Contributing to the Chorus
Being a member of the Chorus is not just about singing in concerts. You are joining an active outreach organization, whose many programs benefit the wider arts community in Northeast Ohio. Members are encouraged to participate continually and actively in supporting that Chorus’s mission, programs, and finances. And that begins with paying your dues.
Paying Your Dues
Membership in the Chorus as a singing, voting member, requires that we pay “dues.” This is an important part of the financial health of the organization, in addition to ticket sales, grants from supporting organizations, and the generosity of donors.
Annual dues for members are $180 per season. Members pay their dues via this Member Site (ncmchorus.net.) Members can obtain a $25 discount by paying their annual dues in full on or before the second Sunday in October. Dues can also be paid quarterly at $45 per quarter. Quarterly dues are an automatic, recurring payment.
No one, however, will be excluded from the Chorus because they can’t afford the dues. There are scholarship funds that can pay your dues for you, with your commitment to support the Chorus in other ways, like volunteering to help with setup for events and such as an example. If you would like to explore getting a scholarship for your dues, talk with the Membership Chair, Treasurer or Business Manager.
If you would like to arrange a payment plan to ease the financial burden or paying all at once, speak with the Treasurer.
Helping the Chorus Do the Stuff It Needs to Do
There are many, many...MANY things that have to be done to put on concerts, publicize and set up events, solicit donations, invite new members...and the list goes on and on. You will be expected to help in any way you can, to the best of your ability, to accomplish these myriad tasks. No matter who your are or what your talents or abilities, there are ways you can help, and joining in to get stuff done is one of the best ways to make friends and become more a part of the Chorus.
Here are just a few examples:
- Invite your friends to join the Chorus!
- Sell tickets to concerts and events!
- Distribute program publicity posters across Northeast Ohio
- Help set up equipment for concerts or other events
- Make costumes, assemble props, and paint scenery
- Move things into and out of storage
- Organize social events to help the Chorus be a community
- Help with the website!!!!
- …and on and on and on…
Other Fundraising and Opportunities to Give
As a not-for-profit, community arts organization, the Chorus is always in “fundraising mode,” and in addition to the annual fundraising events we organize, there are always opportunities to support its financial health.
Become a Patron
Many of the Chorus’s members are also donating patrons, and their names are listed in each concert program. If you feel inspired to contribute even more generously than your annual dues, you’re encouraged to make an annual donation or set up repeating, monthly payments. These donations are tax-deductible.
In addition, you can encourage your family and friends to become patrons, and thereby secure the future of the Chorus and its outreach programs.
Fundraising Events
The Chorus sponsors two major fundraising events each year, currently the “murder mystery dinner” in October and a carnival-style event in February. Attending these events as ticket-purchasing guests goes a long way toward meeting the Chorus’s financial goals, and the more people you invite to attend the events, the better they work.
Chorus members can still attend the events without tickets as volunteers, and more information about how that works is given in the lead-up to each event.
Raffles, Prize Baskets, and Auction Donations
Each concert offers attendees a chance to win special raffle prizes, such as baskets of wine valued at several hundred dollars. Chorus members are encouraged to donate bottles of wine or other items for those baskets.
In addition, 50/50 raffle tickets are sold at every rehearsal for a nightly drawing, and snacks and bottles of water are also available for purchase. These donations are put toward a scholarship fund to help take members to the GALA chorus festival.
Finally, auctions are a standard part of fundraising events, and so members are asked to contribute or solicit contributions from organizations for items that can be sold.
Program Advertising
The Chorus solicits advertising space in each concert program from local organizations and businesses. If you run a small business, can invite your employer to advertise, or know friends or family who might like to advertise, their contributions can be a major support to the Chorus’s annual budget.