Basics to starting/running a drum and bugle corps

[kansasDC]

Believe it or not, it has been my personal experience over the years that more than a few start-up groups feel that they "already have it all figured out," and are focused on things like how they can bypass the Open Class and evaluation process and jump directly in the deep end of the pool with World Class competition in year one of their existence. In other words, they don't really want to discuss "the boring stuff" like forming a corporation, raising money, getting liability insurance, raising money, recruiting a board of directors, recruiting corps members, raising money, establishing community roots, building–maintaining–motivating–retaining a volunteer base and infrastructure, etc.

All my best,

Bob

This is exactly what happened here in Wichita back in the late 90's. A small group of us started a DCI show in the hopes of generating interest in our new non-profit group. The goal of the group was to eventually support a corps. After the DCI show, we held gatherings for all the drum corps alumni types living in the area to discuss the "future of drum corps in Kansas". We had hundreds of people show up for the parties. It became very clear during the first two years that, other than myself and a couple of other folks, no one wanted to start at the beginning and work on creating an organization that could support a long-term growth organization. They made statements such as "if we can't be top 15 the first year out, it's not worth it", and, "why start with middle school and high school kids, we need top-level college musicians". When it came to working fundraisers at the local baseball and hockey games, the same five or six people showed up everytime. Everyone else said "call me when you have your first big camp and I'll come help with registration". No one wanted to worry about raising money or doing all of the things Bob mentioned above. They just wanted to do a little administrative work and listen to the 70 person hornline. THAT is the main reason why it is so hard to start a corps today.

Edited October 25, 2009 by kansasDC

[bobjacobs]

This is exactly what happened here in Wichita back in the late 90's. A small group of us started a DCI show in the hopes of generating interest in our new non-profit group. The goal of the group was to eventually support a corps. After the DCI show, we held gatherings for all the drum corps alumni types living in the area to discuss the "future of drum corps in Kansas". We had hundreds of people show up for the parties. It became very clear during the first two years that, other than myself and a couple of other folks, no one wanted to start at the beginning and work on creating an organization that could support a long-term growth organization. They made statements such as "if we can't be top 15 the first year out, it's not worth it", and, "why start with middle school and high school kids, we need top-level college musicians". When it came to working fundraisers at the local baseball and hockey games, the same five or six people showed up everytime. Everyone else said "call me when you have your first big camp and I'll come help with registration". No one wanted to worry about raising money or doing all of the things Bob mentioned above. They just wanted to do a little administrative work and listen to the 70 person hornline. THAT is the main reason why it is so hard to start a corps today.

Dave:

Thanks for the validation! Sometimes I think people don't believe me when I talk about this stuff, because its far more fun to blame DCI for everything!

It is a reality that starting any company is tough... and starting a conventional not-for-profit in which you must be satisfied with "incremental success" on every front is even tougher. To be honest, when the Jersey Surf started, we never thought much past the first few years. We had a realistic one year plan, and a somewhat optimistic three year plan... and we even created a five year plan because someone told us it would be a good idea; that those looking to get involved with us as sponsors or housing sites or instructors would need to see the vision for where it was headed, the time line and the benchmarks for measuring our success.

Based on the experience we've gained over twenty years and knowing what we now know, we can see how naive we were! In hindsight, I guess we should be glad we were so focused on creating something sustainable... or else we would have gone the way of the 173 junior corps that have gone out of business since we started. It is my personal opinion that the demise of many of these groups is due to their desire to focus too much on the "on-the-field" side of the equation, while not devoting enough resource and brainpower to the other 300 days in the year.

The temptation to throw everything into the on-field product in a given season is tremendous... but if you buy into the current ideology that we're entering the "experience economy," a recalibration of thinking on what the "customers" (corps members) are receiving at the individual corps level perhaps puts start-up groups in a better position for sustainability than ever, if they're focused on getting "the journey" right and don't think and plan based solely on "the [competitive] destination."

Perhaps it's time for the pendulum to swing in the other direction, and the best practices can be shared to cultivate growth in the number of units. There are quite a few folks who are currently working to create opportunities to that end.

[magicdirect]

Bob is the MAN!!!!!!!! Luv ya Bobby!

[MelloHorn13]

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Edited October 26, 2009 by MelloHorn13

[wbargeron]

Should all active drum corps have a random audit every three years? At least your review won't be bias.

jvn

I think an ongoing process would help to support success of each participating organization. I work in counseling with a nonprofit and every year we are audited by Dept. of Children and Family and every three years we are audited by another certification board to ensure we are maintaining healthy standards. The process can range from moderate to intense depending on which group is involved, but it helps us with positive/constructive feedback not only on changes necessary due to their standards, but practices that are helping other organizations succeed as well.

