High School Stage Crew Fundraising Ideas

Not to be Mr. Negative but most of the ideas above are likely to earn you a few hundred dollars... a few are good for a few thousand. That's enough to buy a few new lighting instruments, replace some old lamps, buy you some gel. If things really are dramatically out of date... then you may need new dimmer racks, amplifiers, curtains, electrical work, raceways, repair work to the rigging system... you may be looking at several hundred thousand dollars... Making $200 on a car wash won't help.

So first, I suggest we start this thread over by you posting a "help me asses my system needs" thread in both the sound and lighting forums. Tell us what equipment you do have, and how you use it. Post as many pictures as possible of your theater and equipment. Let some of the pros around here help you assess your system. Nothing personal but we've had a lot of threads in the past where a student says their system is junk when in actuality it's an excellent system but no one knows how to use it. A little training, and some maintenance and you may have some perfectly functional equipment. I know lots of theaters using lighting equipment that's from the 80's and getting through just fine.

Second, if we determine that you really do need to replace a lot of gear, in order to earn that kind of money then you need grants and major tax deductible donations. In order to get those you need a organization with 501c3 non-profit status. Schools don't have that status so people who donate things to you can't get a tax deduction. It typically requires a booster club. Odds are good your band boosters or sports boosters have a 501c3. It may be possible for you to use their status... talk to them. It's not hard to set up a 501c3 of your own but you need several committed parents to be involved and operate it... I don't think it's legal for a student to set one up. Get the 501c3... and a better economy... and you'll find rich people are happy to give you money or donate things for you to auction off. I know a high school that has a drama booster club that raises over $25,000 in one night. It takes a lot of work, a lot of committed parents, and a lot of time but you can do it yourself.

Finally going off on a tangent... but I'm suspicious it's relevant. Typically high school theaters with neglected equipment like yours are operating extrememly dangerous fly system and don't know it. Do you have a fly system where you can raise and lower things or are your pipes over the stage dead hung (attach directly by chain to the ceiling)? If you can fly things in and out, when was the last time it was inspected by a REAL professional? CB rules say I can't give you advice about rigging here. However, if you have pipes that fly in and out they need to be inspected by yearly by someone who knows what they are doing and a REAL professional needs to come in every 3-5 years for a full inspection (depending on the system age). Ropes wear out and need to be replaced... If no one in the school can remember when the ropes were replaced you've potentially got a very serious dangerous problem on your hands. If they haven't been inspected recently then the most important thing you can do before anything else is get them inspected.

I emphasize the word REAL professional because some school districts send out a maintenance guy who normal fixes leaky roofs or cleans up graffiti and call it a rigging inspection. These people don't know how to do a rigging inspection. Out of the 700 or so active CB members there are probably 40-50 (like myself) who know how to do a good annual inspection. There are probably less than 10 members who are really qualified to do a full inspection.

When lights fail the show is dark.
When sound fails the show is quiet.
When rigging fails people die.
It's THAT important.
 
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Not to be Mr. Negative but most of the ideas above are likely to earn you a few hundred dollars... a few are good for a few thousand. That's enough to buy a few new lighting instruments, replace some old lamps, buy you some gel. If things really are dramatically out of date... then you may need new dimmer racks, amplifiers, curtains, electrical work, raceways, repair work to the rigging system... you may be looking at several hundred thousand dollars... Making $200 on a car wash won't help.

So first, I suggest we start this thread over by you posting a "help me asses my system needs" thread in both the sound and lighting forums. Tell us what equipment you do have, and how you use it. Post as many pictures as possible of your theater and equipment. Let some of the pros around here help you assess your system. Nothing personal but we've had a lot of threads in the past where a student says their system is junk when in actuality it's an excellent system but no one knows how to use it. A little training, and some maintenance and you may have some perfectly functional equipment. I know lots of theaters using lighting equipment that's from the 80's and getting through just fine.

Second, if we determine that you really do need to replace a lot of gear, in order to earn that kind of money then you need grants and major tax deductible donations. In order to get those you need a organization with 501c3 non-profit status. Schools don't have that status so people who donate things to you can't get a tax deduction. It typically requires a booster club. Odds are good your band boosters or sports boosters have a 501c3. It may be possible for you to use their status... talk to them. It's not hard to set up a 501c3 of your own but you need several committed parents to be involved and operate it... I don't think it's legal for a student to set one up. Get the 501c3... and a better economy... and you'll find rich people are happy to give you money or donate things for you to auction off. I know a high school that has a drama booster club that raises over $25,000 in one night. It takes a lot of work, a lot of committed parents, and a lot of time but you can do it yourself.

