Spinastick Posted November 13, 2023 Share Posted November 13, 2023 On 10/19/2023 at 1:18 PM, cixelsyd said: Run a bingo. Sell candles. Apply for grants. Collect fees from members. Collect fees from non-members for camps that double as educational clinics ("experience camps"). Expand the above idea virtually via online music lessons. Collect fees from auditions to offset the cost of staging them; invest any surplus back into the corps. Tweak above fees to ensure there is a surplus. Run related youth programs (i.e. dance, drumline, band) in profit mode, and invest the proceeds back into the corps. Buy/sell related equipment if it can be done at a profit, and invest the proceeds back into the corps. Rent equipment out during the off-season while it would otherwise be unused. If you have a corps hall and/or land, rent it out when the corps is not using it. If you don't, consider investing in the above. Solicit donations. Host a show. Host two shows. Run a marching band circuit. Run an event ticketing service. Sell souvenirs at DCI shows. Sell souvenirs via an online store. Partner with other businesses such that a percentage of sales you generate go back to the corps. Similar to the above, a corps-branded Visa or Mastercard where 1% of purchase amount is automatically donated to the corps. Run concessions at a local sports venue; invest the proceeds back into the corps. Run a pep band, drumline, etc., for a local sports team; invest the fees you collect back into the corps. Run a custom music/motion entertainment service for corporate clients; invest the fees you collect back into the corps. Move your corps to a suburban Chicago city, and talk their local government into sponsoring the corps. (Or maybe reverse the sequence of events there.) Collect appearance fees from DCI. Apply for DCI membership, to increase appearance fees and add revenue sharing. Not to be contrary, but literally everything you listed already exist in multiple corps as a source of revenue. The majority of corps in DCI are decades old, and if you can name it they have tried it as a way to generate funds. Non-profit organizations are somewhat limited in their ability to bring in cash, and there exist a maximum amount that is unlikely to be surpassed for revenue. Market cost for the essential supplies and services needed to operate a drum corp, have surpassed the feasible max revenue a corp can realistically generate each year. Individual corps and the activity as a whole needs to find a way to mitigate cost to survive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Guy Posted November 13, 2023 Share Posted November 13, 2023 (edited) 3 hours ago, Spinastick said: Not to be contrary, but literally everything you listed already exist in multiple corps as a source of revenue. The majority of corps in DCI are decades old, and if you can name it they have tried it as a way to generate funds. Non-profit organizations are somewhat limited in their ability to bring in cash, and there exist a maximum amount that is unlikely to be surpassed for revenue. Market cost for the essential supplies and services needed to operate a drum corp, have surpassed the feasible max revenue a corp can realistically generate each year. Individual corps and the activity as a whole needs to find a way to mitigate cost to survive. Completely agree. Expenses (for some corps) are now over what some can generate in revenus. Plus, I read somewhere that building a first class performing band takes decades. That is also true on the financial side. Except that while you may have a fanatical artistic guy that stay involve for 40 years building the on field product, the financial guy that is gonna do the same will probably last much much shorter time. why would they? They can build that financial tower for themself!! unless you get that drum corps/artistic person that is also a finance guy (They are rare!!) And those guy does not receive the same praise as the artistic guy whose work is more visible and their work being done directly with the membership Edited November 13, 2023 by Old Guy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cixelsyd Posted November 13, 2023 Share Posted November 13, 2023 8 hours ago, Spinastick said: Not to be contrary, but literally everything you listed already exist in multiple corps as a source of revenue. The majority of corps in DCI are decades old, and if you can name it they have tried it as a way to generate funds. Non-profit organizations are somewhat limited in their ability to bring in cash, and there exist a maximum amount that is unlikely to be surpassed for revenue. Market cost for the essential supplies and services needed to operate a drum corp, have surpassed the feasible max revenue a corp can realistically generate each year. Individual corps and the activity as a whole needs to find a way to mitigate cost to survive. I agree with nearly all you just said, especially the final sentence. However, this thread is here to discuss revenue ideas. Debating the futility of those ideas is fair game in many other threads here, but in this one it is off-topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocketman Posted November 13, 2023 Share Posted November 13, 2023 Obviously, one of the biggest expenses is transportation and housing. It may be time to consider scheduling shows that allow the corps to return to home base for a day or two before heading out to the next show. This would mean more regional shows and more than likely, no one would be going across county to compete in CA (which hasn't really happened in a while). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craiga Posted November 13, 2023 Share Posted November 13, 2023 2 minutes ago, Rocketman said: Obviously, one of the biggest expenses is transportation and housing. It may be time to consider scheduling shows that allow the corps to return to home base for a day or two before heading out to the next show. This would mean more regional shows and more than likely, no one would be going across county to compete in CA (which hasn't really happened in a while). Where do you expect to house 200+ members and staff when they return to their "home base" for a few days each week? Not trying to be a Negative Nancy here...I just don't know what you are talking about. And what "regional shows" would corps like Boston and Troopers appear in each week? And with whom? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocketman Posted November 13, 2023 Share Posted November 13, 2023 Where they live during spring training! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craiga Posted November 13, 2023 Share Posted November 13, 2023 (edited) 10 minutes ago, Rocketman said: Where they live during spring training! So in BAC'S case, as an example, you would propose the corps travels back and forth to northern Vermont all summer? How far away would DCI schedule these "regional shows"? And you would propose Boston traveling to shows up and down the east coast and returning to Vermont each time? That would be far more expensive (and wasteful) than simply being on tour and staying in high schools along the way, don't you think? Edited November 13, 2023 by craiga Spelling 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IllianaLancerContra Posted November 14, 2023 Share Posted November 14, 2023 4 hours ago, Rocketman said: Where they live during spring training! 4 hours ago, craiga said: So in BAC'S case, as an example, you would propose the corps travels back and forth to northern Vermont all summer? How far away would DCI schedule these "regional shows"? And you would propose Boston traveling to shows up and down the east coast and returning to Vermont each time? That would be far more expensive (and wasteful) than simply being on tour and staying in high schools along the way, don't you think? The underlying issue is that this is a result of national vs local membership. When most members were local (from 1-2 hrs away at most), Corps could take days off & not have to feed & house members. The few non-local members would usually go hang out with some of the local members. But, those times are past & we can’t put the poop back in the horse. The only solution I see from this angle is to shorten spring training; fewer days cost fewer $. Maybe too eliminate some of the non-show days on tour, but that will impact practice time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted November 14, 2023 Share Posted November 14, 2023 5 hours ago, Rocketman said: Obviously, one of the biggest expenses is transportation and housing. It may be time to consider scheduling shows that allow the corps to return to home base for a day or two before heading out to the next show. This would mean more regional shows and more than likely, no one would be going across county to compete in CA (which hasn't really happened in a while). you're still paying for the busses when you sit at home Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted November 14, 2023 Share Posted November 14, 2023 26 minutes ago, IllianaLancerContra said: The underlying issue is that this is a result of national vs local membership. When most members were local (from 1-2 hrs away at most), Corps could take days off & not have to feed & house members. The few non-local members would usually go hang out with some of the local members. But, those times are past & we can’t put the poop back in the horse. The only solution I see from this angle is to shorten spring training; fewer days cost fewer $. Maybe too eliminate some of the non-show days on tour, but that will impact practice time. its more than that. you don't have enough corps in some areas to make it work when scheduling shows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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