POST-VIHC FEST 7 FUNDRAISING IDEAS

[Jordan f.]

nick dancing with a girl? must be photoshopped.

i kid, i kid <3

[ZACH ATTACK]

I have my opinions on what next years fest should be like, but since I probably wont have anything to do with organizing it I'm not going to sit here saying "you guys should do this thing that only really pertains to my interests." I will say though that it would be cool if next year it was more than just the same handful people who always get their hands dirty working on the fest. That's not to say that the VIHC society are the people promoting shows in town, but there seems to be a general lack of interest in participating in hands on ways. Lately it even seems like there's even a lack of interest in participating in passive ways. I know it's unrealistic to expect everybody to run out and start booking shows left and right. The logistics of Victoria make that impossible, and to an extant every town is the same in that it's the same handful of people booking shows and starting bands, and that's fine. I'm also fully aware that to do these things requires a certain amount of privilege. But what's disappointing is that at this point last year it felt like we were on the verge of some really exciting things, but between now and then I feel like I've only seen interest in supporting live all ages music taper off and get smaller and smaller, which to me indicates a number of things, none of which I really care to go into right now. The only point that I'm really trying to make is that if you think next year's fest should be run differently, or we should be bringing different bands to town, or if there's anything really about Vancouver Island Hardcore that you might want to change or improve upon get involved. I wont pretend like it's not risky, but it 'will yield better results than whining on the internet about there being too many bands at a fest. I've seen you all shout "I give back" during Promises sets. Now's the time to turn that into action.

[Human-Demise]

next year, if theres a band with like 3 people, who don't mind coming out to collwood they can stay with me.
my grandmas house is possible too if they just want to sleep. that house is pretty big

[Andrew]

my grandmas house is possible too if they just want to sleep. that house is pretty big

Are you saying your grandma is willing to put up a band for the night?

[Human-Demise]

my grandmas house is possible too if they just want to sleep. that house is pretty big

Are you saying your grandma is willing to put up a band for the night?

maybe.

[darcy]

My following comments about raising funds are based off of my work with the Victoria BC Ska Society as well as my role within the Impromaniacs Society. Both of these groups are and were non-profits and dealt with society organization and artistic goals in very different ways (being that one is for music promotion and production and the other was to showcase improvised theatre). I will first discuss my current role within my current improv group - it is not a non-profit, but we have put on very successful shows featuring music, stand-up comedy and other artforms and have always drawn a profit.

Boombox Improv has only been around for 2 years but we have managed to perform and host multiple shows and always pay our fellow performers. Now, I realize the huge difference between a small theatre show and a concert, and I know this thread is about fundraising, but I swear there is some relevance. As a group our mandate lies somewhere between "perform the style that we want" and "showcase a variety of local arts for an affordable price". I've always found my favourite shows have a variety of genres and styles.

If anything, my first suggestion would be (1) to produce a small-scale show at a venue such as Small Fernwood or Fort Cafe and have some prints for sale, some records, maybe an acoustic act, and who knows what else (cough hire me cough). I feel a low cost performance with elements from different "scenes" brings out new people.

As a member of two non-profit societies, I know it can be tough - especially when it feels like it is just a small number of folk doing the hard work. I find something even worse is when newer people enter who are full of vim and vigor, make suggestions for improvement (some good, some bad, some tried and failed, etc), but do very little to help produce these ideas. One thing we've started to do with the Ska Society, and the second suggestion, is (2) sell society 'memberships'. We have it set-up so one can pay an annual fee (say $20) and are given access to members only events, earlybird ticket sales, and even help vote on future acts to come to the island. This has been a great way for us to raise money and engage our regulars in a new way.

I would argue that the main ideas you will want to examine is (a) what went wrong? (b) in which areas did we lose money? (c) what are some actions we could undertake to reduce the lose or produce a profit in these areas? Once this is assessed the two above suggestions: take on a low-cost venue performance with various 'art' groups to draw in a large audience and create a way for members and regulars to get or feel involved and a way to maintain and build a membership.

The individual ways to raise funds is great to talk about (garage sale, record swap, dj nights, etc), but what needs to be addressed is where and how money was lost and what can be done to fix it.