Using Music To Raise Money For A Cause:
With recent bombardment of natural disasters, we here at The Ottawa Sound decided that our first show we plan would be a fundraiser. One of my good friends is from Mexico City, so we chose to raise money for the victims of the Mexico City earthquake. But planning a benefit show is a lot more difficult than one would expect! There are so many aspects that you need to take into account, and most venues will still want a cut of the money, not to mention that most promoters won't even work with you unless money is involved. You can't always expect people to look at good publicity as a form of payment.
Using music as a way to raise money and awareness isn't a new concept, but when you aren't a major recording act on a record label or one of the biggest promoters in your city it is harder to get taken seriously and many people will try and take advantage of your inexperience. With that being said, the venues are trying to run a business and will need an income from that night in order to cover the costs of staff and other bills for the night. What you should do is try and talk about a middle ground on pricing, if the venue wants $200 ask them how much lower they would be willing to go and work from there or politely offer an alternative (like $400 in bar sales = $100 for rent etc.) You should also try and not be too pushy with your price range. Also, try and meet with the person in charge of booking at the venue in person as it is easier to persuade people to drop prices and make deals in a face to face conversation.
Now, when you are looking to raise money for a cause you should always research the charity you want to donate to before you commit to it. Always. For example, if you support LGBTQ rights, but are raising money to help low-income families (including LGBTQ families) maybe you shouldn't use The Salvation Army or any Christian organization that doesn't support the LGBTQ community (this is just an example we're not saying every Christian hates gays).
You also need to make sure that the acts that are playing are popular enough to draw a crowd and that they understand it is a benefit show so they most likely won't get paid. Also, make sure to contact the media and any local businesses you think would be able to help you promote the show. Remember that the bigger the crowd, the more likely you are to raise a lot of money.
Now you may be wondering, "what do I price the show at?" The answer to that question is simpler than you might expect. You don't want people coming in and watching the show for free, this would mean that you aren't raising any money for your cause, so don't make it a pay what you want. But, you also don't want the price to be too high because then you won't have people coming in due to the price of the show. You should look at what your venue costs are, what day of the week it is and how many acts you have playing. If you are putting on a show at a 30 person capacity venue, with 2 acts playing on a Monday night, $20 is not what you want your pricing to be. Maybe $5. If it's at the most expensive venue in town and you have 5 acts playing, $10-$20 is a reasonable price range (in my opinion, you personally might want to go lower or higher). The best course of action, in my opinion, is to set a minimum donation of say, $5, with the option to donate more. This will encourage people to come while leaving the option to donate more or less open to what they are able to afford.
That's it for this week, make sure to check back later on for a history article and make sure to give us a follow on Facebook and Patreon!
Using music as a way to raise money and awareness isn't a new concept, but when you aren't a major recording act on a record label or one of the biggest promoters in your city it is harder to get taken seriously and many people will try and take advantage of your inexperience. With that being said, the venues are trying to run a business and will need an income from that night in order to cover the costs of staff and other bills for the night. What you should do is try and talk about a middle ground on pricing, if the venue wants $200 ask them how much lower they would be willing to go and work from there or politely offer an alternative (like $400 in bar sales = $100 for rent etc.) You should also try and not be too pushy with your price range. Also, try and meet with the person in charge of booking at the venue in person as it is easier to persuade people to drop prices and make deals in a face to face conversation.
Now, when you are looking to raise money for a cause you should always research the charity you want to donate to before you commit to it. Always. For example, if you support LGBTQ rights, but are raising money to help low-income families (including LGBTQ families) maybe you shouldn't use The Salvation Army or any Christian organization that doesn't support the LGBTQ community (this is just an example we're not saying every Christian hates gays).
You also need to make sure that the acts that are playing are popular enough to draw a crowd and that they understand it is a benefit show so they most likely won't get paid. Also, make sure to contact the media and any local businesses you think would be able to help you promote the show. Remember that the bigger the crowd, the more likely you are to raise a lot of money.
Now you may be wondering, "what do I price the show at?" The answer to that question is simpler than you might expect. You don't want people coming in and watching the show for free, this would mean that you aren't raising any money for your cause, so don't make it a pay what you want. But, you also don't want the price to be too high because then you won't have people coming in due to the price of the show. You should look at what your venue costs are, what day of the week it is and how many acts you have playing. If you are putting on a show at a 30 person capacity venue, with 2 acts playing on a Monday night, $20 is not what you want your pricing to be. Maybe $5. If it's at the most expensive venue in town and you have 5 acts playing, $10-$20 is a reasonable price range (in my opinion, you personally might want to go lower or higher). The best course of action, in my opinion, is to set a minimum donation of say, $5, with the option to donate more. This will encourage people to come while leaving the option to donate more or less open to what they are able to afford.
That's it for this week, make sure to check back later on for a history article and make sure to give us a follow on Facebook and Patreon!
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