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raising money?

N

notabob

Sep 20, 2003
502
3
37
cincinnati ohio
www.colourofacasualty.com
#1
ok, i am in a hardcore band based in hamilton, ohio and we gotta raise $500 a piece to get to texas this summer, toting all of our gear with us ON AN AIRPLANE! we have demos we can sell, but at $2 a piece it doesnt come fast. we have a steady line of shows but unfortunately we dont get paid for any of them. we are going to texas because we won some competition thing and we are going to nationals sometime in august. i dont know any more details than that. hopefully there is a reward involved in this...anyways, do you guys have any fundraising ideas that we could possibly do? any ideas at all are much appreciated.

oops. it is august 2-7 in san antonio and its INTERNATIONALS, not nationals.
 
#2
Merch? Get shirts printed, theyre not too expensive, and sell them $10+ a piece to your fans. You can get good prices for shirts at places like [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] (no im not affiliated with them, I just found them and saved the link for future needs).

Im sure there are other good sites as well. You can also get buttons, stickers, hoodies, cd labels, etc from various companies.

Since you arent getting paid for any of your shows (which is weird, you really should get some paying shows if you need money), you could always like set up a guitar case for donations or whatever, put alittle sign on it saying "donations to get us to TX" or whatever.

Just a few ideas. Im in a hardcore, and a metalcore band, so i know how it goes.
 
#3
Not meaning to pee in your corn flakes....but what's so special about Texas? I've lived there...and there's already plenty of bands there.

My point is, is this really that great an opportunity? If you don't even have paying gigs now, is going to Texas somehow going to make everything magically fulfill all your band's hopes and dreams?

I hate to bring you down, but that kinda seems like a pipe dream. IMHO learn how to get good paying gigs around your area first, then build from there....


And from what I've seen, "competitions" only seem to benefit the promoters. Many of them (most?) are rigged.

Sorry for the cheerful opinion, good luck. (The "donations to get us to TX" is a pretty good idea, might get you a few bucks)
 
#4
one thing that worked really well at my high school was selling krispy kreme donuts. The sophomore class did it and earned enough to pay for their semiformal dance. Advertise the donuts in your HS, buy a ton at a lowered bulk rate from a local krispy kreme, and sell them at inflates prices, a buck for one or $7 a dozen.
Just a thought
~spots
 
#5
nashvillebill said:
Not meaning to pee in your corn flakes....but what's so special about Texas? I've lived there...and there's already plenty of bands there.

My point is, is this really that great an opportunity? If you don't even have paying gigs now, is going to Texas somehow going to make everything magically fulfill all your band's hopes and dreams?

I hate to bring you down, but that kinda seems like a pipe dream. IMHO learn how to get good paying gigs around your area first, then build from there....


And from what I've seen, "competitions" only seem to benefit the promoters. Many of them (most?) are rigged.

Sorry for the cheerful opinion, good luck. (The "donations to get us to TX" is a pretty good idea, might get you a few bucks)
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same things.
 
#6
Is the $500 a piece tag paying for your choice of airline ticket and your choice of accomodation when you get there? Or is it an inclusive "special price" put together by the event organiser?

In the latter event, I'd want to check things out a bit. If the prize money for the winning bands comes from the pockets of the losers, then it sounds a bit like a pay to play racket. Weight it up carefully; $500 dollars of local promotion might do you more good than $500 per person to haul yourselves out to San Antonio, especially if even winning is going to happen on the backs of a lot of other musicians who are going to be down $500 a pop.

Wulf
 
#7
no, this isnt really a life changing competition, we probably wont even get paid. but, we want to do it anyways because it will be a lot of fun. the reason we have no paying shows is because we are a christian hardcore band. while the scene is pretty developed around here, most of our shows are at the places where they are going out of business unless they get a lot of people in and it helps to have free bands. so, is going to texas going to change anything for us? no. whats the point then? its gonna be a ton of fun and stuff. the whole thing is kinda shady at this point, but they do this every year so i assume they will send out more info. i didnt ask you guys to question why we were going, just to give me some advice for getting money to get there.
 
#8
Don't fret about it - the questions I and others have raised are not, as nashvillebill so eloquently put it, "to piss on your cornflakes" (!!!) but just out of a friendly concern to help you consider all aspects of the situation. If it's a rip-off situation, there are good, ethical reasons for not supporting it; if it's all above board, there might be ways to keep the cost down which will make the task of raising 'fundage' that much easier.

For example, what about hiring a vehicle and driving down there? It's a long haul but not that much more than the Houston to Atlanta round trip I did in 2001. A tour bus could be your transport, storage and home and might work out cheaper even if you have to add a couple of days to your expedition to cover the drivetime.

Anyway, as far as money raising ideas, how about some benefit gigs for yourselves? If you can support your local venues by doing free gigs, it would seem reasonable that they might support you in raising some money.

My band has the less ambitious aim of covering our rehearsal fees, so we've come to an arrangement with a pub near the rehearsal venue to do a gig this Sunday. The bar provides money to hire the PA and benefits from a big increase in custom on a Sunday evening; we're charging a £3 cover (a bargain - bring all your friends :D ... gigspam over). Even if we just manage 50 people, that will pretty much cover a months worth of rehearsals and we're expecting somewhere nearer 100+ throughout the course of the evening.

Of course, it might be tight to get the money together in time for this August (unless you've got a huge local profile) but perhaps you can arrange for your place to be held over until next year if it doesn't work out this time around?

Wulf
 
#12
yeah, as soon as i am told who i can contact regarding details on this thing i am going to ask about lowering the price if we plan on driving. i am told that we have to bring our own amps and drumset. i have taken amps and drums and pa stuff to argentina before on a plane. it is very expensive and a pain in the butt. i think we are going to try to avoid that. the oldest person in our band is 17 so driving wouldnt be a problem. its just a matter of finding a vehicle (with ample space) we can borrow. i think most rental places around here say you have to be 21 to drive their rental cars :spit: . the $500 supposedly covers plane, hotels, and possibly even food. not too sure about that though. we can work in ohio as young as 14, but i wouldnt have a ride to get to work this summer unless it was within bike/ walking distance. i think we will all brainstorm this weekend of ways to get money and questions that we want to ask when we finally find someone who knows the slightest bit of info on this thing. as gay as it may be, we may end up doing carwashes or selling m&ms door to door. (i hope it doesnt come to that)
 
#13
Hey man,
I see by your profile that you are still in your teens. Armed with that info I say..........











Do it. Absolutely. It's a trip you'll never forget. As to the money thing; try promoting your own show. We paid for the last half of our CD project with a " Help us finish our CD show".We charged $5.00 at the door. Took up an offering at the end of the show. And pre sold our CD. Give it a shot.

Fo'
 
#14
SuperDuperStar said:
DRIVE to TEXAS...
Click to expand...
I was gonna say that as well. Actually, I was going to say, "Any way you can cut your expenses by driving to Texas and sharing one hotel room?" BTW, having been burned more than a few times, I'm leary of any pay-to-play situation (I will never again pay someone to judge my music, in hopes that they will find me to be the next big thing. Companies that charge you for the opportunity to work for them suck my ass).

Good luck!
 
#16
Play weddings... sure, you'll have to dress up all nice and sing corny love songs, but I made $225 (Canadian) at one wedding. (In total we made $675 but split it amongst the 3 of us). Just put an ad in the local paper. It should work well, if you can get past the corny songs. :)

~Graeme
 

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