Finally going off on a tangent... but I'm suspicious it's relevant. Typically high school theaters with neglected equipment like yours are operating extrememly dangerous fly system and don't know it. Do you have a fly system where you can raise and lower things or are your pipes over the stage dead hung (attach directly by chain to the ceiling)? If you can fly things in and out, when was the last time it was inspected by a REAL professional? CB rules say I can't give you advice about rigging here. However, if you have pipes that fly in and out they need to be inspected by yearly by someone who knows what they are doing and a REAL professional needs to come in every 3-5 years for a full inspection (depending on the system age). Ropes wear out and need to be replaced... If no one in the school can remember when the ropes were replaced you've potentially got a very serious dangerous problem on your hands. If they haven't been inspected recently then the most important thing you can do before anything else is get them inspected.

I emphasize the word REAL professional because some school districts send out a maintenance guy who normal fixes leaky roofs or cleans up graffiti and call it a rigging inspection. These people don't know how to do a rigging inspection. Out of the 700 or so active CB members there are probably 40-50 (like myself) who know how to do a good annual inspection. There are probably less than 10 members who are really qualified to do a full inspection.

When lights fail the show is dark.
When sound fails the show is quiet.
When rigging fails people die.
It's THAT important.

Thanks for all of the advice. First off, a lot of our equipment is in good working order and would be usable with some repairs or replaced lenses or other fix-ups of the sort, however, some of it, just is beyond it's useful limits. For example, we've had a company come in to help us fix up our sound system, our wireless system is notorious for dropping the signals, we're told due to the construction of the room. This is a reputable company we've been doing business with for a long time, they service almost all of the schools districts in the county, and our tech director worked for them for a while. They basically told us we have the worst installation for a high school that they've ever seen. They offered a few suggestions, but they said to see any major improvments, we more or less need to redo the system.

Lighting is it's own category, though it's slowly getting on the right track from some surprise upgrades that have been showing up (nobody's really sure where the money's coming from, somebody just showed up a couples weeks ago and was like I'm here to upgrade the brain on your dimmer rack. Our electrician hooks us up from time to time). The big problem with lighting is that we're finding we've outgrown our system. 48 dimmers has been very tight on the past couple shows. I have room to add another 48 dimmers in my rack, but I don't have the money for additional dimmers let alone additional distribution. We've also been starting to use intels in our shows. With all 48 dimmers loaded up and 5 mac's, it's somewhat of a hassel to use our Express 24/48, so we've been renting a 48/96 for the shows. We'd like to upgrade the board for that fact as well.

As for the rigging system. You bring up a very valid point, and one that we tend to overlook. The last time a true professional was in to look at it was when we noticed one of the pulley's coming off the ceiling, and this is when I was still a student at the school, so we're talking almost 7-8 years ago. I'll definately make the recommendation to have someone give us a checkup. We've been working on our safety issues over the past year, but that's one that I don't think has really occurred to any of us working in there. The district does have a contract with somebody who takes care of all the stage related things, but for the most part, he doesn't really know what's going on...
 
Oh, and before I get completely ripped apart for not having the rigging looked at in 7-8 (which I understand is a **** good reason to get ripped apart for), I should point out that when they were in the last time to fix the pully falling off the ceiling, they completely replaced all of the ropes and hardware because they determined it to be an accident waiting to happen. That and the fact that the rigging gets used maybe 4 weeks out of the year, 6 on a busy year also lends to the fact that none of it should be worn out yet.

Don't take that as I'm not going to get someone in to give us a check-up though. I'll be sending that email out momentarily to make sure someone comes in hopefully before our drama at the beginning of September.
 
A dangerous situation can develop very quickly in a rigging system. If just one of those cables get's out of alignment a bit it'll start sawing it's way through things fast. Thus the reason someone with some basic training should look every year for major signs of wear. If you can, be there when the pro comes to check the system. Follow him around and ask him to give you the basics of what you should look for in a yearly inspection.

Since your system is 8 years old it's definitely due for inspection but I've seen school theaters that haven't had an inspection since the ropes were installed 30+ years ago... so it could be a LOT worse.

As for your dimmer needs, I'm no pro but I would guess you are looking at $75k+ to install the other 48 dimmers and distribution. Add a console and some new fixtures and you are over $100k really fast. You can't possibly raise that much money on bake sales and car washes. You need grants, large fund raisers, and donations from rich people. So start looking at that 501c3.

You might actually find it easier to start working the school board to be included in the next capital improvement project they are working on. Get a bunch of parents and students to support you and start pushing pressure on to support the arts. They will listen if they think someone cares. All they know is a lot of parents and alumni go to football games. If no one ever goes down there and says, "Hey you spent $2 million on astroturf, Give us $400k to upgrade the theater!", they won't even consider giving you the money. Maybe find an alumni or parent who is an architect to help you put together a package of what could be done. Good things happen to those who dream big and push for big things.
 
