How to plan a school fundraising concert?

Question

Im studying in a secondary school in Malaysia. I want to help the school out by having a fundraising concert at school. What should I do first?

Answer 1

Is there a monthly publication or e-mail that goes out from the school or from the school district to parents and teachers? If so, write a letter to the principal (if the publication is sent from the school) or to the Superintendent of the school district (if the publication goes out from the district) asking permission to include a flyer about the concert in the publication. Make sure that the teacher who directs the band that will be performing reads and signs the letter before you mail, fax or e-mail it to the principal or the Superintendent.

If you are given permission to include a flyer about the fundraising concert in a publication that goes out to each parent, be sure it is an attractive flyer that includes the following information:
The date of the concert
The time of the concert
The theme of the music that will be performed
The cost of adult tickets
The cost of student tickets
A tear off ticket order form that parents can mail in with their check or money order (make sure the payments are being mailed to the conductor, the school secretary or some other responsible adult with an official position at the school. That way if there are any mix ups with the money or with people getting their tickets the blame won’t fall on students).

If possible, set up a website to advertise the concert. On the website make it possible for people to purchase tickets using their credit card and PayPal or some other online payment application. Put the website address on the flyer.

Survey all of the musicians who will be performing a solo. Survey all of the students who will be singing a song as part of a small vocal ensemble or as part of a small instrumental ensemble. Here are the questions you should ask in the survey (which they may have to take home to fill out and return to you).

Do you go to church, temple, mosque, synagogue within twenty miles of school?
If you don’t personally go to church, temple, mosque or synagogue within twenty miles of school, do any members of your family go regularly?

If yes, please give the name, address and phone number of the church, temple, mosque or synagogue that you or your family member attends regularly.

Do you belong to any musical groups (not including the church choir or church band) outside of school?

If yes, please give the name, address and phone number of the conductors/directors of all of your outside music groups.

Once you have the church information, call the churches and find out the name and e-mail/phone number of the person responsible for editing/writing the church newsletter. Write the church newsletter editor and/or telephone the editor asking that the following announcement be added to the church newsletter.

“So-And-So Student, the son/daughter of So-And-So-Parent, will be performing a solo/performing with a small vocal/instrumental ensemble for the High School Fundraiser Concert on XX/&&/2006 at 6:00pm. Tickets are $XX.YY for adults and $XX.YY for youth. Attending this concert is a great way to support our church youth. For more information on the fundraiser concert, please visit the URL below or call (XXX) YYY-ZZZZ.”

Once you have the contact information for the name of the directors of the other musical groups. Send them an e-mail or letter asking them to include information about the concert in whatever correspondences they regularly send to parents.

WAYS TO MAKE MORE MONEY AFTER THE CONCERT.

Before the concert, go to the Audio/Visual group at your school and find out if it would be possible for AV to set it up a recording of the concert with individual songs being recorded as WAVE files.

If the answer is yes, this provides a terrific opportunity for you. In the program that will get passed out during the concert, include a form which will allow people to pre-order audio CD’s. Or you can set up a table at the concert at which people can pay to pre-order audio CD’s.

When the concert is over, get the AV people to burn the WAVE files of the songs to a CD for you. Get students in the band to each volunteer to make a certain number of copies of the CD based on the number of pre-orders you received. You should also burn about ten or twenty extra CD’s. I’ll tell you why later.

Once the concert is over you only need to burn as many CD’s as people ordered (plus the extras). As long as you charge more than what the CD’s cost, and as long as students volunteer their time to download the WAVE files to CD, everything else is profit.

You can also use ITunes podcasting promotion feature, Google Video and Yahoo video to distribute the song files. You can upload the songs and then charge a fee for each download. A lot of adults, the ones most likely to buy the CD, are not that sophisticated with the computer so I’d invest more energy in going the CD route.

