Band Fundraisers – Your Horror Stories

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We put the call out on our Facebook Page and you all didn’t disappoint!

We asked for some real-world accounts of the most horrifying, messy, and ill-conceived or train-wreck organizational or band fundraisers that you’ve experienced. Some of the responders have asked for anonymity, so we are changing the names to protect the innocent…

Some are pretty tame:

From a DCI Corps Director:

“Hyped up what could’ve been a great fundraiser…only to not have any buy in. At all.” 

From another DCI Director:

“Once held a raffle where the prizes were $3000 out of pocket and we only sold $1000 worth of tickets. A combination of poor judgment, poor participation and 6 other fundraisers happening at the same time for local charities.”

Some are just depressing….

High School Band Director:

“One of my worst fundraiser stories is the time that the band booster picked up candy for a candy sale during an October heat wave and the candy melted before it was even distributed. Total loss…”

Some are just flat-out gross…

From a more “rural” setting:

“The school where I student taught held an Annual Cow Patty Bingo. They divided the football field into squares and sold each square.On the day of the event, they’d fill the grandstands with people, sell concessions, have raffles and perform musical entertainment while they ALL waited for the well-fed cow to take a dump somewhere on the field. If you were lucky enough to own the square, you won!”

Use the comments section below, and contribute your own fundraising accounts to the list!

FansRaise aims to take the stress, the uncertain risk, and the hassle out of large-group fundraisers. We are helping high school band programs, drum and bugle corps, and independent arts programs across the United States raise net-new funds in a easy and efficient way. The good news – a crowdfunding campaign with FansRaise will eliminate the horror stories above.

To learn more, click below:

FansRaise.

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