supersop Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 (edited) Obviously, I'm from the Lakeshoremen. Many of you know that we are a fairly new corps. Just to give a brief history: We started as a rudimental drumline 7 years ago. Added colorguard 4 years ago. Added brass in 2005 to do minicorps but had too many members so we threw together a field show in 1 month and took 7th at nationals in Class A, which was our VERY FIRST competition ever. This year was another stepping stone, performing in 2 sanctioned shows and finishing 5th in Class A with a 10pt jump over last year. Now that the competitive season is over with ... we are going back to the drawing board and looking at the big picture for our future. Needless to say, we are building our organization on a very fast learning curve. Although it is fast, we want to get it right. I guess the biggest concern for any new corps is that of fiscal responsibility. This becomes even more difficult when you add in the new regions and expansion of DCA. With this expansion comes a bit of pressure to contribute to the regions in the form of hosting your own show.... etc etc etc. SO .... HOW DO YOU DO IT? I know some of the more established corps have performance groups (with superb reputations) that are hired out for gigs. I know some of you do Bingo/Lotto. Souvies are also a good source of income. When it comes down to the bottom line .... how much do you rely on a certain source of income? What are the percentages in which they contribute to your budget? I'm not asking for hard dollar amounts.... just an idea of the general lay of the land. I know our corps funded our touring schedule this year totally on the income from parades/performances..... and digging deep into our own pockets. I look forward to your comments and help Edited September 25, 2006 by supersop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeme70 Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 We work with Contemporary Services Corp. at the home Texans games here in Houston. http://www.contemporaryservices.com/home.html Most or the service groups for professional sports teams have methods for fundraising for non-profit groups. In the past we have worked for Aramark selling nachos and beer at the Astros games, worked directly for Six-Flags, and now with CSC, we provide crowd control at the football games, monster truck shows, the Houston Rodeo, etc. We are also looking into working with another group at the Rockets/Comets basketball games. The crowd control is about the easiest thing you can do...basically, you get assigned a door, elevator, escalator, etc. and either tell people to go in, or don't go in. And smile. That's pretty much it...we get about $50/person/game, and usually we get to watch the game while we're there. I looked on CSC's site, and they don't seem to be represented in your area, but I imagine that the Detroit teams, or at least the stadium groups, have some similar setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.C. Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 Like all drum corps, the Kilties use multiple income sources. Our biggest money maker is our Great Lakes Brewfest. Here's a link that you can check out to find out more about it: http://www.greatlakesbrewfest.com/ Through sponsorships that we receive from distributors and vendors, we manage to pull this one off with no up-front money of our own... a real bonus! Membership dues ($225) was probably our second biggest source of income. In 2006, our third biggest source of income was probably grants and donations. Board member Kathy Strege is very good at writing grants and her hard work over the last couple of years is really starting to pay off. We also made significant money working consessions at 13 Milwaukee Brewer games at Miller Park. Work crews of 10 people were put together, and we averaged a little under $1000 per night for our efforts. The work crews had a great time at the ball games, too. We also run a "Vegas Raffle" every year that has been VERY successful. We sell tickets all winter. People's ears perk up when they hear "Vegas" so the tickets are pretty easy to sell. We actually raffle off travel certificates from a local travel agency good for redemption to anywhere, but "Vegas Raffle" sounds good to people. We did pretty good at our souvie booth this year as well, and I think we even made a little money off our the Kiltie Klassic show this year, a definate bonus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supersop Posted September 26, 2006 Author Share Posted September 26, 2006 Thanks for the input thus far. I really don't want to see this thread get burried. Hopefully, more DCP'ers will contact their corps admins and have them chime in on this topic. Funny ...... I've asked corps directly over the years, these very same questions. Nobody ever wants to give up the goods. I hope everyone understands that this is for the greater good and growth of DCA and new corps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original El Guapo Posted September 26, 2006 Share Posted September 26, 2006 We do it the old fashion way........... We steal it. :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Govie Goddess Posted September 26, 2006 Share Posted September 26, 2006 * Pull Tab Gambling Sites - one of the highest income for the Govies * Parade performance fees - also one of the highest * Pork Chop stand @ park on July 4th * Donations from Walmart/ Kwik Trip * City tourism donation (starting in 2006) * Parking lot attendants @ county fair * Member Dues (one of the lower $ making - $150/ member) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted September 26, 2006 Share Posted September 26, 2006 we call Larry :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistress Kelli Posted September 26, 2006 Share Posted September 26, 2006 SF Giants games SF 49ers games ... and Jello wrestling. ^0^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVcontra Posted September 26, 2006 Share Posted September 26, 2006 The Georgia Dome (Falcons, bowl games), Philips Arena (Thrashers, Hawks, concerts), Birdies for Charity (collect pledges for birdies made in the Bell South Classic), Atlanta Motor Speedway (NASCAR, NOPI), Tuition and other smaller things throughout the year... ...and selling pirated videos of the Renegades jello wrestling... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supersop Posted September 28, 2006 Author Share Posted September 28, 2006 Is there anyone from the administrative level of our corps' that has some input on this issue? Feel free to email me. I'm hoping that I will be able to compile this data, as well as, other information pertaining to 501c3 so that I might have a checklist/guide for future corps coming into DCA. What better way to grow than to lend a helping hand to those looking to contribute to our wonderful activity? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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