FRFF2009- a response to Anne and support for FRFF

[Hedgerow70]

For starters, it would be great if folks would forgo reimbursement for tickets and food "money". Anne and the rest of the crew have enough on their plates without dealing with the logistics of multitude requests to make right an act of nature.

[Deeberg]

I would totally buy the t-shirts!

7 of them- one for each person I was with. 5 of my campmates were first timers and had a wonderful time and no regrets and are already talking about next year. They all left within a few hours of the storm ending, and no one felt cheated or upset about not getting to hear the rest of the concerts- just worried for the festival and the people there.

I would go to a concert.

If the paypal gets reactivated, I would donate.

Don't let any of these good ideas die down.

Thanks Ann and all the FR folks.

[mmorrill]

My son is an illustrator and he would be happy to pitch in with a graphic for the T-Shirt Idea. Give him a couple of days to come up with something and I'll post it.

The "Pre-Order" Idea is a great one. Not sure of the logistics but someone will figure it out. We've got to keep FRFF alive. This community will do whatever it takes.

['Becca]

I was going to suggest that Anne actually consider the “I survived” shirt mentioned on another thread for sales to help with the financial hit that must have happened but hung off when I saw donations were being offered. Now that the profit/non profit worry has been raised I’ll mention what I was thinking so you all can tear it apart (not meant to be a bad thing, groups usually polish ideas).

I was envisioning the bird with an inside out umbrella… maybe an icepack on its beak or hailstones at its feet with “Falcon Ridge Folk Festival 2008” on the front. I was thinking verbiage on the back could be something like:

I SURVIVED FRFF 2008
Torrential Rains!
70 MPH Winds!
Golf Sized Hail!
Who says festival attendance isn’t an extreme sport??!!

(and YES I will attend FRFF next year!)

My thought was that it could be pre-sold on the list, or to the either the list of folks who ordered tickets or get the flyer. Pre-selling should enable buying just what’s wanted – no extra stock. This might be more effort or cost than it’s worth, but wanted to toss the idea out.

I LOVE THIS IDEA!!!

[troylet]

we'd totally be in for four shirts -- five if you make them in kids' sizes! this was our fifth fest and the first for my parents and seven-month-old son. count us in for anything frff related going on in the dc area. falcon ridge is my yearly re-energizing, and i can't imagine a year without it! we're all looking forward to next year. i am so grateful to Anne, Bub and the volunteers for all they did to keep things up and running despite some very uncooperative weather.

[Old Fart From Hellsdale]

Anne, here's a little graphic that can be used for a clickable link to the FRFF site to make a donation to the Tornado Fund. If you want to use it just grab it or have your web person grab it. The idea is to freely distribute the clickable linked graphic along with coding instructions to anyone who wishes to place the link on their's or another's website (ie: Personal pages, fan sites, radio sites, music sites, etc...)




For those who are unable to grab the graphic, just email me and I'll email it back to you.

[Liza]

We totally would buy shirts!!! Anything that needs to be done for 2009!!!

[Notlob]

I'm no lawyer or bean counter, but seems to me that in exchange for funds to a private corporation, the "donor" should receive some compensation in the form or a stock or a bond.

I've never heard of donating to a private corporation before (except the US government bailing out wall street investment companies).

I would be more willing to donate if FR became a 501(3)c (is that the right term?).

[allisonhenry]

What about having a super early bird ticket sale for 2009, even in October or November of this year, to bring in some money ahead of time?

[troylet]

just thought of something to add to the t-shirt discussion. what about selling them through someplace like cafepress.com? You upload your design and then choose what kind of products you'd like to sell with the design on it. You can set up a basic store for free. And, it would be pretty hands-off -- they make/print the items as they're ordered and send the store owner a check every month.

More info: http://www.cafepress.com/cp/info/sell/ and http://www.cafepress.com/cp/info/sell/intro_cost

[DanTappan]

I'm no lawyer or bean counter, but seems to me that in exchange for funds to a private corporation, the "donor" should receive some compensation in the form or a stock or a bond.

I've never heard of donating to a private corporation before (except the US government bailing out wall street investment companies).

I would be more willing to donate if FR became a 501(3)c (is that the right term?).

One can donate money to anything one wishes for any reason. That's part of what makes this a free country.[*] The only concern with whether something is a 501(3)c is whether one can take a tax deduction for the donation.

You might consider that for 20 years now volunteers have been donating their time to FRFF for a return that for many would be measured as far less than minimum wage. I don't see much real difference.

Personally, I've mailed a donation and the only return I expect is an increased chance that the festival can continue.

[*] yes, yes, I'm sure someone will remind me that there are limits on how much one can donate to a politician. But the Constitutionality of those limited is debatable, and it's irrelevant to the larger point.

[folkiefan]

It would be an awesome way to raise money. I never got the chance to get my tee-shirt and would like some memento of this year, though I don't think I'll be forgetting it any time soon! I understand it can't be right now, I know there's more important things that need to be done but it's an idea. Hell, we should have a contest to see who comes up with the best design. I feel there are alot of artistic people on this forum, though I'm not one of them!

[john r]

if falcon ridge became a 501c3, it would have to have a biard of directors, while this can be good, it can also lead to a greater emphasis in the bottom line over time and change the festival (like newport). there are advantages, though - particularly in the increased possibility of grants. (NEA puts out some nice ones for fork festivals). basically, there are pluses and minuses.

i have already donated a little money to the tornado fund, but i would like to see a more detailed description of what the financial challenge is - not a full disclosure of finances - but some rough idea of what we are facing.

KEEP THE FESTIVAL ALIVE

[PaulC]

if falcon ridge became a 501c3, it would have to have a biard of directors, while this can be good, it can also lead to a greater emphasis in the bottom line over time and change the festival (like newport). there are advantages, though - particularly in the increased possibility of grants. (NEA puts out some nice ones for fork festivals). basically, there are pluses and minuses.

i have already donated a little money to the tornado fund, but i would like to see a more detailed description of what the financial challenge is - not a full disclosure of finances - but some rough idea of what we are facing.

KEEP THE FESTIVAL ALIVE

I donated too but it is hard to know what is an appropriate amount without having some idea of what the deficit is. I guess for a start people will donate what they can afford and hopefully that will be enough.

[betsys]

Yes, I'm willing to donate something too but I'd like to have a bit of the Big Picture. I'm a single mom and don't have a lot to give away, but I really really want Falcon Ridge to continue because it is our big break of the year. We do spend a *lot* of money every year *at* the Festival itself. (I'm hoping to talk my kid into volunteering now that she's older, that would take a lot of the crunch off and free up some $$$ to donate!)