Fancy Dress finances
April 13, 2011
According to co-chair Katie Geddes, how much money goes into Fancy Dress varies each year. The Committee received $7,000 from the EC, which is about ten percent of the budget, said Geddes. The other 90 percent comes from fundraising and ticket sales.
| Prices | ||
| Full Package: $130 | Ticket: $55 | T-shirt: $15 |
| Koozie: $5 | Cup: $4 | Poster: $3 |
"Basically FD must buy everything on credit," said Geddes. "We don't know if we're going to break even or come ahead or behind until way later. It's a very stressful budget position and that's honestly why ticket prices are so high."
It's not unusual for FD to go into debt and need to be bailed out by the EC. This year, Geddes estimates that FD has made probably close to $80,000 thousand and the dance is looking at costing $65,000-$70,000.
"But I can't back those numbers up yet," she said. "I won't know until spring term."
Junior Antoinette Kitch, the fundraising chair for the past two years, says her committee raised about $10,500 this year, which was about the cost of the band. The fundraising committee advertises all year long in order to get as many sponsors as possible.
"We were first the 'playbill committee' and pursued advertisements mostly through large groups on campus, such as Traveller, GAB, and the Greek system, and businesses downtown," said Kitch. "Last year, we expanded to more student groups and Rockbridge area businesses."
There are specific levels of fundraising, according to Kitch. If you place an ad, you are considered a "Friend of FD" and if you place $1,000 or more you are considered an "Official Sponsor of FD." Being an Official Sponsor means that a company gets an ad, a spot on a banner that goes in the Commons, and their advertisement incorporated in the slideshows that are beside the band's stage at the actual event, said Kitch.
Like everything else involved in Fancy Dress, the fundraising process has evolved over the years.
"This year, we changed our committee name to 'Fundraising' and went completely electronic with the ads," said Kitch. "They're all on our Fancy Dress Blog. We plan to continue with the levels of donations and want to focus on planning fundraising events so that can lower ticket prices even more next year."
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