Two of our main fundraisers...

1. Battle of the Bands.
7-8 student bands compete for the title of winner with judges picked from the local music scene. Tickets are $10.

2. Stadium Clean-ups. Saturday mornings (after home football games) we clean up the stands, recieving the money that the school would otherwise pay some people or company to do the same work. I'm not exactly sure how much this brings in, but I can find out if you think this is something you may be willing/able to do.
 
To show a movie, you need to obtain licensing. Firms like Swank Film will license you film for profit and non-profit use.

If you have video projection capability, get a hold of the latest "in" game and hold a pay for play game tournament. Halo 3 or Gears of War at 25x30' is always gathers a crowd. A Madden Bowl works EXTREMELY well too. For audience fun, hook up DDR or Guitar Hero or Rock Band. Then you can charge for audience admission. ($10-$15 to participate, $1-$3 for audience). You will make a nice tidy bundle and get great buzz in your school for the program.

To placate annoying administrators, use E or T rated games. Stay away from M rated titles.

You need one nice prize, see if a local GameSpot will Sponsor the event and Donate a Console for the Grand Prize (360, Wii, or PS3).

There can be some considerable planning to make it work well, but it can be a big hit.
 
Our theatre has used ads in the program since forever. The director sets a goal for the cast and crew, and they go out and sell the ads. Our average ad income for a full scale musical is $3-4000! I'm sure your director wouldn't mind the cash cluttering up the program.
 
Our theatre has used ads in the program since forever. The director sets a goal for the cast and crew, and they go out and sell the ads. Our average ad income for a full scale musical is $3-4000! I'm sure your director wouldn't mind the cash cluttering up the program.

Unfortunately, nope, he's completely against the ads, even if it will bring in a decent amount of money.


On a side note, I found out there's a bit of a hitch with fundraising of any sort in my situation, as in we're not allowed, period. Allow me to explain:

Our stage crew (tech), stage craft (sets), and the performers are all considered one "club" in the eyes of the school, The Masque and Wig "club". I put "club" in quotations, because it's technically not a club, which means there are technically no funds anywhere for the group to use, no reserves to tap into. Technically speaking, the group is a district organization, which means our funding comes directly from the school district (and therefore every dime we spend needs to go through a BOE vote for approval). The differences financially speaking are that a club has a maximum operating limit financially of $2000/yr whereas a district organization doesn't have a cap as the money is coming straight from the district, which is why as a group we are able to spend $10k on a show.

If we want something, we can ask to purchase it, but we have to go through the painstaking process of getting BOE approval for each individual purchase. All purchases over $400 (independent of who you are; i.e. club, organization, department, whatever...) have to go through the BOE, it's just in our case we're asking to use district money as opposed to funds that were raised by the club. And if we propose something large, well, either we need to have reasoning along the lines of "our show cannot go on without this" or it tends to get shot down by the BOE. :evil:

I found this out in a discussion with my friend who was the LD before me who now teaches at the school. Explained a lot to me about why we always have so much trouble getting things. I hate school politics...
Does anybody else's district do things this way or is our school just retarded?
 
That's ridiculous. I can't believe they would limit you guys so much. I mean honestly, this is money we're talking about here. Most people wouldn't turn down free money...
 
That's ridiculous. I can't believe they would limit you guys so much. I mean honestly, this is money we're talking about here. Most people wouldn't turn down free money...

I have turned down "free" money on occasion, when it came with strings attached. Sometimes free money isn't quite so free.

No I'm not going to go into details, as this was so long ago that I don't really remember all the details and clearly wasn't important enough for me to keep them in mind.:rolleyes:
 
... I hate school politics...
Does anybody else's district do things this way or is our school just retarded?

This applies more to colleges and universities than high schools, but it does explain a lot about school district administration.....

New Element Discovered

The heaviest element known to science was recently discovered by physicists al Cal-Poly. The element, tentatively named Administratium (Ad), has no protons or electrons, which means that its atomic number is zero. However, it does have one neutron, 125 assistants to the neutron, 75 vice-neutrons, and 111 assistants to the vice-neutrons. This gives it an atomic mass number of 312. The 312 particles are held together in the nucleus by a force that involves the continuous exchange of meson-like particles called memoons.

Since it has no electrons, Administratium is inert. However, it can be detected chemically because it seems to impede every reaction in which it is present. According to Dr. Phillips, one of the discoverers of the element, a very small amount of Administratium made one reaction that normally takes a few seconds take over four days.

Administratium has a half-life of approximately three years, at which time it does not actually decay. Instead, it undergoes a reorganization in which assistants to the neutron, vice-neutrons, and assistants to the vice-neutrons all change places. Some studies have indicated that the atomic mass number actually increases after each reorganization.

