Hi Chris,

 

I suspect that you'll get such a wide variety of responses here that all the data might not be of much use to you. I recommend you visit www.chorusamerica.org and look at the books they sell on the business side of running a chorus. The data they've compiled over the years is organized in helpful ways and there are plenty of tips and advice for choruses of all types and sizes. They're really the leaders in information about how choruses work. Best of luck with your new endeavor!

 

Frank

Hellp Chris

Hi,

I direct a community chorus...my singers pay $25 for each concert set of music (3 concerts a year).  Some times it just covers the music, other times there's excess. I always plan far enough ahead to order my music from a company that gives 30% discount. We do charge for our concerts. For our first 3 years it was $10 and now it is $15. We get ads for our program as well as donations.  If you'd like more info I'd be happy to talk with you. 

Christine

Chris,

 

Congratulations on your recent appointment!

 

I am the executive director of a 50-voice all-volunteer community choir in Oklahoma City. We are an tax exempt, charitable organization. We meet once each week for two hours, two seasons each year (fall and spring) for 15 weeks each season. We typically have about 10 hour-long performances per year at public venues (festivals, shopping malls, etc.) and at nursing homes, retirement communities, and convalescent centers.
 

Like your group, our chorus is also (and seemingly always) in financial straits.

 

Our participants each contribute $60.00 per season (we check out music to them for the season), and we also do fundraisers and accept donations from individuals, businesses, foundations, etc.

 

We maintain a library of music, which is purchased out of our general operating expenses.

 

We typically do NOT charge admission for concerts or performances, although we do accept voluntary donations from sponsoring organizations and facilities.

 

Past fundraisers have included dinner performances, community garage sales, Thanksgiving pie sales, and "partner" discount cards at places like Macy's, Stein Mart, Krispy Kreme, and Godfather's Pizza.

Hope this helps, and best wishes...

Let music live!
Sam.

Sam P. Vladovich
Executive Director
Spiritful Voices Community Choir, Inc.
PO Box 720468
Oklahoma City, OK 73172-0468
Telephone: 405-414-SING (7464)
E-Mail: svladovich(AT)spiritfulvoices(DOT)org
 

The choir I direct is in its fourth year.  We have about 30 members in a town of about 11,000.  My wife and I founded it and I am a volunteer director.  Our members pay $35 per season (2 seasons/year.)  Newcomers pay $50 to cover the one time cost of their folder.  For our concerts, one at the end of each season, usually attended by 65-90, we charge $8 per ticket.  We have a reception after each concert, pot luck provided by the members, and put out a donation jar that usually brings in another $200 or so.  We have several community businesses that pop for $200 ads in the program on a regular basis.  In our winter season there are a couple of organizations who provide donations for a little holiday music at their Christmas events.  Over the first six seasons we also received $2,000 in additional donations from members doing so on their own.

 

Our primary expenses are, of course, music and accompanist, about $750 each per season.  The church where we rehearse and perform charges us very little, $350/year.  The organization that provides our 501c3 status and manages our funds charges 15% of our income.

 

Basically, we subsist on a small scale, fitting for our community size.  We are looking into applying for grants to purchase newer risers and perhaps some uniforms.

 

The problem, of course, is it's not a model that will outlive my involvement.  I intend to be around for a long time, of course, and I love every minute of it.  That said, nothing is forever, right?  If at some point my wife and I need to move away, I don't see how they could put together a paid position without charging outrageous fees all the way around.  Our community is of a size that our little volunteer model is right sized.

 

I guess my point is that you have to consider the scale of resources available in your community and right size your fee and ad structure and your expenditure structure.  What I've found is that people have heart, and that given the chance they'll step up and help out where they can.  You just have to make sure the ask is proportionate to their ability to help :)

 

Good luck!

 

Anthony Toohey

Director

Timshel Community Chorus of the Salinas Valley

King City, CA

Hi Chris, All the above replies are worthwhile and proven over years of experience that each choir and each board of directors has its own style of survival. Our choir is 6 years old and we are holding a choir retreat in April to look at next year. With regards to fundraising, we do one wine and cheese cabaret at 2 unique venues, not in sanctuarys, so in May, we perform at the Phoenix Zoo, and at a private Desert Garden in a foundation donated by a past Arizona Governor. So we hope both venues attract a new audience which we will gather info on data base postcards at each venue. 

Normally, my 24 singers sell out Dec. concerts but February and May are more difficult. We live in a climate where summer is difficutl to perform and rehearse so we take off the summers. My singers pay dues 2 times a year and they KEEP their music.  I pay my accompanist decently and have researched the Valley for comparable hourly fees. The income of the Carolyn Eynon Singers is simply donations, personal asking, no grant writing, no major donors except one, MICROSOFT, who is wonderful with non profits.

Our budget is very small and my Board is small but will add new members in April. Our website is www.carolyneynonsingers.com and we try to keep it updated with concert info, auditions, photos, mission, recordings, donors, and future events.  I suggest if you do not have one, create that social media as soon as possible.

