Good Evening Band Families –
I want to take a moment to fill you in on the “state of affairs” for the Boosters. I am excited for our upcoming fundraiser “Swingin’ the Green. It is the same amazing entertainment by our middle school and high school Jazz bands, but we are taking away all parent volunteer hours by changing the venue and having it be a catered event. We were too big for the high school to continue our tradition there. That is a minor reason we have chosen to leave the high school. Another reason, (we have been considering this for over 5 years, and doing research to determine what will be most successful) is that we would like to make this fundraiser more profitable. If we can be successful at this, we can eliminate the labor intensive and busier fundraisers we have multiple times a year (i.e. can drives). I guess what I am trying to say is I am trying to simplify our fundraising efforts so that we are not asking for money from you every month of the year. I would also like to see the boosters get in a position where we can possibly lower fees for extracurricular activities and/or offer more substantial scholarships for band kids. With this new look at the Auction/Fundraiser, we can get to that point in the near future. As with any change, it will take some getting used to, but I know this event will be one that will only improve as we continue each year. It will become a tradition that businesses and community members will look forward to participating in each year. I am listing our annual budget for the boosters so that you can see that we have to work really hard to make the money to keep all the amazing band programs running here in Sherwood.
I am going to send out our informational flyer and link for Swingin’ the Green in an email to follow this one. Please take the time to register to go to this event. Currently only full tables are being sold. Starting in January, we will open up the tables for individual tickets to be purchased. You will have the opportunity to choose which table you would like to sit at. If you would like to take the opportunity to purchase a whole table, invite friends to sit at the table with you and split the cost. This will ensure you get an opportunity for first pick at where you would like to sit! I would like to encourage you to share the following e-mail flyer with you employers, or local business members that you know, invite them to attend this amazing event. This is a great opportunity for community members to enjoy a night of amazing entertainment, delicious food and an auction full of wonderful items that they would love to bid on. We will also be raffling a trip that night!
As I mentioned previously, currently only full tables are being offered for purchase, if you or your employer, business members would like to use their charitable contribution tax write off for 2018, please purchase your tickets now. If you/they need to wait for 2019, we will have some full tables set aside for purchase as well as open up individual seats.
I am excited and nervous to see where this new event takes our fundraising efforts. It is not an easy feat to raise over $80,000 every year for our band programs, but cutting anything out of the budget would deny our students opportunities they would not be able to receive without our assistance. If this event does become successful, you can eliminate the hours of volunteering at can drives and other fundraising events, which if you consider the amount of hours and the money you put in to our smaller fundraisers, and multiply a minimum wage rate by hours you won’t have to volunteer, the Swingin’ the Green Event can be more affordable! One $75 ticket would be worth less than 6 hours of volunteer time. The hope is that we are asking and encouraging our business community to take part in this event as well, and raise more money that way instead of just having band families in attendance.
Thank you for taking time to read this lengthy e-mail. Please help make this event successful. I welcome your ideas and input, we have monthly board meetings every third Tuesday of the month if you have any desire to help us keep the band boosters running and successful. We can’t do this alone.
Lennae Bishop
Sherwood Band Booster President
Sherwood Bands 