Grants

midgetgreen11

Active Member
Hey guys, me and a few other technicians in my high school are working on applying for a grant, to replace all our old "beat up" fixtures that are corroding and the paint is peeling off of. half of the ass ends of our lekos don't even work. and we need a new lightboard, yes... NEED.

Does anybody know of any extremely generous donors or places thatt award grants that i could look to?
 
Something other than grants to look for - theatres that are refurbishing - many times these places will be selling lekos and fresnels for unbeliveably low prices. They have to get rid of everything fast in order to renovate and get their new stuff. Also, some places have old light boards just sitting around. I got a Colortran Encore 48/96 for my HS just by noticing that it was sitting in a corner and had been replaced. I got ot for just the cost of shipping.
 
Grants for Educational facilities can be a real pain. A lot of times the feeling with Foundations is, "Their a Public School, their funding is taken care of already." That being said, don't hesitate to apply for them. Take a look on the Net. Here in Portland/ North Western Oregon, we have the RAC (Regional Arts Committee) they are responsible for disseminating funds to regional arts and artists. There may be a place similar in your area, ( I can't remember where you are located.) Another option, which may sound daunting, is to go directly to the Board of Education. Inform the people on the "infrastructure" committees that the theatre program is in dire need of new equipment to be able to provide a adequate and safe education. You may also be able to organize, in association with your Thespian Society or drama club a matching funds drive. Get several businesses and sponsors in your community to match or double any funds that you can raise, then go out and Kick Butt, with the car washes, etc. etc. I know it sounds real goofy but it works.
 
we've had a few people try fundraising for it in our area, but just about every time its fallen by the way-side, but thanks for the advice :]
 
First off you said your theater program is an independent production company in another thread right? Do you have 501(c)(3) status? That's critical. If the IRS sees you as a non profit then it's a tax deduction to give you money.

As has been suggested check with city, county, and state art commissions for grants. I got several small grants from the county to bring in great artists to work with my students to produce original shows. Second go to the local theater and look in the program for their list of donors. Somewhere there you will find the local businesses and foundations that give money to theater. Contact them to see if they would be interested in helping you.

Finally there is the question of the ethnic and socioeconomic status of your student body. My high school was 23% white and the majority of the students came from government housing projects. It was easy to get money to help a poor ethnically diverse school. If you are a white middle class school you will have a hard time getting grants. BUT if you are a white middle class school you have something that my school didn't have... Involved parents. Get the parents to organize a benefit dinner of some sort. I know an urban white middle class school that makes about $20,000 a year on one dinner. They get everything donated and auction off all kinds of cool stuff. Again that 501(c)(3) is critical to making this work.
 
actually, i believe we are labeled that way, because we all have to get ads for the programs and we have to tell them that its tax-deductible.

And i like the dinner idea, but its another one of those things in NK; people would rather go see the Volleyball game in the Gym.
 
actually, i believe we are labeled that way, because we all have to get ads for the programs and we have to tell them that its tax-deductible.
And i like the dinner idea, but its another one of those things in NK; people would rather go see the Volleyball game in the Gym.

There's a big difference between saying it's tax deductible and actually having the correct 501(c)(3) status. Many people assume that giving to a school is tax deductible and it just isn't true. You have to have the equivalent of a sports booster club set up. There are a lot of very specific rules from the IRS that have to be followed about your accounting. If you do have the correct status then it should be fairly easy for you to contact companies for donations of nice things for fund raising auctions or raffles.
 
resurrecting one of my old posts... does anyone know ANY way to get idk like a $5000 grant?? i checked local theatres and nobody has a lightboard... and ours is dying... its a two-scene preset and Scene 1 spontaneously goes up and down as it pleases, and the school will believe it "works" until it really dies, and we don't have one. What i would REALLy like to get is an Express, but i feel like that's not going to happen
 
resurrecting one of my old posts... does anyone know ANY way to get idk like a $5000 grant?? i checked local theatres and nobody has a lightboard... and ours is dying... its a two-scene preset and Scene 1 spontaneously goes up and down as it pleases, and the school will believe it "works" until it really dies, and we don't have one. What i would REALLy like to get is an Express, but i feel like that's not going to happen

Sell a lot of candy bars...? Sorry I don't have a good answer, money doesn't grow on trees. :lol:
 
You can usually get a used Express 24/48 for around $2590 or $2895. If that'll do you, you could need to raise much less money than you think.
 
the problem is, for the drama club or the music department, who are the people using the space the most, we already don't receive much funding, so $2500 is a lot to get... and this summer our Drama club director wants to Do Peter Pan and fly the characters... and we don't have a fly system, she said we're not doing it unless we raise $5000 to hire this company out of kentucky (i live in rhode island) that flew the traveling shows of Wicked. so there's $5000 that could be put towards a new lightboard... but no, we're paying a ridiculous amount of money instead... and our drama club's director is based around acting, acting... and acting... our school department is currently in a budget freeze, and next year we're going into a 2.5 million dollar deficit... i hate our administration

sorry about my over-bearing complaining
 
the problem is, for the drama club or the music department, who are the people using the space the most, we already don't receive much funding, so $2500 is a lot to get... and this summer our Drama club director wants to Do Peter Pan and fly the characters... and we don't have a fly system, she said we're not doing it unless we raise $5000 to hire this company out of kentucky (i live in rhode island) that flew the traveling shows of Wicked. so there's $5000 that could be put towards a new lightboard... but no, we're paying a ridiculous amount of money instead... and our drama club's director is based around acting, acting... and acting... our school department is currently in a budget freeze, and next year we're going into a 2.5 million dollar deficit... i hate our administration
sorry about my over-bearing complaining

Foy is one of the premiere companies for flying people...

Flying people can get dangerous fast. Take that $5k, and spend it on lighting.
 
That's my opinion too, but as i said, acting is more important, and according to our director who knows nothing about lighting, says that our space is perfect for it, and yells at me everytime it looks bad...

Our only FOH options are PAR64's and our teasers are hung so low that you can't even hit the upstage sections from the FOH electric... and she wonders why the lights ALWAYS hit the teasers.... i could rant all day about this.
 
...Our only FOH options are PAR64's and our teasers are hung so low that you can't even hit the upstage sections from the FOH electric... and she wonders why the lights ALWAYS hit the teasers.... i could rant all day about this.
Sorry I can't help with your fundraising; I'm much better at spending money than raising it.

Don't rant; there's an inexpensive fix. One method the keep the spill light from your FOH PARs from hitting your borders is BlackWrap. Take a 10"x6" piece of it and put one inch of it in the top of the color frame. This gives a handy 5" flap (called a barndoor) which you can fold down until the spill is no longer on the border.

Also, some lengths of 1/2-13 threaded rod and nuts, the lowest one under the yoke being a NyLoc, (available at your local hardware store) may lower your fixtures just enough to get under the front border to light the upstage areas. Don't lower the fixtures so much that they're out of your reach or so that you can't put a safety cable (or two) on them.

All theatre is a compromise of budget, time, and quality, so make the most of what you've got. It's a good lesson to learn early.
 
i try, we usually have a budget of about $25 for lighting for each show we do... and we do have barn doors. but they weigh down too heavy on the front of the fixture and we eventually end up with them pointing down at the front of the house. The threads in the welded nuts and bolts are just beat.... and to replace them would be time, effort and money that we don't have... because as long as one of our technician's is in the auditorium, there has to be teacher or director supervision, and to be honest, they do not want to spend time in the auditorium
 

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