sabrefan62 Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 (edited) I know many of you think I am peeing in cheerios; and if donating $0.04 makes any of you ‘feel good’ about helping out a corps then that is of course your right. But this mentality of thinking that a 0.5% revenue stream actually and really helps a multi-million dollar per year operation survive is why many, many, many, many DCI corps have folded. There is not a corps in existence, none, not one which has enough fans to go to Amazon and make even a meaningful dent in the yearly outlay costs for a DCI corps. Corps Directors, Boards, and we as fans need to think corporate like BD or Crown, and stop thinking like this activity is a band booster bake sale type activity, or we will only have the G7 to watch perform in DCI. By your logic, then, why should I send in $5 to a corps, as you suggest in a previous post? Why should I even donate $2,000? A multi-million dollar organization, $2,000 is nothing. In your opinion, it seems, its worthless. We all understand that this isn't going to make or break a corps, but to a nonprofit, ANY money is much appreciated. Its supplemental income for which they don't have to work. 1000 people that spend $500 at Amazon would be $2,500 to an organization. Tell me one corps that wouldn't love to have another $2,500 in their coffers. Neither of those thresholds are terribly difficult to reach if this program were well known. I spend a lot of money at Amazon and never knew about this program. Its free money to an organization that previously wasn't receiving it. Edited May 4, 2014 by sabrefan62 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 (edited) By your logic, then, why should I send in $5 to a corps, as you suggest in a previous post? Why should I even donate $2,000? A multi-million dollar organization, $2,000 is nothing. In your opinion, it seems, its worthless... You are correct. This type of Amazon Smile stuff is really only designed to make consumers feel good about themselves by believing that they have done something. By my logic there should be, must be, has to be, needs to be a rather huge and drastic mindset change on how most DCI corps are funded or all we will have left is the G7 and only the G7. We, the Fans, the Directors, and the Boards should no longer view any DCI corps as a Bake Sale Amazon Smile let’s Feel Good about ourselves by donating $0.04 or $5.00 or even $2,000 (which very few people do anyway) to a yippee-skippy musical non-profit called a drum corps. The G7, though I hated their proposal, the G7 have the right ‘business’ ideas people!!! Blue Stars, for example, being from Wisconsin should seek revenue from highly investing in a for-profit business, say a WI Cheese Factory, and sell various high quality dairy products which would in turn put a dent in the Hickory Farms market share. That is how modern drum corps should be, has to be, must be, needs to be funded. Not this 'I feel good' because I clicked on an Amazon Smile link to support my favorite corps (which yielded $0.04 in donation revenue to that corps) ... We all understand that this isn't going to make or break a corps, but to a nonprofit, ANY money is much appreciated. Its supplemental income for which they don't have to work. 1000 people that spend $500 at Amazon would be $2,500 to an organization. Tell me one corps that wouldn't love to have another $2,500 in their coffers. Neither of those thresholds are terribly difficult to reach if this program were well known. I spend a lot of money at Amazon and never knew about this program. Its free money to an organization that previously wasn't receiving it. a) Please talk to Development Professionals who work for major well-known non-profits. Amazon Smile only brings in some sense of worthwhile capital for a corporation which has around a million or so people who actually know about their operation (in which they can also entice a small percentage of consumers to click on Amazon Smile for their particular organization)… and here is a tip: that ain’t DCI let alone any single DCI corps; b) even if $2,500 was collected by a corps convincing 1000 people to spend $500 each on Amazon ‘and’ click on the Amazon Smile link to sponsor a corps (good luck doing that) but even if it was collected that is less than most single-season dues and travel expenses for one single kid at even the smallest OC corps (which by the way only partially covers real expenses for that single kid); and c) To get 1000 people to spend $500 each and click a link on Amazon to sponsor a non-profit would be a dream come true for corporations way more visible out in the real world than any DCI corps. Edited May 4, 2014 by Stu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 (edited) Just yankin your chain for fun. But it is pennies from, well, Amazon. I have been known to rattle some chains and a few cages!!! Anyway, the most current stock quote for AMZN is $308.01 per share. I wonder how the shareholders would react if Amazon told them that the projected yearly net revenue increase for the corporation of Amazon was 0.5%, and that all of the shareholders would then get 0.5% (of that net increase) divided amongst the shareholders as a per share dividend. Most corps don't have multi-million dollar budgets, but your