Band Booster Meeting Notes - 1/22/20

Katie Sweatman, Kate Coe, and I met for about an hour after school. Here is a recap:

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Fundraising goal for the year - $3,000

Funds raised so far - ~$1,800

Fundraising ideas and proposals:

• Flowers for post-concert gifts to students. Katie Sweatman has found a local store to sponsor the flowers!
• (still working on this one) Sell popcorn/food/beverages at athletic events (like cross country) where no one is already selling.
• Popcorn sales at local businesses (Katie has a list)
• YEAR ROUND MARKET will be held at Riverview on March 15th. The Jazz Band will play. We’ll need other students to help at the raffle table.
• Bumper stickers. Something like “Wheatland Band Parent” or more clever. I need to ask the office if we are allowed to use the official school logos.

Obstacles:

• We found out from WCS’ business office that we need to be more careful about how the funds are raised, collected, and donated to the band. We’re looking into applying for a 501c3, which I’m told takes a very long time to fill out and even longer to get approved. I’m willing to go this route because it should make things easier for the Boosters in the long run.
• If we do another 50/50 raffle, we need a raffle license. This is something we might be able to get the school to apply for, or we could ask to use the PTO’s license.
• Photo restrictions: We need to make sure that anything posted on the Band Website, Twitter account, or the NEW Boosters Facebook page is approved. Some kids’ faces might not be allowed to be shown.

FACEBOOK PAGE

• Katie created a Wheatland Band Booster page. That’s exactly how you can look it up. Please ask to join so that we can have more ways of sharing what we do.

Designing:

• We’d like a visual representation for our donation totals. This may be something the kids can help with. Perhaps a thermometer.
• Donation bin. Many concert attendees are willing to make a donation if only we had an obvious donation bucket. This is something else we can design and decorate.

That’s about it! Thank you Katie Sweatman and Kate Coe for being the brains behind that meeting. I hope to see more of you at the next one. I’ll get the dates out sooner!

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Band Booster Meeting Notes - 10/30/19

To all those who attended our first Booster meeting, thank you! I think we have enough people interested and involved that we’ll be successful this year and for years to come. If you weren’t able to make it last Wednesday but still want to volunteer, it’s not too late to donate your time, effort, or ideas. Here are some of the things we discussed:

Tuesday, December 10 - Band Concert

• Craft Fair (organized by Katie Sweatman) held in Community Room across from Middle School Gym
• Bake Sale - goodies made by students/parents, sold along the wall outside MS Gym. We’ll need volunteers to collect money before the show. Is it still operated during and after the show? I am unaware because my mind is on the performers at that time.
• Popcorn fundraiser (it’s delicious) - sold at the concert. We should also get a ton of bottled water to wash it down.

Thursday, December 12 - Elementary Concert

• Popcorn fundraiser, night #2. Based on how we do Tuesday night, we’ll know how much to get for Thursday night.

Year Round Market - Nov 10, Dec 8, March??

• Students can volunteer to help at this event. The jazz band and other students will play at the Spring event. Money made here will go to only those who volunteered.

Possibilities:

• Selling at Central HS Band-o-rama - I will contact the director about this.
• Selling at Wheatland athletic events. If the pep band plays, I feel like we should be able to fundraise off it. Currently, I’m getting push-back from the athletic dept about this. They want to keep it to themselves. Any ideas around this???

Other ideas

• Pizza/Bingo/Movie night. What are the legalities? What do we need to do to show a movie or play bingo?
• Pizza delivery night. Teaming with a local pizza place and teachers/staff ride along with the drivers and deliver to families. Band would get any additional tips/donations given.
• Spaghetti Dinner. Band (maybe jazz band) plays at the dinner. Kayla said last year the band could make a basket and get some of the money, but I think that still means that part of it goes to the PTO. Still working on this one.
• Penny Wars, with winning class getting to pie Mr. Wendt (the loser) in the face. Or something along those lines.

Still working on getting a goal fundraising amount. As I said before, fundraising is not my forte, so I love all the help I’m getting from you. In order to make any of these things work, I’ll need people to step up and take the lead. Let me know! Thank you,

   Mr. Wendt