Legolaus Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 I have spent the last 20 years raising money for non-profit organizations. As a fan and former member of drum corps, I certainly hope the answer to the question-Can drum corps survive without Bingo? is yes! Drum corps survived for decades with the support of Bingo. Now, most of those opportunities are a fraction of what they used to be. To be viable organizations drum corps must develop broad-based funding. Instead of having two or three major revenue sources,(member dues, performance fees and bingo) they should have 8 or 10. That way if one of the sources goes away, or has a down year, it does not disrupt operations or cause the corps to borrow money to function. I know this is easy to say, and not easy to do. But it is possible. Bill Cook from Star used to talk about "positive cash flow". As a non-profit organization a drum corps should be raising money this year to be used for operations next year. This way the organization has one year to react to changes in revenue. Again, easy to say, difficult to do, but certainly possible with careful planning and administration. I read somewhere a little while ago that SCV was hiring a development person. I think this is a great move for the corps and I hope they found someone good who will stick around for a long time and get the corps into financially solid ground. A good development person should, in the first year, raise enough money to cover their own salary plus substantial money to be used by the corps for operations. If plotted out correctly a drum corps could be operating in a positive cash flow situation within a few years of good development work. Again this all takes thoughtful planning, careful administration and a commitment to make it happen. If drum corps is to survive, as we know it today, into the future-the individual corps will need to focus on funding sources and a broad base of support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sday88 Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 Doesn't the NFL (and maybe other sports) do something like spreading the profits on things like merchandise sales to level the playing field for the smaller markets? Couldn't DCI do something similar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geluf Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 No, because unlike the NFL, DCI does not have control of its member corps and does not have a stake in each corps. You cannot force a corps to give away some of its money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sday88 Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 No, because unlike the NFL, DCI does not have control of its member corps and does not have a stake in each corps. You cannot force a corps to give away some of its money. Interesting, I did not know that. But what about DCI merchandise? What does DCI do with those proceeds? Also, I'm not necessarily focusing on the merchandise, are there other avenues for profit sharing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geluf Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 If its money that DCI is taking in directly, then sure, they could do some kind of split with that. Merch, DVD sales, stuff with the DCI logo on it, etc. Its just stuff that the corps themselves sell that DCI can't touch really (other than DVDs and the like of course, since those are produced by DCI). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geluf Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 I should rephrase though: As a body, DCI CAN decide to say "if you want to be in DCI you have to be into revenue sharing" as a requirement for membership in the org. But such a move would probably prove to be a disaster. How many would chose to leave the circut because of it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kksop17 Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 But such a move would probably prove to be a disaster. How many would chose to leave the circut because of it? The answer to this question is: No one. Seriously; Would SCV or BD leave simple because a revenue sharing arrangement was put in place? Unlikely. Technically DCI would be smart to act as an intermediary for corps where DCI uses the combined purchasing power of all its corps to negotiate better deals and then the corps buy directly from DCI at drastically reduced prices. As it stands now most corps don't get great deals on a number of things that could be purchased cheaper. The smartest thing DCI has done in a while is the development of the gas fund. It isn't through creative marketing, talent attraction, or corps innovation that DCI will be successful (and its member corps). It's through operational excellence and ensuring that corps aren't flying by the seat of their pants on tour. Cheers, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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