Using your own money

[Grog12]

i know its not the best solution and certainly not ideal, but i usually have to buy stuff on my own dime when the budget runs out. i try to keep $100 budgeted out every month for lumber/tools/paint/other supplies i may need to buy for the theatre when i cant wait for the board office to approve purchase orders (3 weeks sometimes) or we just dont have the money.

[user]misterm[/user] brought this up in another thread, and as opposed to hijacking it I though we could have some conversation around this here.

For those of us in education, non-profit, community and even regional theatre this is a practice and a fact of life. But what are some of the long term pitfals of it? When is it ok to do? And when should you avoid it at all costs?

This subject is very near and dear to my heart because I've answered all three of those questions repeatedly in the past 3 months and I'm happy to share my thoughts but thought I'd see what others said first.

 

[MarshallPope]

I realize that I don't have -that- much experience, but here are my thoughts, coming from being involved in theatre in high school and college, and productions at my church (I realize that this is quite a bit different, but I'm including it for the sake of argument). I don't mind contributing to shows. In both high school and college, I don't have a problem with contributing up to $50 or so to a show, usually if it will in some way make my life easier. I pitched in to help buy an old player piano from the Salvation Army for a musical in high school, I've purchased bits and pieces for a cauldron that needed to hold chilled fog for a college show, etc. For church productions, I am willing to contribute quite a bit more. 1) because I see it as a big portion of my ministry and 2) because I usually design the shows and have more stake in making it look good, and know that it won't be done to my expectations if I don't contribute $100 or $200.

 

[CSCTech]

Coming from a venue with limited funding, Or much direction in technical theatre, I don't mind buying things or making things myself to use for a show. Not like I would ever spend much, but tape, some gel, a gobo maybe, desk lamps, etc. no big deal. I still take ownership of these items though and mostly only let the rest of the tech crew touch anything I have brought in if at all. Sure I could always get things ordered from the school or get reimbursed, but waiting 3 week for a role of tape doesn't seem to bright when I could go 5 minutes down the road and get a roll of tape I use personally anyways.

 

[zmb]

I have had to contribute money for junior high shows before just like everyone else in the production. For what I am getting out (education and experience) and the quality of the production, I don't mind.

I do keep my own swatch book, writing stuff, wrench, and etc. because it's something that I'll use at multiple times and places.

 

[Grog12]

I have had to contribute money for junior high shows before just like everyone else in the production.

Not quite what we're talking about here. There's a difference between commitments and shelling out of your own pocket because you can.

 

[mjw56]

I dont mind buying a few things to get through the show, even if i don't claim them when i leave. Our last show, the man who came to dinner, wasnt a problem because i bid out the materials and just set up a credit account on behalf of the school with the lowest bidder. We did a lot of other things though like a new hanging projector mount, new amp and mic receiver rack, new ladder to the grid, among others. by the end of the show myself and the LD had over 1000$ in expenses from Lowes Depot and BMI. What has clamped my wallet shut for this show is that all purchases must be approved my two people who are not involved in the theater. I'm worried that if i submit a receipt they wont pay it.

 

[WooferHound]

I work in a large theater that the City owns. We are generally well stocked and don't really need anything else. But I am not afraid to buy something for the theater that will make my job easier. I will always leave these items at the venue to help others that work there besides me. I usually put in about $20 a month and it doesn't bother me at all. I am constantly making custom adapter cables for the sound and lighting systems, or custom length cables that are intended to be installed permanently at some particular location.

Our Hall is being remodeled at this time and will reopen within a month. The sound & lighting system have been both replaced and I expect that there will be plenty of custom cabling need to make my job easier.

 

[misterm]

is it ok to reply to a thread started by my comment? lol
i've already told my girlfriend that when we get married, i'm going to have a $100 per month budget that goes into theatre stuff. she understands because she's seen that i won't accept anything less than the best. when i arrived at this school, we only had the 2500 that the county BOE gave us. well, we had no lumber, no costumes, no existing set, no tools, a very basic make-up kit, and our lighting didn't work (still doesn't). i probably shelled out $500 that first year to get things off the ground since the teacher before me had spent all the money on some stage boxes and other random things. we did a competition and a short show with the worklights on. wasn't great, but it was a start. the next year i spent around $1000 all told and got a few local companies to sponsor us. we did "Little Shop of Horrors" and brought in some cash. now that we've built up that cash buffer, i always triple check my accounts and what i'm buying before i make the decision to use my own money. the long term pitfall is that now i'm used to spending money on stuff, its easier for me to do it rather than find room in the existing budget so i've had to really reel myself in when i go to Lowe's and see a drill or saw i want. i've had to dip into my savings account several times because i went overboard for the month. but i've really had to become a more frugal producer and buyer. i've had to be more conscientious about how much things cost so i can stretch every little penny as far as it will go before i use my personal money. even if it means buying some cheap LED's on the prom's budget to use at dances as long as i can use them for shows as well.
its not about putting money in because you can like grog said. its about wanting the best for your program. it takes money to make money. if your program can afford to buy materials and such, then you shouldn't use your own cash because then they're more likely to use you because they've seen how loose you can be with your wallet. our program is growing and i'm having to spend less and less of my own, but those first few years were tough on me financially, and it still is sometimes. its a matter of commitment, not to the art necessarily, but to my students. they deserve just as much experience as anyone else and i want to provide it for them. i love seeing their excitement when we are able to do something bigger or better than we used to because it drives them to work that much harder. that goes beyond the "job" and the money.