Once the concert is totally over plan a meeting with the director/conductor of the band and the principal of the school. Get their input on how the concert went and how things could go better in the future. Take notes. Then make these notes into kind of a report. In the report include exactly how you planned the concert with the names and contact information for the people who assisted you and for the people you solicited to help advertise the concert. Ask the school secretary to keep the report on file so that the next person who wants to plan a school fundraiser concert can copy the steps you used.
During the meeting ask the principal if he/she can think of the ten or twenty students whose parents are the wealthiest. The principal does not have to tell you who those parents are because that is none of your business. Ask the principal if he would be willing to write a letter to each of the parents and in the letter include the CD. The letter would be telling the parents that if their business/company has functions that take place during the holidays (holiday parties or big business meetings or whatever) the school band is able to perform (for a reasonable price) at those functions. When I worked at Jack London Square in Oakland, CA as the Event Manager, we frequently paid high school choirs/bands to perform at our events. Businesses love to get the good publicity of supporting the community in this fashion plus the school bands/choirs frequently charge less than the business would have to pay to get professional entertainment at their events.

Good luck! If you do end up making recorded files of the songs available online, let me know. I’ll buy one for $0.99 cents just to support you for using my idea.

Answer 2

First find out if the school will support you, allow you to use their name and accept the funds. Then find a location for the concert and try to get it donated. Next look for entertainment (band, singer, etc.) who can draw enough to fill the location to 80%. See what they will charge and determine how much to charge for tickets. You will want to sell tickets because many people will buy and not show up, which helps your profits. Good luck.

Answer 3

0. Talk to your schools principal about it first.
1. Find a place to have the concert at.
2. Organize a commitee, and assign each person or group to a certainposition (Ticket taker, Lights dude,)
3. Find a band that will play, maybe you could have auditions or something.
4. Get the equipment...(Chairs, lighting equipment, Amplifiers, Instruments, Microphones etc.)
5. Sell tickets to each class, ask your teacher for time off to visit different classes to ask them if you can sell tickets to them.
HOpe I helped

Answer 4

I would suggest you the following -
1.Try to contact Ex-Student
2.Then set up a committee for raising the fund includes teachers
3.The committee will go into all aspect of fund raising.
4.Thereafter issue a brochure and appeal to general public giving details and the purpose for fund raising.Also the date of concert and a fee for donation entry tickets.
5.Prepare and publish Accounts as soon as event is over.

Answer 5

set a date and time, find a band, make sure a meal is included, set people around you to help make flyer's, and money raising envelopes, and the food, set up servers to serve people, make a mailing list, and invite the Governor!!!!! He has friends with money, so ad guests. Make sure you get RSVP and let them know there is a limit on guests. tables, chairs, covers, plates, glasses, silverware, table center pieces, and get a decoration crew. With out the dinner, send out the invitations and place a fee for them to pay for tickets and do a serve your self banquet, and charge a plate fee for after the concert. RSVP's are required. Food always gets a crowd.

Answer 6

First thing you need to do is speak with administration to see if such a function is allowed. then find a place to hold the concert. Find acts who are willing to perform at the show. Next you need to really advertise the concert with posters and letters going home to parents with the kids. Is there any local radio station there? maybe they will let you advertize on it for free since its for such a good cause. good luck.

Answer 7

Start by securing business sponsorships with different levels of investment - for instance - get a local bank to be the presenting sponsor of the concert for, say, a $1000 donation. Get a local, non-competing business to be the program (actual programs that you hand out) for, say, $500. You can sell the sponsorship by letting the business know how much you are exposing them to prospective customers in the community AND by selling the point that they are helping to enrich the lives of students in their community. Good Luck and let me know how much you raise. ----Just my two cents!

Answer 8

Well you should find a bunch of local bands. Print flyers for bands and singers, rappers etc. then audition them. Pick like 20 or 30 bands that you really liked and tell them they get loke 5 6 or 7 minutes to do as many songs as they can.

You also need to get equipment, like speakers and mixers, the bands should have their own instruments lol.

good luck.

Answer 9

well, first off all, announce to all the classes with the permission of your teachers about your intentions. i think making a video of your objectives and then displaying to the whole school can be successful. also make a confident and moving speech, and most importantly you have to contribute generously. that will inspire others to pay also. tell the people that it is not compulsary and whatever amount they want to give, will be accepted.
good luck with your ideal plans.

Answer 10

let's say :Having an all school car wash would be good for it
also help the commuinity with a project as tree planting ,bake sales were the school can raise enought money for a concert

Answer 11

You need to contact the head of the school, then the board of education. Ask them if would be ok. Then you can advertise local bands who may be there playing and sell refreshments.

Good luck