though the internet was up and running 15 years ago, it really wasn't as sophisticated and filled with information as it is today.

I think that's it on this subject for me, but if anyone is looking for more specifics on how to do this or has questions I failed to cover, feel free to PM me.

That is all.

Carry on.

:)

[liebot]

Just to clarify, I am assuming that "spring training" occurs in the spring, while school is still in session. Am I mistaken?

Yes. Spring training is after school gets out for most college students, but most high schoolers have to either leave school early or work out some weird arrangement with the corps... And I'm a college student right now and there are no drum corps within 8 hours of either of my parent's houses, meaning I would have to pay rent/utilities/food etc. if I were to house myself... which for a month, I think would be much more expensive than the $300 spring training fee.

[scoutscook]

Im sure it was mentioned somewhere in this post, but with 400 zillion pages of replies I did not have time to read them all.

Going back to the original 2800 dollars? Thats crazy. Just remember though, thats not the end of it. There are travel expenses to and from Camp, spending money on tour ( yeah they say that you only need a couple hundred, but honestly...WHO can get through tour with less than 1000 spending cash?).

Don't forget, too, that the volunteers shell out a big chunk of change. Taking time off work, travel expenses, hotel, money given to the corps...and so much more....and in the case of my wife and myself we actually donate an entire years worth of expenses to one lucky corps member, but thats for another post.

But, it's worth EVERY penny.