A Great Article on The Cadets

[BigW]

6 hours ago, scheherazadesghost said:

It's almost like nonprofits and other community-focused programs should be run by people who have run nonprofits before. Not just folks people like who went thru the programming, but who have no proven professional skills in the thing they're doing.

Too many people think they can just take the money and run. That's strategically inefficient at best, and unethical/illegal at worst.

The first huge case study of this at the DCI level was the Circle K sponsorship of Suncoast Sound. They wanted the corps to so some performance for them and they felt rehearsal for the next contest was more important, so they blew them off and lost that sponsorship. That was their "jump the shark" moment.

 

Another little-known incident was a small NJ corps back in the early 80's known as Fantasia III. They got a Burger King sponsorship and flew their flag as part of the Main Guard as part of the deal. the DCE competitors grumbled, whinged and forced them to stop that. The corps pretty much died after losing that money. And, it also discouraged anyone else from seeking those kinds of connections. Stick to Bingo and raffles...

 

It's rare that you get a huge sponsor in any activity that throws out a lot of cash and expects nothing in return. In Formula One when cigarette money was being thrown around like drunken sailors on liberty to teams, one of them was approached by FedEx for a major sponsorship and part of the deal would have been some tie-ins and events. The team told them, "No thank you" because they could get the same out of Big Tobacco with no strings attached and the tie ins were too much work. Sounds familiar to this!

[cixelsyd]

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What makes BD unique isn't the local connections. It's the money.

I am with you so far.

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The bingo money makes BDB, BDC, etc., possible, which makes the local connections work.

Not following you here.

First, BDB is not "local", judging from their near-perennial appearances in Indiana over the past 16 years.  If you want to discuss local drum corps programs, BDC would be the example.

As far as what makes BDC or other local programs possible... the truly local programs work because there is so much less travel (and associated cost).  

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At YEA, US Bands made possible Cadets2, a Cadets drumline, a winter guard, and a significant local dance program (in addition to Cadets and an extensive US bands program). Without the money, there's no local. 

No, it really is the other way around.  Without the local, there is no community money.  

It is also worth noting that for a drum corps to justify hiring even one full-time employee, it makes sense to add other programs that are not on the same seasonal trajectory that DCI drum corps follows.

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It was the new regime, not the old one, that thought running the Cadets as a solo operation was a good idea. In doing so, they abandoned the network, the connections and the money they needed. 

I would like to hear more about this.  I cannot say whether anybody specifically thought that was a good idea.  For that matter, with all the personnel turnover, not sure there really was a "regime".

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One last thought about "burned bridges." I know most of this site thinks only one person is responsible. I think that's wrong. In my many decades of drum corps travels, I came to realize that only Madison alumni can rival Cadets alumni for hard-headedness. No one person burned that bridge. 

I thought it was local/community bridges that were the topic there.  If anything, "hard-headed" Cadet alumni* would be far more interested in maintaining those connections than the administrations which relocated the corps.

(* - assuming there are hard-headed Cadet alumni without evidence, only for the purpose of discussion) 

And honestly, in all three cases, the bridge burning was done under the same corps director.  There was one person who was the Hiroshima/Nagasaki of burned bridges.  And he was not a Cadet alum.

[scheherazadesghost]

8 hours ago, BigW said:

The first huge case study of this at the DCI level was the Circle K sponsorship of Suncoast Sound. They wanted the corps to so some performance for them and they felt rehearsal for the next contest was more important, so they blew them off and lost that sponsorship. That was their "jump the shark" moment.

 

Another little-known incident was a small NJ corps back in the early 80's known as Fantasia III. They got a Burger King sponsorship and flew their flag as part of the Main Guard as part of the deal. the DCE competitors grumbled, whinged and forced them to stop that. The corps pretty much died after losing that money. And, it also discouraged anyone else from seeking those kinds of connections. Stick to Bingo and raffles...

 

It's rare that you get a huge sponsor in any activity that throws out a lot of cash and expects nothing in return. In Formula One when cigarette money was being thrown around like drunken sailors on liberty to teams, one of them was approached by FedEx for a major sponsorship and part of the deal would have been some tie-ins and events. The team told them, "No thank you" because they could get the same out of Big Tobacco with no strings attached and the tie ins were too much work. Sounds familiar to this!

Thanks for the lore, I didn't know about those examples.

As you said, this isn't limited to drum corps. I've worked for various sizes of nonprofits. The biggest ones, with international reach, still had to hustle hard to maintain their local support. One full time position for grants, another for development (ie donor cultivation), two for marketing/audience management.  I'll never forget the the ED of The American Dance Festival having to put up with one of their largest donor's antics in public, fairly humiliating stuff. All to maintain his patronage and good graces. This is the company that originally and continually funded Martha Graham, Paul Taylor, Bill T Jones etc...THE greats. The modern dance legacy lives in large part because of them. Even then, locals not in the dance scene in Durham mostly barely know about them because the mission wasn't about Durham and hyper locality. It was about keeping the whole of American contemporary and modern dance afloat. The local focus was maintained via their large local sponsors. That's about it.

