Dear Erda:
I am currently applying to some pay-to-sing programs to significantly “beef up” my résumé. As young singers go, not many of us have unlimited funds to pay for these types of invaluable resources. Can you suggest a few ways for us to fundraise or manage the funds that we already have for programs like these? Thank you for responding to my question.
Sincerely,
—Megan
Dear Megan:
As a matter of fact, I have 10 suggestions for you. Let’s start with some questions, though.
First, do you treat your singing as if it is a small business? By that, I mean:
• Do you keep track of expenses (voice lessons, audition fees, travel, music scores, postage, room rental, equipment purchase and maintenance, etc.) and earnings?
• Do you keep these records separate from your non-singing revenue and expenses?
• Do you budget specifically for voice lessons, coachings, audition trips, music purchases, etc.?
• Do you have a general budget and do you keep strict tabs on it? If not, now is the time to start. Check the Singers’ Resources page at www.thebusinessofsinging.com for a free Excel budget spreadsheet for singers.
• Do you have a business plan with concrete goals and deadlines?
If you’re not doing these things, you’re not acting like the owner of a small business, which is exactly what you are. You’re an artist, but you are also a business owner. Business owners know what their assets are, and project expenditures. They have specific goals and implement plans to attain those goals.
One of your goals right now is to be able to attend the training programs most helpful to you. So the first thing you need to do is find out how much it’s going to cost you to attend this program. You will need to take into consideration:
• Tuition
• Travel
• Room and board, if not included in the tuition costs
• Extras and unexpected expenses such as souvenirs, entertainment, sightseeing, cab fare, doctor’s visits, etc.
• Money lost from time off your day job, rent, and other ongoing at-home expenses
Pad your estimate a little to take care of unforeseen expenses. Once you have the ballpark figure of what this program will cost, you can look at your regular income and expenses and begin to plan where this money is going to come from.
Here are five ideas for finding money from your own income:
1. Quick Change: Put an empty jar close to your front door, on your desk, or wherever you tend to unload your stuff when you walk in the door at the end of the day. As soon as you put your things down, empty all the change in your wallet into that jar. Keep only bills. At the end of each month, take your change jar to the local bank and have the coins counted. Deposit the money you’ve saved into a special money market account (they usually have higher interest rates than savings accounts) dedicated to your project. I have saved between $30 and $70 a month this way!
2. Do Not Pass Go: If you have direct deposit on your day job paycheck, arrange to have $25, $50, $100—whatever you can afford—deposited directly into your dedicated account. You won’t even see it go, and it will add up before you know it. If you don’t have or can’t get direct deposit, when you deposit your paycheck take the amount you’ve decided to save right off the top and put it in that account.
3. Lop Off Luxury: Take a look at any “luxury” expenses, such as cable TV or your daily Starbucks habit. Can you live without one of them for a few months and put that money towards your program? Look at it this way: if you spend $3 five days a week on coffee, you’re saving $15 a week, $60 a month, $720 a year.
4. Brown Bag Buffet. If you’re not already doing so, take your lunch to school or work. Eating out takes a big bite out of your budget very quickly. Also, if you don’t already budget for groceries, start doing so. Plan meals in advance so you buy only the items you need. I take a calculator to the store with me and log every item that goes in the cart. Once we hit the maximum, items come out or we don’t finish the list! I save a good $25 every week by doing this.
5. Part Time Pennies. Can you get a part-time job or take on a few students (or a few extra students, if you already teach)? Dedicate that income solely to your project.
Now, let’s say you’re already doing all of the above, and more. Even if you’re the most dedicated penny pincher, you’ll probably still need some help when it comes to fundraising, so let’s look
at outside sources.
1. Campaign: You. One of my favorite and most practical ways to fundraise is to start your own campaign. Armed with a breakdown of your projected expenses, a list of names and contact information of people who support you (friends, relatives, fans, church members, co-workers, etc.), and a concrete statement of what this program will do for you as an artist and why you want to attend, approach a supporter you know to be well-organized, passionate, and a good businessperson. Ask this person if he or she will consider spearheading a fund-raising campaign on your behalf.
Ask your new “campaign manager” to write a letter to a list of other supporters, provided by you, singing your praises, describing your project, and asking for sponsorship (be sure to include the deadline by which you must raise the money). Include a 5×7 production photo or headshot, and a short bio highlighting your contributions to the local community.