And yes I agreee that an independent group would be unbiased and the cost could be offset by the corps.

[bobjacobs]

I think an ongoing process would help to support success of each participating organization. I work in counseling with a nonprofit and every year we are audited by Dept. of Children and Family and every three years we are audited by another certification board to ensure we are maintaining healthy standards. The process can range from moderate to intense depending on which group is involved, but it helps us with positive/constructive feedback not only on changes necessary due to their standards, but practices that are helping other organizations succeed as well.

And yes I agreee that an independent group would be unbiased and the cost could be offset by the corps.

I'm not sure that I understand the need for an "independent group" that's "unbiased." I'm not aware of any implication that a "bias" is preventing corps from starting or moving into the World Class.

[wbargeron]

I'm not sure that I understand the need for an "independent group" that's "unbiased." I'm not aware of any implication that a "bias" is preventing corps from starting or moving into the World Class.

I was only suggesting that a moderate process could help existing corps. I admit I am one of the many who are on the outside looking in and my opinion is as valuable as the next onlooker. But I think of things that help us out in the line of work I am in and that an audit helps us improve every year. We can govern ourselves and maintain our standards, but it's that group that comes in and points out the things we miss every now and then.

Do they have to be an independent group? Maybe not; maybe I've just been so wrapped up in my psychology methods course this semester with biased vs unbiased experiments that I wrote about it here. Who knows... I admit I'm a novice but I like talking and learning about things within the activity.

[magicdirect]

I'm not sure that I understand the need for an "independent group" that's "unbiased." I'm not aware of any implication that a "bias" is preventing corps from starting or moving into the World Class.

I guess what I am saying is by using an outside review board that is NOT the very directors that you compete against will eliminate anyone questioning such huge decisions and would rule out the "good old boy" philosophy. This type of stuff happens in any setting not to mention drum corps. Hell, we still have a friend that should have been welcomed into the Hall of Fame years ago yet still sitd and waits on the sideline because certain people simply don't like him and don't acknowlegde what he has given to the actitivty.

Many, many non-profit organizations utilize this type of outside accounting firms to make sure they are ALL playing by the rules but in this case the rules MUST be clear and to the point, no grey area, no making the rules up as you go along.

My two cents - LOL - Bobby!!!

Jim

[bobjacobs]

I guess what I am saying is by using an outside review board that is NOT the very directors that you compete against will eliminate anyone questioning such huge decisions and would rule out the "good old boy" philosophy. This type of stuff happens in any setting not to mention drum corps. Hell, we still have a friend that should have been welcomed into the Hall of Fame years ago yet still sitd and waits on the sideline because certain people simply don't like him and don't acknowlegde what he has given to the actitivty.

Many, many non-profit organizations utilize this type of outside accounting firms to make sure they are ALL playing by the rules but in this case the rules MUST be clear and to the point, no grey area, no making the rules up as you go along.

My two cents - LOL - Bobby!!!

Jim

Jimmy:

The "Participation Review Committee" is made up of 3 people who are not corps directors, nor are they directly affiliated with a corps. They do the "legwork," and work with the management and board of a corps seeking participation on the DCI schedule. After going through a checklist of various requirements and conducting in-person visits with the organization, they make a recommendation to the DCI Board of Directors. The checklist includes a review of organizational processes and procedures utilized by the corps, financial plans, insurance coverages and so forth.

The Board of Directors then has the opportunity to review the reports and recommendation of the committee, and then meets with the management of the corps for additional discussion.

To my knowledge, the Open Class Coordinator uses the same criteria checklist with corps seeking participation at the Open Class level. The process is very similar, although possibly less formal.

When the Jersey Surf was going through this process over the past few years, we utilized the input and vast perspective of the PRC as that of a "coach," not merely to help us pass the requirements, but to help us ensure that our business practices were logical and sound and that they would provide us with the foundation from which to be a part of the DCI World Class. We actually started our review process a full year ahead of our intended application to the World Class so that we could benefit from the input we gained during the evaluation process. That strategy worked very well for us so far, and helped the transition immensely.

[wbargeron]

This is turning out to be a very informative and productive topic if I must say so myself. I appreciate everyone's input. While the idea of an audit was brought up, what has helped as far as internal audits for active organizations? It would appear ( correct me if I am wrong) that a lot of groups in the past have not done a good job at monitoring their own efforts whether it be financial or other standard operating procedures.

I would imagine that a good accountant should handle the financial side of things, but the SOP's need a system of measurement weighing what process is effective and what is not.

Is internal auditing covered in the document mentioned earlier in the discussion?