NEED HELP for Musical Theatre and EDUCATION

[mediakilled]

Posted: 12/17/06 at 12:29pm

Hey BWW.
my friend is going crazy trying to find ways to raise money for a high school musical theatre group in a NYC area that got picked to perform at the Fringe Festival, summer of 2007 in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is a chance of a lifetime for these kids as lots of them have never even left the NYC area to begin with,..but to perform is a huge honor. This group has won awards and such in the past..but in order to get out there. They have to raise about $100,000 for the 2 week stay that includes workshops, educational instruction in theatre history, production costs, airfare, rooming, meals, travel ammenities, etc. It's a total of 25 travelers altogether.

Was wondering if anyone out there knew anyone who can help. Companies, funding, private doantions,..etc...to help this dream happen for these kids. Most of these kids have no financial support, and there is no financial support coming from the school as ARTS is the LAST thing on any school's list nowadays.

Alumni from this particular group have included many working in the field now whether on stage or behind the scenes...It is a very beneficial program and this opportunity can help shape the lives of these students to cement their involvement and interest in the arts.

So if anyone out there knows anything...please PM me...I am trying to help my friend raise the money as well.

as of now,..all I know is that they have an online website where you can help purchase magazine subscriptions or renew your current subscriptions..at a deep discount rate..and 40% of your purchase will benefit the group directly.

here's a link:

http://www.magfundraising.com/GroupPage.aspx?e=1021095

if you lose that link..just go to magfundraising.com and search
'find a group' under HTHS. that should do it.
telling as many people as you can to go to this site also helps.


Besides that,...they are doing candy fundraisers and a flea market...
but it is still not enough. They have to raise it all by June, 2007. They have done about $25,000 so far.

Hope someone with a kind heart and open mind reading this can help.

thanks for your time.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to help raise these steep funds?

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 12/17/06 at 12:31pm

"Alumni from this particular group have included many working in the field now whether on stage or behind the scenes..."

Wouldn't they be the people to approach?

[mediakilled]

Posted: 12/17/06 at 12:33pm

they have already. as well as the county, local businesses and so on.. but getting people to physically DONATE is a whole seperate boat. i thought posting it on a message board catered to people who appreciate the arts is a better avenue than people who don't understand it. The alumni have been putting in their own part as well. they actually have a fund set up. it's still not enough.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 12/17/06 at 12:35pm

My point is, if they are actually working in theater, can't they get their more well-known colleagues to donate things for auctions? Or perhaps a benefit performance? Or both?

[singingwendy]

Posted: 12/17/06 at 12:44pm

It seems to me that every community has a "benefactor" to the arts who loves to give money to this type of program. For example, we have one woman who purchased 12 violins for our school for students who wanted to study and did not have access to an instrument.

I'd suggest going to local arts productions, looking at their programs and seeing who seems to be donating large amounts of money. Also look at who some of the corporate sponsors are. Many corporations have funds set aside for community service projects, especially in education.

Then, I'd make sure you have a very well written letter to accompany your request for funding. You might even want to include programs, a copy of the invitation letter, information about the Fringe Festival, and maybe even a video or DVD of the student's performance. Remember, you're asking them to donate a large amount of money, so you have to "sell your product".

Other than that, just keep selling candy, having carwashes, and talent shows. Also, is there any possibility of getting the money "on loan" from the school district? I know one of our choirs went to Italy, and basically they had a loan to pay for the initial costs so that they could continue fundraising after the trip.

Posted: 12/18/06 at 9:44am

Media,
thanks for that suggestion, I am going to get some magazines. I just read that I can save more money for them than what I am paying for them now. it's a good offer!
Updated On: 12/18/06 at 09:44 AM

[mediakilled]

Posted: 12/20/06 at 10:42pm

Yeah,..the magazine selection is pretty cool.

Any other ideas to help get money for these kids?

Posted: 12/22/06 at 5:10pm

howbout some sort of auction.?
like..get people to donate services?
i went to one of those and it raised some money.
BTW, I ordered 2 subscriptions!
:)