Using your own money

[Les]

I like what [user]seanandkate[/user] does. It was similar as to when I was in high school in that there were two budgets at work. One that the school district provided for us, and one that the program maintained. We had a safe in the director's office where all the revenue from ticket sales went. Those funds were supplemented by fundraisers we would do. Middle school dances were a big one for us. I would bring in my own 'flash-n-trash' dj lights, we'd roll in our portable sound system, invite all three middle schools in our district to our cafeteria (300+ kids usually), hire a police officer, and have ourselves a night! We'd sell popcorn for $1 a bag, and canned drinks for $1 each. Charge $5 for admission, and you've got a money maker! Three to five dances a year would cover all of our 'extra' costs. When something needed a little extra money, the safe opened -- not the director (or student's) wallets.

We found that when we needed extra money (like if we wanted to fly someone in Peter Pan or rent moving lights), it was a win-win situation to pool our department's resources to do an event. No one lost money, and it was a great activity for everyone to do together. I would even make an extra $125 a night for my lighting rental. It also taught a great lesson in entrepreneurship and being proactive. Sometimes you just won't get any money from the school -- especially if there is none to give. So, go out in to the community and make some money! The cool thing is that the district doesn't take away what you don't use at the end of the year!

 

[misterm]

yeah we have our "county budget" that gets replenished every year that comes down from the board office. i use that for expendables such as gaff tape, lamps, etc... and other must haves for the year (this year was microphones). then we have an account of what we make off of ticket sales. unfortunately, our fund-raising is limited due to some extreme restrictions placed on us by the school, but we have done a few of them. the problem comes when its time to do a big musical or something and it takes the entirety of that money just to pay for rights/royalties and other costs. we make a lot happen with very little. i'm currently trying to convinve the superintendent to spend some money to replace the lighting at the auditorium since it hasn't worked in 20 years and we're not the only ones who use it.

 

[Sayen]

I teach high school, and I've spent more money than I want to think of one equipment and gear. Many times it's because I can't get a purchase order in time, or I can't get a purchase order to the store I need to shop at. State law doesn't allow us to be reimbursed "after the fact," or so I'm told, and sometimes I either just can't wait or can't find what I need elsewhere.

Since I control my own budgets I run a balanced sheet, purchasing what I need for a show with school funds based on what I think I can bring in from ticket sales. I've explored a number of different purchasing options over the years - for example, my clubs do not and will not pay for lamps, unless we're the only one using fixtures from my stock.

I think paying with our own money is a bad idea, and more than a slippery slope, but I'll freely admit I do it and have gotten worse about it over the last few years.

 

[Van]

I've posted this same advice on this same topic in other threads but it bears repeating.

DO NOT SPEND YOUR OWN MONEY ON A SHOW YOU ARE WORKING ON. < PERIOD>

That being said I do it all the time. It's a lousy habit to get into. It hurts your business/theatre/school because you are falsely floating the budget.

Misterm you stated that, 'it doesn't matter 'cause they don't know what a show costs...' Well It does matter, and if they don't know then you should tell them. if that takes emails from you and every parent of every theatre student then so be it.

 

[MNicolai]

I've posted this same advice on this same topic in other threads but it bears repeating.

DO NOT SPEND YOUR OWN MONEY ON A SHOW YOU ARE WORKING ON. < PERIOD>

That being said I do it all the time. It's a lousy habit to get into. It hurts your business/theatre/school because you are falsely floating the budget.

Misterm you stated that, 'it doesn't matter 'cause they don't know what a show costs...' Well It does matter, and if they don't know then you should tell them. if that takes emails from you and every parent of every theatre student then so be it.

x2.

When they get a false sense that their giving an adequately sized budget for productions, when money is tight, those are the first budgets to get cut, like cutting into muscle cut. Even when budgets aren't tight, if someone's looking to free up money to buy some newer TV's or desk, they'll usually look to the size of budgets in the arts departments before anything else.

As per a different thread I've got going, this is why anything I provide, I bill them for at an hourly rate plus materials and then at the end discount all of the labor. They can then track what sort of time I'm donating to them and I can get a tax write-off on materials I pay for out of pocket. It's not a bad thing to do when the alternative could be waiting around months for someone to process your receipts, which often involves someone looking at every single item purchased and then judging as to whether or not you should actually be reimbursed for those items. The first time you have to explain to someone in the business office why you want to get reimbursed for a $75 worth of condoms is always a fun conversation.