Glassmen

[BRASSO]

Non profits are a business and should be run as such....too many non business people running some corps and th.

While I understand your underlying frustration, and it is justified ( DCI could use more people with Finance and private Bus. Mgt. experidence and skills), non profits by their very structure are not designed with the same goals in mind as that of a For Profit Business. The goals of a For Profit Business is to attract investors and capital sufficient enough with its services or product offerings to both grow the company and return good investment returns to investors, or stockholders that find financial appeal to the company's offerings to the consumer. The mission of a non profit is entirely different, as its goals are different. As such, most of the Non Profits ( but not all ) tend to pay their top executives much less than the For Profits. Thus private business For Profits, generally attract much higher talented managers and executives to run their operations. As for DCI, if paid staff wanted a career where they are paid well, DCI, as a non profit entity, is not the place to do it. So, you generally get what you are willing to pay for.

Edited August 20, 2014 by BRASSO

[N.E. Brigand]

The boards of directors of non-profits are often composed of local business leaders, and often there is a "give/get" policy for the board members, meaning that they are expected to donate or successfully solicit donations of at least some minimum amount.

[JKT90]

While I understand your underlying frustration, and it is justified ( DCI could use more people with Finance and private Bus. Mgt. experidence and skills), non profits by their very structure are not designed with the same goals in mind as that of a For Profit Business. The goals of a For Profit Business is to attract investors and capital sufficient enough with its services or product offerings to both grow the company and return good investment returns to investors, or stockholders that find financial appeal to the company's offerings to the consumer. The mission of a non profit is entirely different, as its goals are different. As such, most of the Non Profits ( but not all ) tend to pay their top executives much less than the For Profits. Thus private business For Profits, generally attract much higher talented managers and executives to run their operations. As for DCI, if paid staff wanted a career where they are paid well, DCI, as a non profit entity, is not the place to do it. So, you generally get what you are willing to pay for.

Just for clarification, I'm not frustrated. I'm sorry to see Glassmen go, but I'm not frustrated about it. And N.E Brigand, your last post is exactly right (except too many corps have waaaay too few business leaders on the board). You don't need 4, you need 20+.

Edited August 20, 2014 by JKT90

[JKT90]

Bottom line is ineffective boards sink corps...and the sad part is many times it's their own pride that gets in the way and dismisses effective solutions that would not only save a corps/significantly help struggling corps, but would also put them on path to a healthy stream of revenue. And I'm not talking out of the side of my mouth here, I've done my due diligence on this and feel fairly confident in what I say.

Edited August 21, 2014 by JKT90

[84BDsop]

And on the other side of that we have Ted "I don't even hum" Swaldo who basically saved Bluecoats, brought his biz skills to the table, and look at what we eventually got from this this year.

And, of course, Bill Cook, who never get credit for running Star like a business back when it wasn't fashionable to do so.

Add in Academy and PC....BOTH of whom refused to tour outside their regions until they could hack the finances for a national tour....rather nice change compared to a new corps touring itself into oblivion going to Finals the first year.

[JKT90]

And on the other side of that we have Ted "I don't even hum" Swaldo who basically saved Bluecoats, brought his biz skills to the table, and look at what we eventually got from this this year.

And, of course, Bill Cook, who never get credit for running Star like a business back when it wasn't fashionable to do so.

Add in Academy and PC....BOTH of whom refused to tour outside their regions until they could hack the finances for a national tour....rather nice change compared to a new corps touring itself into oblivion going to Finals the first year.

Exactly! Look at top corps and their board make up compared to others. Carolina Crown had a horrible season, and wasn't even in the top 12 and won it all last year, look at Blue Devils, Cadets, etc...all have effective board structure with a business plan and generate revenue. No one gave them their status, rather effective leadership with good business sense got them there. It may be a non profit but it's still a business, and my point is corps struggling or who fold aren't run as a business...instead they rely on member dues and souvie sales and performance fees. Those things hardly even cover their cost to tour...and as I stated earlier I know corps who ran out of money with 3 weeks left to go. Unsustainable....I could go on but I hope my point is clear. Edited August 21, 2014 by JKT90

[JKT90]

If you want to go a step further, you want to win DCI, better be able to generate at least $1.5m in revenue.

[Tim K]

If you want to go a step further, you want to win DCI, better be able to generate at least $1.5m in revenue.

Not so sure money always leads to success. Unless this has changed since 2012, Bluecoats' spending is on the lower end of the top 12. Also while BD and SCV have higher budgets, they also have higher travel expenses, and while it is an essential expense, it's not a show related expense, by that I mean instruction, instruments, props, etc.

[ShutUpAndPlayYerGuitar]

Part of me wants to blame Salas, but I don't know enough about the situation to comment further. Madison went through a bit of a financial crisis after his tenure, so I kinda assume the same thing happened with Gmen.

You assume?

Please stop pretending to know what you're talking about.

[garfield]

Tons of for-profit businesses start up and fail each year as well. Having business acumen doesn't guaranty success when your industry doesn't necessarily command the appropriate economic return needed to stay afloat. There is no magic panacea to keep drum corps in the black. Though having good business background will help you face the challenges, there is no guaranty of success so long as the product doesn't sell itself, which drum corps simply does not.

I believe that drum corps is a $40million activity dressed in a $10million management structure.

While there is no single-answer panacea to success, there are patterns of decisions and actions that have led to success. To find out what type of board or organization demonstrates the most effective decision and action history, one should find the most successful corps and do what they do, think like they think, and apply those disciplines to the circumstances you're faced with.