point is valid. And if the corps yearly budget is $400,000 it would be even less pennies of support; because a corps with a $400,000 budget has way less fans in which to entice to go to Amazon and click for them than does a multi-million dollar per year corps. Edited May 4, 2014 by Stu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exitmusic Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 I have been known to rattle some chains and a few cages!!! Anyway, the most current stock quote for AMZN is $308.01 per share. I wonder how the shareholders would react if Amazon told them that the projected yearly net revenue increase for the corporation of Amazon was 0.5%, and that all of the shareholders would then get 0.5% (of that net increase) divided amongst the shareholders as a per share dividend. And if the corps yearly budget is $400,000 it would be even less pennies of support; because a corps with a $400,000 budget has way less fans in which to entice to go to Amazon and click for them than does a multi-million dollar per year corps. Why are you so adverse to corps getting money for free, with no overhead? Sure, the $0.04 from the Cheerios isn't a lot, but do you know what the corps spent to get that $0.04? NOTHING! $1 is always greater than $0. Personally, I spend thousands and thousands on Amazon each year. Amazon Prime has changed my family's shopping habits. Why wouldn't I designate a 501c3? What is the possible downside? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 Why are you so adverse to corps getting money for free, with no overhead? Sure, the $0.04 from the Cheerios isn't a lot, but do you know what the corps spent to get that $0.04? NOTHING! $1 is always greater than $0. Personally, I spend thousands and thousands on Amazon each year. Amazon Prime has changed my family's shopping habits. Why wouldn't I designate a 501c3? What is the possible downside? If you are talking about a corps staff doing nothing more than signing up with Amazon Smile and sending out a generic message asking a few thousand Facebook/Twitter/Website/DCP fans to click on the corps link when they purchase on Amazon, then of course there is no overhead cost in either time or money. But there will also be very little donations collected because only a small number of those few thousand Facebook/Twitter/Website/DCP fans will actually follow through with that click and those that do will not buy that much stuff. Now some are saying, “Well $0.04 is $0.04, $1 is $1,and if $20 is raised that is $20 more than what the corps had to begin with.”… Well, my response is that a corps staff could actually raise more money by asking people to take metal detectors out into a few parking lots to find coins while also collecting beer cans from the ditches alongside the road and selling the aluminum. Again, things like Amazon Smile are really only designed to make people ‘feel good about themselves’ into believing that they are supposedly doing something good for a good cause without them doing anything but clicking a button. This is where all of the DCI corps administrations, as well as fans, have got to break out of their old mindset and follow the business lead of successful corporations; or all we will have left in DCI will be the G7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumcorpsfever Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 Terrific. I did not know about AmazonSmile. I do now. Thank you. By the way, another thing is check your employer's matching gifts program. Not only is your contribution tax deductible, but if you your employer can match, even better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCorps Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 Stu, stop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 Stu, stop. Stu Stop! That sounds like a great name for a restaurant in the snowcapped mountains. Other than that my opinions posted on DCP concerning how and where a corps generates revenue are just as valid as anyone else’s. The DCP mods could ask me to stop posting in this thread and I would certainly comply. You, on the other hand, do not have to read my posts nor will I ‘obey’ any of your commands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rufus67 Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 I don't think any corps, or 501c3, out there is looking at this type of thing (or i-Texts for that matter) as anything other than supplemental income. It's kind of simple really - corps always need money, people will always shop on Amazon, so why not link their shopping to a non-profit? Another way of saying it is "What's the harm in setting it up?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumcorpsfever Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 There's posts on this subject that is a perfect example of why DCP has a rep (err... rap) of sometimes being (here's a subjective word coming...) negative. A simple thing (and good info) about AmazonSmile and a convenient way to help a non-profit, regardless of the amount, and some bickering ensues about if it's good enough, G7, 4 cents, ... C'mon folks, there's times to battle and take a stand - this isn't one of them! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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