[Tim K]

I’ve said this before in other threads but when it comes to corporate donors, drum corps can be a hard sell. In general, businesses want to donate to organizations that serve the local community, the key word being local. A touring drum corps that recruits from all over the country is an organization that serves, but it does not serve the local community. Donors also want “bang for the buck.” Let’s say you give an organization $5,000. If it’s a local basketball program, that goes a long way towards equipment, uniforms, gym rental, etc. If it’s a local theater group, that goes a long way towards sets and costumes. Lots of people are served. How far does the same donation go in drum corps? 

I think a drum corps could get some corporate donations but it requires work. Alums who are now in the corporate world and carefully selected board members would be key. A drum corps establishing some sort of a presence in the community such as directors being members of the Rotary, Chamber of Commerce, etc., sitting on local boards for hospitals, outreach agencies, various non profits and the like would be important. Being a good neighbor is also important.

Cadets moved to Erie partially at least to increase the donor base. It would take a good tens years for that to develop. Blue Devils have been mentioned. Blue Devils is well known in Concord, CA. According to someone I know who once lived in Concord, many people in the city have no idea how good they are, but the organization is well received. My guess is establishing relationships over the years is a huge reason why.

[scheherazadesghost]

1 hour ago, Tim K said:

I’ve said this before in other threads but when it comes to corporate donors, drum corps can be a hard sell. In general, businesses want to donate to organizations that serve the local community, the key word being local. A touring drum corps that recruits from all over the country is an organization that serves, but it does not serve the local community. Donors also want “bang for the buck.” Let’s say you give an organization $5,000. If it’s a local basketball program, that goes a long way towards equipment, uniforms, gym rental, etc. If it’s a local theater group, that goes a long way towards sets and costumes. Lots of people are served. How far does the same donation go in drum corps? 

Indeed, but an org can only demonstrate trustworthiness and adherence to their mission via small donors first. I've never heard of a situation, outside of skilled networking with wealthy people, in which an org is just gifted large donations without demonstrating the above first. Even those partnerships can fall away very easily if you #### off the wrong admin or donor.

If corps orgs aren't willing to do the work for small gifts, they'll never gain the clout needed for big money.

Also, corporations are not the only donors out there. They're a component sure, but they're more like second tier. The decision makers in those companies will laugh you out of the room if your org hasn't demonstrated the above. That's why I rofl'd when folks ask why VMAPA isn't going for Google money. Are we kidding? Their competitors for such money have been doing the above for decades. VMAPA has been lazily relying on bingo... that's a different strategic focus entirely.

All of this affirms your point... that you have to demostraste the above locally and consistently. It's very difficult to do that by mom-n-popping it with admin who have never done it before. It's a professional skillet... and it can't be entrusted to amateurs or volunteers.

Edited March 4 by scheherazadesghost

[craiga]

1 hour ago, scheherazadesghost said:

Indeed, but an org can only demonstrate trustworthiness and adherence to their mission via small donors first. I've never heard of a situation, outside of skilled networking with wealthy people, in which an org is just gifted large donations without demonstrating the above first. Even those partnerships can fall away very easily if you #### off the wrong admin or donor.

If corps orgs aren't willing to do the work for small gifts, they'll never gain the clout needed for big money.

Also, corporations are not the only donors out there. They're a component sure, but they're more like second tier. The decision makers in those companies will laugh you out of the room if your org hasn't demonstrated the above. That's why I rofl'd when folks ask why VMAPA isn't going for Google money. Are we kidding? Their competitors for such money have been doing the above for decades. VMAPA has been lazily relying on bingo... that's a different strategic focus entirely.

All of this affirms your point... that you have to demostraste the above locally and consistently. It's very difficult to do that by mom-n-popping it with admin who have never done it before. It's a professional skillet... and it can't be entrusted to amateurs or volunteers.

You make good points here.  Truthfully, the only part of your post which I don't agree with is your observation regarding small donors vs. large donors.   I think we can agree that the days of car washes and bake sales are a thing of the past.   While any well organized corps certainly won't turn down a few hundred dollars from individual donors, they would be guilty of fund-raising malpractice if they didn't AGRESSIVELY pursue large corporations.  I do not the details of BD's sources of revenue, but BAC posts all the corporate donors on it's web page.   (The full list is there.)  From memory,  I know it includes entities like John Hancock Financial Services, Putnam Investments, Fidelity Investments, several Massachusetts banks and credit unions, as well as the City of Boston itself. I think there are several dozen companies.   As I've said before, I take no credit for  this personally.  We have a 48 member BOD which works 12 months a year to generate these funds, culminating in the Concert in the Park in mid June in downtown Boston.   Most years, they pull in close to $800,000 at that event.  As a recently retired person on a fixed income, I contribute $300 per year, not including t shirts and show tickets I purchase. The drum corps is happy to get it, and always has a corps member email a signed thank you note....but the corporations with their massive donations are who brings the fire.

