Chorus and choir
A chorus fundraiser that funds the trip without a bake sale.
Festival fees, robes, the accompanist and the trip to sing somewhere big. A chorus fundraiser has to cover real money with a roster that is often small. Here is the sale Brian runs for choir programs in any state.
A chorus fundraiser usually starts with a choir director who did not sign up to sell anything. The spring trip is booked, the festival fees are due and the program needs several thousand dollars it does not have. Candy bars at lunch will not get there. A two-week product sale with an online store will, and the director’s part is five minutes at the start of rehearsal.
What a chorus sale covers
- ✓The trip. The festival, the competition, the chance to sing in a hall the kids will talk about for years. Buses, hotels and entry fees.
- ✓Robes and concert attire. Replaced in batches, paid for by one good fall sale.
- ✓Music, the accompanist and clinicians. The small invoices that come every month.
- ✓Festival and all-state fees. Due in winter. That is why the sale runs in the fall.
Why singers will actually share it
The kids are sharing a link, and the catalog is popcorn, sweet treats, cookie dough, candles, kitchen goods, wrapping paper, tote bags and magazines from Giving Market, a Booster company. A soprano sends the store link to a grandmother in another state, the grandmother orders from her phone and the box ships to her door. The singer collects VIP Duck collectibles during the sale and the prize program tracks every order in an admin site. The director never counts anything.
How a chorus fundraiser runs
- The call. Brian and the choir director or booster president. The goal, the roster and the concert calendar.
- The window. Two clean weeks around the fall concert and auditions. Brian sets the kickoff, the midpoint push and the finish.
- The kickoff. Five minutes at rehearsal with Brian’s script. Each singer gets a store link and a paper form.
- The sale. Families share the link. Brian sends the day seven push that reaches the families who have not started yet.
- Delivery. Program orders ship pre-sorted to the director or treasurer. Online orders ship straight to the supporter.
Show choir, concert choir, chamber singers, middle school chorus
The sale runs the same for each. A big concert choir has more families. A chamber group has parents who share harder. Middle school chorus programs do well because the parents are still the ones posting the link. Brian has run all of them since 1994, and the 150-kid middle school band in Asheville that sold $15,000 this fall ran the exact program a chorus would. It is on the case studies page.
Timing around the concert calendar
A chorus has a fall concert, all-state auditions, a winter concert and a spring trip. The sale fits in a two-week window after Labor Day that misses the auditions and lands before the fall concert, so the kickoff is a quiet Monday at rehearsal. Brian looks at the calendar with the director and sets the dates. The money arrives before festival fees and trip deposits are due. Spring windows, late January through March, work for programs funding a summer trip. Book the fall window before summer so the two weeks you want are yours.
Band, chorus and cheer programs share one page at teams and groups. The step-by-step is on how it works. Choir programs in the Mid-Atlantic have their own page.
Questions people ask
Our chorus is small. Can it raise enough to matter?
Yes. The online store is the reason. A chamber choir with motivated families reaches relatives in any state. Roster size matters less than how many families share the link.
When should a chorus run its sale?
Fall, in a two-week window that misses the fall concert and all-state auditions. The money arrives before spring trip deposits are due. Spring windows work too, ahead of testing and the spring concert.
Can we run it with the band?
Yes, as long as the windows do not overlap or the two programs run one combined sale. Brian looks at both calendars with the directors and picks what works.
What does the chorus pay to start?
Nothing. Zero upfront cost and no minimum. The director or booster treasurer gets a walkthrough of how orders come in before kickoff.
Ready to raise more this year?
Tell Brian about your school or team. He replies within one business day with a plan and a date.