Have you Sponsored a Member this season?

[Tom Brace]

That makes the math really easy. We should just get together with 249 friends and ask them all for ten bucks to pay for a $5,000 tour tab ... these days?! Don't know if you know, but when some of us marched 10 or 20 bucks could take care of us for the weekend. 200 or an extravagant 300 bucks for a few weeks for a tour.

But that's because all we had to pay for was our meals. No membership fees or dues, no teaching fees, no bus fees, no gas fees, no hotel/motel fees, no uniform or uniform cleaning fees, no instrument fees, no fee fees.

When the kid showed up last January and needed thousands of dollars for the 2008 season I hadn't even realized that 3 months of drum corps cost more that a community college education but I dropped a couple of grand on him and got a bunch of my friends at a tavern to chip in the rest.

Explaining what DC was and what it would mean to a kid who would only have one chance to march in a World Class Corps to a bunch of 55 year old folks who never even heard of Drum Corps before ("Oh, you mean like a marching band!?") was like the hardest five hours of my life.

I (as I said in my first post!) can't drop that much money this year and guess what? What's worse? To get close to your goals and have the organization in your pocket for years? To get close and have the Drum Corps of your choice deny you a spot? Or to maybe skip a year? I sure don't know - I never had to have that choice. I think every little bit helps is pretty good for Jerry's Kids, but it is pretty much a slap in the face as bad as knowing that every young 22 year old on the field these days with car payments, school tuition, books, rent, insurance and more to deal with will also be strapped with paying that much money just to have a great summer experience.

I know - when it's all over, it's priceless. But up front, it must hurt like hell!

Puppet

How much is Pioneer charging? I know Academy is at $2K per member...that's 2/5ths of the total cost of membership. The organization raises the other 3/5ths.

A couple factors enter into this equation...one is adjusting for inflation. Bread 5 cents a loaf in 1968 when I first went to a drum corps show. Gas was 27.9 cents a gallon. So, inflation certainly is a factor.

Also, since we are going to talk about how things have changed since the "old days"....let's talk about what a young person is getting for their money compared to what you might have experienced. Let me ask a few questions...

1. How many college educated music education professionals did you have on your drum corps staff?

2. How many bus breakdowns did you suffer?

3. What did you have to eat on tour?

4. What did comparable camps, etc cost for hockey, volleyball, football, basketball, soccer and cheerleading cost back then?

5. How many members were local compared to the number who had to fly in for the season?

I'd be very interested to read your responses.

[kickhaltsforlife]

I have recently received sponsorships... and I cannot wait to meet the people so I can give them a hug. Seriously.

[Bevinator]

When a member asks you to sponsor them do you give the $ directly to the member or send it to the corps?

[kickhaltsforlife]

When a member asks you to sponsor them do you give the $ directly to the member or send it to the corps?

It usually depends on the corps.

[DCIfan90]

If you guys want to sponsor some people. Go here

http://micromarching.com/doc/sponsor2009.php

They are some great kids, and drill writers.

[rrheinlen]

Also, since we are going to talk about how things have changed since the "old days"....let's talk about what a young person is getting for their money compared to what you might have experienced. Let me ask a few questions...

1. How many college educated music education professionals did you have on your drum corps staff?

2. How many bus breakdowns did you suffer?

3. What did you have to eat on tour?

4. What did comparable camps, etc cost for hockey, volleyball, football, basketball, soccer and cheerleading cost back then?

5. How many members were local compared to the number who had to fly in for the season?

I'd be very interested to read your responses.

1. I don't know, did it matter, back in the day? Let's see, we had alumni from some top 12 corps, some local musician guys, some age outs from our own corps. People who loved us, who loved Drum Corps, and who worked insane hours, took care of us, and were selfless and caring.

2. Lots...........We also saw it as an inconvenience and a reason to shrug our shoulders, shake our heads, joke about the circumstances, and go to sleep in our sleeping bags along the roadside because there was nothing we could do about it anyway.