[scheherazadesghost]

43 minutes ago, craiga said:

You make good points here.  Truthfully, the only part of your post which I don't agree with is your observation regarding small donors vs. large donors.   I think we can agree that the days of car washes and bake sales are a thing of the past.   While any well organized corps certainly won't turn down a few hundred dollars from individual donors, they would be guilty of fund-raising malpractice if they didn't AGRESSIVELY pursue large corporations.  I do not the details of BD's sources of revenue, but BAC posts all the corporate donors on it's web page.   (The full list is there.)  From memory,  I know it includes entities like John Hancock Financial Services, Putnam Investments, Fidelity Investments, several Massachusetts banks and credit unions, as well as the City of Boston itself. I think there are several dozen companies.   As I've said before, I take no credit for  this personally.  We have a 48 member BOD which works 12 months a year to generate these funds, culminating in the Concert in the Park in mid June in downtown Boston.   Most years, they pull in close to $800,000 at that event.  As a recently retired person on a fixed income, I contribute $300 per year, not including t shirts and show tickets I purchase. The drum corps is happy to get it, and always has a corps member email a signed thank you note....but the corporations with their massive donations are who brings the fire.

Mm I don't think we disagree really. 👍🏽

I didn't intend to give the impression that orgs shouldn't go after big donors. To both your and @Tim K's points, large donors are crucial for the kind of budgets drum corps live on. Rather, they should only do so after they've demonstrated competency in cultivating "smaller" donors.

Big donors will want proof in the pudding that you've taken care of other donors and can actuate a solid mission that looks good in their portfolios.

Have worked with multiple nonprofits that, like your example, cultivate donors of all sizes. But the big donors don't just trust any nonprofit, cause like in other areas of life, you have to earn and maintain trust.

Boston and BD clearly do this in different ways, mainly bc bingo makes BD's needs different, but they clearly both do it well.

[craiga]

4 minutes ago, scheherazadesghost said:

Mm I don't think we disagree really. 👍🏽

I didn't intend to give the impression that orgs shouldn't go after big donors. To both your and @Tim K's points, large donors are crucial for the kind of budgets drum corps live on. Rather, they should only do so after they've demonstrated competency in cultivating "smaller" donors.

Big donors will want proof in the pudding that you've taken care of other donors and can actuate a solid mission that looks good in their portfolios.

Have worked with multiple nonprofits that, like your example, cultivate donors of all sizes. But the big donors don't just trust any nonprofit, cause like in other areas of life, you have to earn and maintain trust.

Boston and BD clearly do this in different ways, mainly bc bingo makes BD's needs different, but they clearly both do it well.

Yes, Boston hasn't had bingo in over 30 years.  There's been lots of talk about paid bingo workers,  but back in the day, our bingo (called "Metrocorps) was staffed with volunteers including BAC staff and members who were 18+.  I remember working it myself, and all the BAC staff and members would stand and salute whenever "I-27" was called. IYKYK!  😉

[scheherazadesghost]

6 minutes ago, craiga said:

Yes, Boston hasn't had bingo in over 30 years.  There's been lots of talk about paid bingo workers,  but back in the day, our bingo (called "Metrocorps) was staffed with volunteers including BAC staff and members who were 18+.  I remember working it myself, and all the BAC staff and members would stand and salute whenever "I-27" was called. IYKYK!  😉

Every nonprofit pro I've asked about bingo has turned up their nose. I'm a broken record here, but bingo is not in alignment with any of the drum corps' nonprofit missions. The industry term is mission alignment. And bingo isn't it. It also takes away resources from donor cultivation. VMAPA has suffered from this for years.

BD can kinda make the case for bingo as mission alignment, being "devilish" and whatnot, but it's still a stretch.

I also worked bingo, even proposed to my ex fiance at Vanguard bingo. But it was weird even then and was also required of all marching members. My family was shocked to hear some corps still rely on it.

[Tim K]

31 minutes ago, scheherazadesghost said:

Every nonprofit pro I've asked about bingo has turned up their nose. I'm a broken record here, but bingo is not in alignment with any of the drum corps' nonprofit missions. The industry term is mission alignment. And bingo isn't it. It also takes away resources from donor cultivation. VMAPA has suffered from this for years.

BD can kinda make the case for bingo as mission alignment, being "devilish" and whatnot, but it's still a stretch.

I also worked bingo, even proposed to my ex fiance at Vanguard bingo. But it was weird even then and was also required of all marching members. My family was shocked to hear some corps still rely on it.

The question of whether the mission statement of a non profit is in alignment with Bingo is a legitimate question. In my case as a pastor (I’m a Catholic priest) I have had parishes with schools but we no longer had Bingo so I never had to make a decision about the game. However you still have to figure out ways to pay teachers a living wage while keeping tuition low for families who are barely scraping by. I know drum corps is a different situation than a school but funding non profits is not easy.

In my neck of the woods (just outside of Boston) there are fewer Bingos. There have three major death knells for Bingo. One, when smoking was no longer allowed in public places, Bingos took a huge hit. Casinos with Bingo halls is a second. Third? Bingos have a hard time attracting volunteers. Volunteering at Bingo is a thankless job.