ETC has a corporate philanthropy
page on their website which lays out for you which qualifications you must meet to be considered for a donation. I've worked at two venues where they donated consoles and a third where they donated fixtures. They have been very generous, though all three theaters are here in Wisconsin and two are academic venues.
I recommend giving it a shot. The worst that happens is your application is denied. As I recall, they review applications twice a year, so know that you may be waiting for a period of time after you submit before you hear back. Gifts could be new product, demo or loaner
stock that's been retired, used equipment that was installed somewhere and has found its way back into
ETC's possession. I know when they gave us the one
console they tore it all apart, put it all back together, gave it new
LCD screens for the
fader banks, and ran it through a barrage of tests before delivering it. They want to make sure they're giving you a solid product, even if they're not selling it to you.
I have not heard of other manufacturers offering this but I suspect if you ask around you may find some. I think you'll find that the criteria
ETC lays out for good candidates for philanthropy is a strong set of criteria that other manufacturers as well. For that matter, you can apply the same application process to write for grants from other institutions. Sometimes these places don't get many applications, so your odds are far better than you may think. Sometimes they get inundated with applications so you shouldn't feel bad if your application was rejected. I'd say that as you look at opportunities to write for grants, consider that the grants you think may be too difficult to write for or that you may not have much of a chance at, are likely the same grants other people are not writing for because they think the same. I'm not saying you will get every grant you write for, but you'd be surprised how much money is out there if you figure out who to ask and how to ask for it.
Also consider that there may be funding sources within your college or university
system that will
cover quite a
bit if you know which questions to ask and of whom. University of Wisconsin
system, for example, has a Small Projects program that you can apply for up to $150,000 or so for capital projects. The State foots the bill, sets you up with a consultant who will design your enhancements for you, and gets the project bid out for you. UW has another program called the student tech fee, which may accumulate over a million dollars a year that has to be directed to enhancements of technology in ways that are accessible to the public (i.e., you can't use it to upgrade computers in a classroom as that is a solely academic, non-public improvement). The application process and particular rules vary from campus to campus, but representatives of the student body review the applications and approve use of the funds.
Just gotta know who to ask...
