Local Non-Profits & Gold Tone Banjo Ukulele Raffle
If you’ve been to one of our duo shows in the past year you probably noticed that we talked about collaboration with a local non-profit and even stopped the show to raffle off a Gold Tone Ukulele Banjo.
As we tour the USA we have the good fortune to spend a single night in many different kinds of communities. One day we had the epiphany that we would find deep meaning in donating the entirety of our merchandise sales (above and beyond what it cost to make the item) to a local non-profit working day-in and day-out to improve the lives of people in each local community.
Abigail and Béla show off a donated banjo uke.
Abby and Juno with some of the lovely ladies from the Girls Rock! Camp in Iowa City.
For two reasons we quickly realized this made good sense. Firstly, with record sales so low due to the advent of technology that allows us to hear and download music for free we’ve learned to rely solely on ticket sales to support our tours and our livelihood. Income from the merchandise could be used for other purposes like investing in local non-profits. Secondly, our sense of good in the world is greatly enhanced when we meet people in every town trying to improve lives in their community. Girls Rock! Camp in Iowa City fosters girls’ creative expression and self-esteem through music. Horn Farm Center for Agricultural Education in York, PA gives plots of land to people and teaches farming and foraging skills. Hilltop in Grand Junction, CO offers community based services, programs and projects that literally bridge the life span from prenatal care to assisted living for the elderly, acknowledging and reinforcing the inherent dignity and worth of every individual, at every phase of the life-cycle. These non-profits are just a few of the many inspiring organizations we have come across during our time on the road.
Apparently including a raffle ticket for a Gold Tone Banjo Ukulele with the sale of CDs and Vinyl drastically increases sales as well! Special thanks to Gold Tone banjos for selling us the banjo ukes at wholesale so that more of the money goes to the non-profits.
The results show the following:
- We sell more merchandise due to the income going to a local non-profit which exponentially increases the donation beyond our original projection for sales.
- The non-profit benefits from the money but perhaps even more from the exposure of having a booth with information and often a representative next to the merchandise table. Person to person connections are made. New volunteers sign-up. Information about services and programs are disseminated.
- Mentioning the non-profit from the stage increases name recognition in the community... can’t hurt.
Below is a list of the wonderful organizations we’ve worked with all around the USA. Special thanks to RPM for helping us get this program started, and a big thanks to both Carissa Stolting for overseeing and Josie “Bebop” Hoggard for continually researching and liaising with these wonderful organizations:
Are we coming to your town?
If there’s a non-profit we should know about, please contact our donations coordinator, Josie, at josiehoggard@gmail.com.