3. Let's see..........Scrambled eggs with bacon, cereal, Bug juice, yummy sandwiches, Donald Duck Juice, whatever our cooks could come up with using their ingenuity and their limited budgets, and all topped off with love, dedication and good wishes.

4. And who had camps for hockey, volleyball, soccer and cheerleading? Never heard of such a thing where I lived. Football and basketball, maybe, but those were supported by fundraising by caring parents and citizens the same as Drum Corps.

5. All the members were local, or at least within 40 miles. All supported by people who were local, or at least within 40 miles.

I think that's a good way to run a local youth organization. It sure helped me to be who I am today.

[bearz]

Yes. Back when I marched another member helped me financially to make it thru the season. He has since passed on and every year I help a member in his name. I tell that member the story of how my friend helped me and how it took me 20 years but when I was able I decided to return that favor every year. I ask only that, when they are able, they do the same. So far the member's help 30 years ago has been repeated several times and by now some of the original ones should be able to start paying it forward.

[sday88]

I don't believe I mentioned anything about this year specifically as people using it as a crutch this year. But honestly, think to yourself how many times you tell the girl scouts who come to your door you don't have money for a $3.50 box of cookies. That would be an example of using that excuse as a crutch. Now certainly the difference between your family eating and paying a $100 to a corps member then becomes the issue of not having the money. But I will always advocate any little bit helps. That $10 or $20 could be their food on a free day when the corps doesn't feed them. I was around in the days when tour was significantly less.

Okay, so I give the girl scout $3.50 for a box of cookies. Then the kid in front of Wal-Mart wants my spare change. Then the next week some other kid is selling candles for his school. Then the day after that some woman's daughter from work is selling something else. So yeah, not being able to afford that $3.50 box of girl scout cookies is legitimate, not a crutch. You have to draw the line somewhere. That $10 or $20 could be part of the money that sends my daughter to college one day. I make a pretty good salary. Good enough to allow my wife to stay home with our 3 year old. But we still live pay check to pay check.

[bill]

I may be a little old fashion, but (in general) why don't people (no matter what project they are pursuing) have all the pieces of the puzzle set in place "before" embarking on a project?

Yes, there are certain times things may fall through (or unfold differently) as planned and exceptions do occur, but for the most part, where's the fundimental planning process by the person (or family) involved?

One would not go to the grocery store for purchasing goods unless they knew they had the funds to purchase the goods. One would not purchase a home not knowing whether they had financing. One would not go to a gas station to fuel up without a source funds, etc. etc.

It simply baffles me as to why someone (anyone) would even embark on a project (any project whatsoever) and not have the details of funding worked out beforehand; thus potentially taking a opportunity away from another person who does have "all their ducks in a row". Again, there are exceptions but this seems like a "cart before the horse" attitude, and that's not teaching anyone anything except poor planning.

In the case of our activity, logic would seem to dictate to have funding secure even before someone tries out.

And yes, I do support members from both DCA and DCI corps but it typically goes to someone who was/is associated with a organization I am familiar with, and only after they have the bulk of their financial commitment set/planned and did so prior to auditioning. Then the funding is given directly to the member or member's parents and/or guardians as "walking around" money to use as they see fit.

These are simply my personal opinions.

[kstein]

I couldn't agree more with the statement from Bill. Well said, sir.

We have such a sense of entitlement that seems to be dominating our society. "I want, I want, I want" has totally replaced "I want, therefore I'll work for this." So many of the young people seeking sponsorships want to march, but haven't put any kind of plan into place that will help them acheive their goals. It might mean (gasp!) delaying their marching for a year until they can pull the funds together or it may mean (sigh!) giving up some other dreams to make marching in a drum corps a reality. Simply wanting to march, auditioning, and then suddenly realizing you don't have the means to participate is completely the wrong approach.

While I have gladly helped many members and corps over the years, I am as selective as I can be to help young people who have done a tremendous amount on their own to make marching possible or have fallen unexpectedly on hard times.

Your mileage may vary,

Karen