Good luck,  with fundraising. We made a December cd to sell but we have half left, for next Dec..... It should be a great way to create income, but it is expensive to produce.

Carolyn Eynon

I Belong to a community chorus of 70 members in Freeport, ME.  We used to charge $55 per semester for dues and it went up last year to $70 to help balance out expenses.  We pay our director and accompanist a competitive wage per rehearsal and per concert.  We sell ads once a year for a digital color program and net about $2,500-3,000 on ads and sponsorships for the program.  We have occasional fundraisers such as a Cabaret night.  Years ago, we ran yard sales that netted $900-1,000 for a one-day event.  We sell homemade baked goods at concert intermissions and that does well.  The chorus buys or borrows music and it remains chorus property in our library.  We used to practice in a free space in the local high school but moved to a community center that charges $25/week.  Hope this helps.

 

Sandy Banas

Greater Freeport Community Chorus

www.gfccweborg

 

Hi, Chris --

 

I'm the assistant director for a 40-voice community choir in the Seattle, WA area.  I also sing in the group.  Seattle is blessed with a large number of choral opportunities -- lots of EXCELLENT community choirs, professional choirs, etc., which means we're usually competing for both audience and singers.  Here's how we handle things:

 

1. Dues are $25 per month during "choir season" -- September - May.  Members can pay a lump sum, or pay monthly.  We *encourage* them to continue to pay during the Jun-Aug period as donations, and many choose to do so.  This dues payment includes the cost of the music for our 3 concerts. Members are then allowed to keep their music after each concert.

 

2.  We charge admission: $25 General Admission, $23 for Seniors (60+) and Students (13-17).  There's a $5 discount for tickets purchased online, via phone, or from a chorus member prior to the concert.  Children 12 and under are not charged admission when accompanied by a ticket holder.

 

3.  We beg.  :-)  We ask for donations, and go after grants to help fund specific projects.  We haven't done anything like rummage sales or auctions yet, but that doesn't mean we wouldn't do it in the future if needed.  We have several members who give generously each year, and that helps a lot.

 

Our director is the music director for a church with good rehearsal facilities, so our costs there are minimal.  We rehearse a cappella, bringing in an accompanist only a couple of times prior to the concert, so we defray costs there, too.  And most of our repertoire is either a cappella or accompanied by only piano or piano plus a few other instruments, so our largest concert cost is usually the venue.

 

Lana Mountford

Assistant Director, Cantaré Vocal Ensemble

Seattle, WA

As the Founder/Director of a Suburban Community choir in its 36th season, I urge you to move slowly and start where your vocalists are not where you want to be.  The first task for you is to create a musical environment such that your vocalists see a need for change.  Second, match financial demands of your singers to their ability to pay (their social economic status), not individually but as a whole.  This is the same as selecting repertoire at which they have the ability to be successful.  Your goal is to provide an enviroment where they want to and can grow, both musically and in terms of operational support.  Spend some time with the Board (create one if there isn't one) developing a clear mission statement then stick to it.  Over the years it has been urged that we deviate from our mission of Choral Masterworks, often for financial or audience development reasons, but we have stayed true to our mission and have been greatly rewarded.  When we started members paid $25 in dues which covered their music and we took a freewill collection at concerts.  Now members purchase their own music, pay $75 dues, and seek sponsors and advertisers for our program.  Our annual budget is almost $60,000 for three concert season, two with freelance orchestra but it took a long time to get to this level.  However our membership has grown in quantity and quality and (what is important to me) there are some vocalists who have sung with us for nearly every concert in the past 30-36 years.  Our growth has not driven them away.

Good Luck,

 

Bob Eaton

 

I am the chorus manager of a large, community based, auditioned chorus - 160 singers. In addition we have a Chamber Chorus, Women's Ensemble, Chamber orchestra, and Youth Chorus. The Orchestra is professional and paid according to scale.

 

The Full chorus/Chamber chorus pays $200/year membership fees and buys all of their own music. There isn't a separate charge for Chamber Chorus as the criteria for membership is that you must sing with the full ensemble and also the chamber chorus. If you cannot make the committment to both groups you cannot be in Chamber Chorus. The same goes for the Women's Ensemble - to be a member you must be a member of Full and Chamber. .in addition you will also do the Women's repertoire.   The fee for all the groups is a flat $200.

 

We have a paid rehearsal accompanist and conductor in addition to a chorus master. BTW, we are not associated at all with a large symphony. We are independent and the Orchestra belongs to us.

 

The chorus buys all of their own music - the edition of the conductor's choice

We are in a smallish metropolitan area - a suburb of a large city. We do not draw from said large city.

We charge $42/ticket.

 

Full Chorus rehearses on Monday

Chamber on Wednesday

Women's Ensemble - Sundays

 

Children's Chorus rehearses on WEdnesday and has a separate "tuition" fee from the full chours/chamber/women's ensemble.  They are provided music - but required to buy concert uniforms.

 

 

Not sure how much that helps but. . . tha'ts what we do.

PJE