Charitable Performances
Mon, 27 Sept 2004, 03:23 pmWalter Plinge19 posts in thread
Charitable Performances
Mon, 27 Sept 2004, 03:23 pmI have noticed, lately, a few charitable organisations popping out of the woodwork and putting on theatre productions. The advertising clearly states that "all proceeds go to ( insert charity)"
Well How true is that statement really
The Director, MD, Choreographer, SM, Musicians and even the ticket sellers are paid.
Then we have the theatre, the lighting designer, set designer , set builder etc etc etc ...all paid
As these are "amature" productions ...the cast are NOT paid.
So how true is the statement that "all proceeds go to the (insert charity)"??
These organisations are run by marketing people who , once again , get paid. It is in their best interests to make a profit to fund their next production.
However when the public purchaes a ticket to a show that states all proceeds go to ...whichever organisation I suspect the paying public think their money is going to help those people afflicted by the particular condition/illness/disease and not line the pockets of production teams, marketing gurus,publicists and the like.
Well How true is that statement really
The Director, MD, Choreographer, SM, Musicians and even the ticket sellers are paid.
Then we have the theatre, the lighting designer, set designer , set builder etc etc etc ...all paid
As these are "amature" productions ...the cast are NOT paid.
So how true is the statement that "all proceeds go to the (insert charity)"??
These organisations are run by marketing people who , once again , get paid. It is in their best interests to make a profit to fund their next production.
However when the public purchaes a ticket to a show that states all proceeds go to ...whichever organisation I suspect the paying public think their money is going to help those people afflicted by the particular condition/illness/disease and not line the pockets of production teams, marketing gurus,publicists and the like.
Re: Charitable Performances
Tue, 28 Sept 2004, 11:56 amYou make an interesting point, with reference to charity organisations putting on theatrical productions to raise money. I have some knowledge of such a production going up in Perth and hopefully can present another side of the coin for you.
The MS Society is staging “The King and I.” I don’t work for the society, however I am the marketing manager for a company that has and continues, to supply vehicles for their fund raising raffles.
I have found the people at MS to be honourable and decent folk, working for a very worthy cause. Fund raising is how they raise money for their cause and it is a soul destroying, hard road, going from business to business, trying to raise funds. There is less and less available from governments and charities are forced to turn to the private sector and citizens for donations.
There are tried and true methods, such as car raffles at shopping centres etc, but they also have to come up with new ways that hopefully the public will find interesting. It’s a known fact that people (and businesses) give more freely, if they feel they’re getting something in return – the old “return on investment” chestnut. That’s why charity dinners and auctions work so well and from there, it’s only a short step to putting on a show – in some ways, Variety Club has been doing just that for many years.
If youÂ’re going to stage a production at a major theatre to raise funds, then there will be unavoidable costs, but I can assure you that charities such as MS face (willingly), expert scrutiny, to ensure everything is done correctly. Time and time again, I see people offering their specific skills to all sorts of clubs, charities and associations, either for free or at greatly reduced rates, in order to help the aims of the particular organisation.
On a far smaller scale, I’m currently in a play and we’ve just done a charity night to help a local Rotary Club raise funds. It’s all a matter of choice, if you want to get involved you can, if you don’t, well, you don’t have to, but always remember that not everybody has the luxury of being able to give their time, labour, machinery, theatre for free – it may well be their only source of income. And that philosophy applies to those working within a charity group – as the charity grows, the workload becomes too much for volunteers and people with professional skills need to be employed.
For the record, I declined to involve our company as a sponsor of “the King and I,” purely as I couldn’t make it fit the demographic I was chasing for a particular product. The supermarket chain that has become the naming rights sponsor is to be congratulated – the fit is right and they’re giving back to the community. I wish everyone well in the production.
Kind regards
Greg Ross
The MS Society is staging “The King and I.” I don’t work for the society, however I am the marketing manager for a company that has and continues, to supply vehicles for their fund raising raffles.
I have found the people at MS to be honourable and decent folk, working for a very worthy cause. Fund raising is how they raise money for their cause and it is a soul destroying, hard road, going from business to business, trying to raise funds. There is less and less available from governments and charities are forced to turn to the private sector and citizens for donations.
There are tried and true methods, such as car raffles at shopping centres etc, but they also have to come up with new ways that hopefully the public will find interesting. It’s a known fact that people (and businesses) give more freely, if they feel they’re getting something in return – the old “return on investment” chestnut. That’s why charity dinners and auctions work so well and from there, it’s only a short step to putting on a show – in some ways, Variety Club has been doing just that for many years.
If youÂ’re going to stage a production at a major theatre to raise funds, then there will be unavoidable costs, but I can assure you that charities such as MS face (willingly), expert scrutiny, to ensure everything is done correctly. Time and time again, I see people offering their specific skills to all sorts of clubs, charities and associations, either for free or at greatly reduced rates, in order to help the aims of the particular organisation.
On a far smaller scale, I’m currently in a play and we’ve just done a charity night to help a local Rotary Club raise funds. It’s all a matter of choice, if you want to get involved you can, if you don’t, well, you don’t have to, but always remember that not everybody has the luxury of being able to give their time, labour, machinery, theatre for free – it may well be their only source of income. And that philosophy applies to those working within a charity group – as the charity grows, the workload becomes too much for volunteers and people with professional skills need to be employed.
For the record, I declined to involve our company as a sponsor of “the King and I,” purely as I couldn’t make it fit the demographic I was chasing for a particular product. The supermarket chain that has become the naming rights sponsor is to be congratulated – the fit is right and they’re giving back to the community. I wish everyone well in the production.
Kind regards
Greg Ross
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