Manage the Band Budget

Not having enough money is a problem for most band directors. Instruments are expensive, instrument repair is expensive, music is expensive, and budgets are small. One solution is the fundraiser. We tried a variety of fundraisers at the high school. Most of them did not work for us. Once, our profit was a practice room full of chocolate bars. We took the bars on tour and had the students leave them with their host families as thank-you gifts. I eventually considered "fundraiser" to be a bad word.

At the junior high one year we played a piece that featured vibraphone. We borrowed a set of vibes from the high school. During the concert I thanked the high school band director for his generosity and mentioned that some day we would like to have a set of our own. Shortly thereafter a generous parent donated the money to purchase a vibraphone.

After the Christmas concert one year I found an envelope with a $5,000 check in it. The principal knew who the donor was but I did not. I wrote a thank-you letter and sent it through the principal. I explained how grateful we were and how desperately it was needed. For the rest of my career, at least 10 years, the check showed up every year. To make a $5,000 profit with a fundraiser you would have to sell $12,500 worth of product.

The bottom line here is you don’t have to do it all yourself. Let the parents help. I never organized a “Band Boosters” group but I wish I had.