Parents should be your strongest allies in your orchestra program. Strong relationships between the director and parents is important to help build a strong orchestra program that will thrive musically and organizationally. This session will provide strategies for working with parents, and will discuss a variety of fundraising ideas and items to consider when forming and running booster clubs.
Outline:
Quick survey
- How many teachers currently work with a booster organization?
- Is it “music” or specific to strings?
- How many are thinking of starting a booster organization?
Parents as colleagues?
- Yes! Your orchestra parents don’t have to be your “friend” but it is nice to get to know parents on a personal level, just like you would with your students
- Parent gossip can be your biggest rival or worst enemy!
- Recruitment tool (siblings will register for orchestra!)
General concepts
- Should be considered an supplement to the program, providing what the school cannot
- Should serve as an advocacy group
- Parents should be there to support the director, not dictate how the program is run
- What is purchased should be decided by the director; How it’s purchased should be decided by the booster organization
Booster Organization Considerations
- Legal ramifications
- Incorporation
- Non-profit status (501c3)
- Insurance
- By-laws
- Taxes
Events Run by Booster Organizations
- Fundraisers
- Pre/Post-Concert meals or receptions
- Banquets
- Field trips
- Awards
Characteristics of strong booster organizations
- Have written by-laws
- Hold regularly scheduled board and general membership meetings
- Employ a dedicated executive board
- Utilize a large number of parents who are non-board members
- Create and utilize a working budget; Show accountability
- Are visible at all student events
- Work well with student leadership team
Booster Executive Board
- President
- President-Elect
- Secretary
- Treasurer (need someone really organized!)
- Chairs:
- Fundraising
- Travel
- Hospitality
- Publicity
- Uniform coordinator
Communication
- Regular communication with parents/boosters is a MUST!
- Website
- Text
- Social Media
Formula for happy parents
- Challenge students (without over programming!)
- Be fair
- Be consistent
- Follow through
- Don’t play favorites (when assigning seats or solos)
- Remember, if the kids are happy, usually parents are happy
Program funding sources
- District budget
- Building-based funding
- Grants
- Fundraising
Fundraising
- Who loves to do them?
- Almost a requirement with today’s skinny school/district budgets
- Find fundraisers that:
- Have the highest profit margins
- Are a good fit for your organization/community
- Are not duplicated by other organizations
Student Participation Fees
- Can be the largest part of your budget or a supplemental source
- Some parents would rather pay a fee than purchase items through fundraisers
- If your booster organization is a 501c3, all donations are tax deductible!
- Can’t really enforce parents to pay, so not guaranteed income
Alternatives to traditional fundraisers
- Find ways to make money without really having to “sell” stuff
- Donations
- “Rehearse-a-thon”
- Perform in the community for donations
- Business cards – “Accepts donations”
- Other ideas?
Program Book Fundraiser
- Creating a program book layout
- Use a page layout application such as Apple Pages, Adobe InDesign, etc.
- Photos – see if a parent with experience will take photos of your groups
- Informative pages (About the program, director, community)
- Ad sales – approach local vendors, businesses
- Personal Ads – parents take out a personal ad for their child
Program book example:
Alpharetta High School Orchestra Program Book, 2018-2019:
- Flyer & Order form (PDF)
- Final Program book (PDF)
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