Let’s say you need to raise $5,000. Consider looking for one $1,000 sponsor, four $500 sponsors, four $250 sponsors, five $100 sponsors, and ten $50 sponsors. Now you have affordable “suggested donations” for a variety of givers, and can target more specifically. You might approach the church where you sing, an organization to which you’ve donated time, or a business in your hometown for a $1,000 or $500 donation. Smaller businesses, organizations, and individuals can probably fill in the rest.
Once you’ve raised your money, of course you need to send handwritten thanks (no form letters!) to every sponsor. Then, set about making sure they stay involved and invested in your success. For years now, whenever I have gone off on a gig, I’ve sent silly e-mail newsletters to friends and family, and now I’ve started a special blog just for them. I write about my daily adventures on and off the set, complete with lots of photos. I also have a guestbook and invite people to comment by asking questions or running fun little polls. Not only do they love it, they ask to have people I don’t even know added to the list, thus expanding my fan base with no effort on my part. So get a list of e-mail addresses of your supporters and send regular updates, or set up your own (free!) blog on one of the many sites, such as LiveJournal, Blogger, or MySpace. Patrons of the arts like to feel they’re getting the inside information (well, who doesn’t?). When you come home, offer a free recital to thank those who helped you and show them their investment was worthwhile. And at the end of that recital, talk about your plans for next season.
2. Benefit Recitals, the Smart Way. Recitals can be expensive and time-consuming to produce, unless you have space and other considerations donated (and if you don’t, look at the expenses very carefully, you may end up losing money or breaking even, which doesn’t help you). Instead of renting a hall, ask supporters with nice homes and pianos to sponsor an intimate recital in their home. They may wish to host a dinner or cocktail party before or after you entertain; then solicit donations on your behalf or pass the hat for a love offering. The added benefit to this type of recital is that hosts may ask friends who previously did not know you—and you may add to your fan/support base!
3. Add Value. If you give a benefit recital, also have a silent auction at intermission. Solicit friends and local businesses to donate items or services for the auction. A friend of mine did this with great success. She is an aesthetician in her day job, so she got colleagues from her salon to donate hair care services. She also got artist friends to donate artwork—she even hit me up for donated voice lessons. She financed a two-week program in Portugal this way!
If you have a decent demo CD, make copies and a nice label (you can buy a cheap label maker at Best Buy or similar stores) and sell them at your recital. They don’t have to be perfect—these are your fans, after all, not people looking to hire you, and they’ll be happy to have a souvenir of your beautiful singing. Also, ask for a suggested donation at the door, or else have an eloquent supporter stand up at intermission and solicit donations on your behalf.
4. Creative Gigging. Send a letter and a demo CD to all the wedding consultants and church music directors in town, offering your services to perform for weddings and funerals. Contact art galleries and museums about singing at art or exhibit openings. Ask at your local chamber of commerce about festivals, First Nights, and other events where you might be able to perform for a fee or even tips. Approach the snazziest retirement living facility in town about giving a recital or even coming in one day a week to give half-hour voice lessons—they often have entertainment directors and budgets. You might even try starting your own opera-singing telegram business.
These “bits and pieces” jobs may not earn you much money per gig, but if you dedicate your earnings to this one project, they’ll
add up.
5. Odd Job It. You can provide needed little services to family and friends, and make money doing it. Offer to haul off their unwanted clothing, exercise equipment, tchotchkes, etc. and have a benefit yard sale for yourself! And check out what other marketable skills you might have. Are you a great cook? Maybe a busy mom will pay you to prepare a healthy, hot meal for her family one night a week. Do you have programming skills? Convince your friends to finally spring for the website they’ve been complaining they want. Have a car? Be a concierge-on-call: walk dogs, pick up dry cleaning, grocery shop. Ask your parents’ friends if they have any little jobs you could do for them.
The added benefit to all this scrambling around for dough? When people see how hard you’re working to raise money for your project, they’ll be much more likely to get behind you and help you out with a few dollars. You’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you worked hard for your money, achieved an important and beneficial goal, hopefully gained some new supporters, and can enjoy your program without worrying about paying the bills when you get home!
Good luck!
Cindy
