Fundraising and Release Forms

Today's agenda was two-fold: continue the search for a restaurant to host our fundraiser and spread the word that I need Electronic Recording Release and Liability Waivers from all the parents. The students consented to being recorded when they filled out NPS waivers at the beginning of the school year, but NHS requested that I also obtain Senior Project-specific waivers as an extra precaution. I did not waste any time obtaining consent (because photographing/video taping the kids will play an integral role in my final presentation) and sent out an e-mail to all the parents with the attached waiver. After that was done, I proceeded to contact a parent who has a connection with another local restaurant to see if it would be in our best interests to hold the fundraiser there instead of at our "Plan A" spot. December is quickly approaching; we need to set a date, price, and location of the breakfast ASAP. Hopefully, this waiting game will be over soon!

Beginning Breakfast Fundraiser Planning

Wow, what a month it's been! We have been experiencing a bit of a lull in the production process, as rehearsals are just now starting to kick into gear (we were waiting for fall sports to end so that more kids could attend) and the contracts for the director, choreographer, and musical director have been signed and returned. Over the past few weeks, I have been at rehearsal with the kids, rehearsing "What's Up Duloc," going over lines with Farquaad and Gingy, running warm-up exercises, or serving snacks to the hungry actors. Today, I slipped back into my producing shoes by working with Ms. Miller to begin planning the breakfast fundraiser! Last year, the breakfast was held at Rhody Joe's and was a superb success, so we are hoping that they will agree to host the event again. We examined the spreadsheet with our expenses, profits, and total balance from last year's production of The Wiz and compared it to our current balance. We figured out what we would need to charge for tickets to the fundraiser depending on what the restaurant might charge for the food, and started to discuss a price that would maximize our profits. In order to pay the stipends of the musical director and choreographer, as well as purchase paint, makeup, costumes, batteries, and other miscellaneous necessities, we need to reach a certain goal with ticket sales for the breakfast. I assumed that profits from performance ticket sales would cover these expenses, but I was proven wrong! Crunching the numbers showed me how important fundraising is for this show, because there are so many more expenses than I realized! I also looked at the list of parent volunteers and e-mailed those that might be interested in helping us find a venue for the fundraiser. More info on the breakfast to come!

Discussing our profit goals for the breakfast fundraiser

Crunching balance and budget numbers