Turn the calendar to August, and the glut of band director memos and band booster email updates will soon be flooding the interwebz and your email inbox. It’s “GAME ON” for any of you that teach bands, or have kids that participate. My 13 year old daughter is trying to memorize music in the other room as I type this…
What will follow is the high school band fundraisers and their associated updates – all pulling for your time, attention, and energy.
All large group fundraisers take SOME energy, but some are much more time-intensive than others. Some seem like weeks of planning to net a grand total of $200.
Crowdfunding – especially the way that FansRaise goes about it – looks at it differently. There is always a little bit of work on the front end to set up the campaign, and a little more effort expended to assemble your students’ email contact lists. Once that work is complete, there is no product to order, warehouse, or deliver AT ALL. There is no money to handle, and no candy cache to raid and eat…. (Maybe that’s a negative after all!)
A smart band director would do well to spend the time saved rehearsing, or in sectionals, making the production better. Band boosters can also move onto other items on the checklist, knowing that there is now a stream of funds coming into the program in a non-traditional (and potentially viral) way.
High school band fundraisers are a necessary evil, unless your band director is in the rare situation of having 100% of the program needs provided by the school district. Choose your fundraisers carefully and your program will become much more efficient and self-sustaining.
You can still buy your candy at the price club….