 

[jonliles]

I operate by, if it makes my life easier then I usually buy it. I know what my discretionary spending allowance is every month and I stay within that. Occasionally I will flex the plastic and pay it off over a couple of months for larger pruchases, but these are items that will stay with me for a long time.

If I know that the company/booster club/school will reimburse me, I'll submit a receipt -especially for lamps consumed, pieces rented, cabling.

For Gels, over the years I have built up quite a stock, I don' t mind spending a few bucks on gels and eating the cost - I get to keep whatever is left over. 3 file folder portable bins and a full under bed container later, I don't have to buy as much anymore.

Tools, well they are mine. I don't mind sharing them and I usually teach junor techs how to properly use hand tools. Since I work mostly with HS's as a parent volunteer, at the end of the day, my tools go with me.

Same way with the instruments, packs, boards & misc mic's I own. I'll gladly loan them out. Occassionally I loan them for a fee - that just helps to defer my storage unit costs (wifey poo no longer lets me keep them in the garage). If I loan a instrument out, I do expect whomever to replace the lamp if it burns out.

Although, I do need to get off of my rear end and post some items on the classifieds so I can buy other toys. I'm saving up for a small mixer, not sure what I want yet, but I'm still setting cash aside.

 

[JChenault]

Just curious - If you are spending your money for things the venue needs ( and it is a non-profit venue ) should you ask for a gift letter for the IRS?

This would be good because it lets you take a deduction, and ( more importantly) may show the powers that be that you are spending your own money. It also shows you just how much you are spending on things.


Possible downsides in a toxic organization ( **** troublemaker trying to get paperwork out of me - or - That tech is making too much money since he gives some to us) but in a rational organization it seems like ti might get the point accross.

 

[jonliles]

Just curious - If you are spending your money for things the venue needs ( and it is a non-profit venue ) should you ask for a gift letter for the IRS?

You're right and I do. If I am working with the HS down the street, then I usually donate all my materials. I submit receipts to the booster club and they provide me a donation letter. Every 501(c)(3) I have worked has never given me a problem about tax letters (again just submitting receipts).

It really boils down to the relation I have with that not-for-profit organization. Depending on the organization, I will either submit a receipt for tax letter or submit an invoice for re-imbursement. With items that should be part of operations (lamps), I usually request reimbursement. Before I buy anything for any organization, I seek out the appropriate powers-that-be and grab an approval either written or email.

I whole heartedly encourage everyone to seek out a donation letter anytime they are working a 501(c)(3) or Booster Club and they give material to them.

 

[Footer]

I personally won't do this. First, because I am not paid enough as it stands, second it is a bit of a trap. Spending your own money is a slippery slope. If you spend an extra 100 bucks on a show then the artistic director/board did not have to spend that money. That leads to that team thinking that budgets are decent and they will not be increased the next year. However, if you either don't spend the money or you get the artistic team to shell out a few more bucks then they will see the need and try to increase the budgets the next year. My rule with budgets is to always spend everything you get. Don't go over, but don't go under either.

For the people that teach/work at churches/low end community theatre then by all means throw your cash at it. That is a completely different world then the one I am working in.

 

[jstroming]

I absolutely do this. I love what I do (most of the time), and it's my choice whether or not I put money into it. Nobody is holding a gun to my head telling me I need to buy things to make shows happen. Is that what they're doing?

Plus, no offense to Footer, but most everyone I know thinks they aren't paid enough for the job they do. Actually, I don't think I've ever met anyone in the production industry who thinks they're overpaid HAHA.

Lastly, I think if you feel that your budget will get reduced because you spend $100 on something to make your life easier, then your probably in a bad working environment and should find another job. I wouldn't want to work for an organization like that!

 

[Grog12]

My thoughts will echo some that have been allready posted.