Administratium was discovered by accident when Dr. Phillips angrily resigned the chairmanship of the physics department and dumped all of his papers into the intake slot of the university's particle accelerator.

Research at other facilities seems to indicate that Administratium might occur naturally in the atmosphere. According to one scientist, Administratium is most likely to be found on college and university campuses, near the best-appointed and best-maintained buildings.
 
What you will have to do to get around this is what the other programs often go through. You will need some parents to set up a booster club that is a 501c.3 not-for-profit organization that can then donate supplies to your program. In that manner, you can set up wish lists and raise money for your program. You won't be able to make improvements to the facility.

more later
 
This applies more to colleges and universities than high schools, but it does explain a lot about school district administration.....

That's great!


As for a booster, I'm not overly familar with how they work. I know that the music department just recently set one up, but I really don't know much of anything about them. From the suggestions here, it does seem like a good idea though.

And from my understanding (again, I'm not technically faculty so I don't know all the nitty-gritty details of how this all works) the issue with fundraising is that the money doesn't have an account to go into once we were to get it, and apparently because of how things are organized, they're not willing to give us an account. All of the ticket sales go through student council straight back to the district. It's such a mess, and they've implemented so many new rules this year because of other districts administration mis-spending, it's like trying to break through a concrete wall with a toothpick.
 
As for a booster, I'm not overly familar with how they work. I know that the music department just recently set one up, but I really don't know much of anything about them. From the suggestions here, it does seem like a good idea though.

And from my understanding (again, I'm not technically faculty so I don't know all the nitty-gritty details of how this all works) the issue with fundraising is that the money doesn't have an account to go into once we were to get it, and apparently because of how things are organized, they're not willing to give us an account. All of the ticket sales go through student council straight back to the district. It's such a mess, and they've implemented so many new rules this year because of other districts administration mis-spending, it's like trying to break through a concrete wall with a toothpick.

Booster organizations are set up entirely separate from the district. They would have their own bank account as part of their non-profit status. The difficulty you will find is having enough parents dedicate their time to it. Since the band usually has much larger participation (on a regular basis) than theater, there are more active parents. Once they get set up, they can also qualify for donations from some grocery stores (who use the shopper cards to donate to specific charities).

Once you have the parents of the theater program develop the booster club, a whole world of opportunities come to you for fundraising.
 
Has anyone checked out this book?

edit: oops
 
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While not exactly the same, my school has similar restrictions.

My school is a private school, but even still for some UNKNOWN REASON, our theatre department cannot raise money for itself. it has nothing to do with a district or BOE, but it seems to be the schools ruling. if anyone could give me a reason as to why, I would love it.

But at the same time, I'm extremely confused. While we cant fundraise for our theatre, we can fundraise for our USITT high school student chapter for us to go to Cincinnati this year. WHY?
 
But at the same time, I'm extremely confused. While we cant fundraise for our theatre, we can fundraise for our USITT high school student chapter for us to go to Cincinnati this year. WHY?

I'm no expert (I try to stay away from money politics as much as possible; life is much easier that way) -- but the first thing that pops to my mind is that your USITT chapter is a separate student organization rather than a department of the school. The rules (at least on your campus) may be different for the two sorts.

Or it could be the effects of Administratium.
 
Wow. Lots of great fundraising ideas. A couple more that I have used:
We do an annual show for kids' audiences. I generally take traditional fairy tales and create a story-theatre kind of script with them. It's fairly easy to do and gives lots of roles for as big or as small a cast as you want. Then we sell 9 matinee performances in our 200 seat studio theatre to the elementary schools in our area at the rate of $3 per person. The show always sells out.
And we do a couple of evening performances (same night...one at 5:30 pm and one at 7 pm) for $5 a person....also sell outs....and we make about $6000. The costs for the show are usually under $1000 so we make a nice profit.
Also I don't know if you've ever tried theatre sports (two teams of competative improv actors sort of like Whose Line is it Anyway) but after training your acting students, it's an easy show to stage when you have down nights during the year, and it has proven to be very popular with student and general audiences.
Hope that helps.
Neal
 
while it does not sound like my theater is in as bad of a situation as yours I can relate. It seems our administration only likes to give money to the theater when something completely fails or needs to be replaced. They do not seem to believe in preventive maintenance or any sort of real regular maintenance except for our fly system for safety reasons. I believe it is because of this lack of care that our 15 year old theater is falling apart.

The most aggravating part of all this mismanagement is that the people who make the decisions know nothing about the space and refuse to listen to those below them that do. I think this problem is mainly caused by the fact that our theater budget (not drama) fall under the music department and is controlled by the music department head.
 

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