1. Footer brings up the point I'm most concerned about. When you spend money out of your own pocket and aren't reimbursed for it you're only serving to hurt your company in the long run. Board members, Executive Directors, even Artistic Directors don't always understand that old principal of Time, Money, Quality. They're only concerned with bottom lines. If you eat a $20 expense because filling out the reimburment paperwork is a pain in the keester they assume you did for the number they in on the books. My first year at my current job both of my bosses and I were notourius for eating reciepts so we came in under budget on paper. Guess what our budgets shrunk and the board expected our quality to stay the same. In the long term we thought we were helping but in actuallity we weren't.

2. In the short term there are times where you just have to drop a few bucks. I buy tools all the time that are "mine" but never leave the theatre. I was recently in a situation where I donated the rental of a hazer and gafftape because there was no way my company could spend money on them, but without them the show would have ground to a halt. In this case I made the descision to spend my own money because without it the show (a fundraiser) wouldn't have gone on. And without what we raised there was a good chance I wouldn't have a job today.

3. I spend my money constanlty. And I keep track of it and get reimbursed for it. What I have been lax in doing is making sure to keep copies of my reciepts for myself come tax time. Thats something to watch for cause it can bite you in the bum.

 

[seanandkate]

When I started teaching theatre 19 years ago, yea, I did a fair bit of that. And any gear I owned turned into de facto free rental gear for the school. If I needed to pick up consumables for a show, I picked them up on my dime.
But that's not special in the teaching profession by any means. I wouldn't want to compare what I spend with what some of my elementary school colleagues probably drop per year. Just on bulletin boards. It's even more prevalent for drama teachers to pay for something out of pocket, then wait for a month (possibly after much justification to higher-ups) to hopefully get their money back. I have a similar hate-on for the fact that students who find and purchase props and costume stuff have to wait a similar period of time.
I now keep all my own funds from box office revenue, so at any time I have a fairly substantial cash float so I can pay myself or students back immediately, or, dare I say, use that money to pay for things up front.
Do I think that educators should even be in a position where they feel they have to spend their own money to improve their program? Absolutely not. I do think it speaks to their love of what they do, though, that they value it enough to back it with their own hard earned cash. I have yet to have hear of, say, an auto mechanic paying for a set of spark plugs for a customer because they really love the sound of a well tuned car...

 

[Footer]

Lastly, I think if you feel that your budget will get reduced because you spend $100 on something to make your life easier, then your probably in a bad working environment and should find another job. I wouldn't want to work for an organization like that!

Its not really a reduction, its more of a my budget won't go up. If I am sitting in a production meeting and a designer wants X and I can only pay for Y, I let that be known. It we need more cash for a show, I tell my GM that I need more cash and we try to get it. If we do that over and over again, maybe the board will consider RAISING my budget the next year for that specific slot of show. If I simply ate the cost of X over Y, I would be in the exact same situation next year and with the same budgets. Board members think in dollars, period. If you can get by with it one year, you can get by with it the next.

I don't work in a bad work environment. I truly love my job. However, it is a business just like any other. Yes, we are a 501c3 but we still have a bottom line. It is not worth it to me to put my own money into the shows. We have plenty of donors to the theatre that all make 10x what I make. We have a great board who supports what I do. If I need money, I want it to come from someone who it will not hurt nearly as much as me. A hundred dollars to me is worth a lot more then a hundred dollars to a local doctor.

 

[misterm]

my problem with reimbursement comes in that i have to get reimbursed from the same drama accounts that are already dry (thus the reason for using my cash).

 

[Grog12]

my problem with reimbursement comes in that i have to get reimbursed from the same drama accounts that are already dry (thus the reason for using my cash).

So how are those that hold the purse strings to know the show cost more if you don't let them?

 

[misterm]

So how are those that hold the purse strings to know the show cost more if you don't let them?

because its a fixed amount that comes down from the board office based on the overall school system budget. they don't know me, or see any shows, or really care. the powers that be have no idea how much shows cost to produce because they've never seen any shows and don't know what it takes. plus, we have no input as to how much the arts budgets should have. for the past few years, we've all had cuts, from band to chorus to art. there is absolutely no input from the teachers. a few years ago when we got a principle, he asked us to put together a budget request, but it was a mere formality. despite what we requested, what we got was the same as the previous year.

 

[Morydd]

I'll spend my own money if I'm going to be reimbursed. Sometimes I'll eat 5 dollars simply because the time required to keep track of the receipt and the paperwork is worth less than the $5 to me. However, I'm in agreement with the people that say if the people who make the budgets don't know what it actually costs to put on the productions, you're hurting yourself in the long run. I think, in an educational environment, it's also important that the students see what it costs to do what they love. Too often students look at the sports teams and see the huge amounts of money spent and feel they get nothing. While I'm not convinced that the distribution of funds is entirely equitable, at least in my present position, the district does give the theater program pretty decent funding, and I want the kids to know that. I also want them to see that you can do a _lot_ with limited resources. To me, that's one of the most important lessons that theater teaches is that spending money isn't always the answer to problem solving.