# Fundraising, Grants, and other ways to make money. Large theatre in serious need.



## RomeoTheatreCompany (Dec 7, 2011)

Hey everyone.

Our High School has been suffering with being behind on it's lighting equipment for quite a while now. We currently own 6 S4's, 10-12 OLD Leko's, 22 Par Cans, most of which have shorted out or are suffering from poor care and no longer work, and a batten full of relic ellipsoidals. 

Our Director and I are searching for ways to upgrade our lighting system. In a dream world, with a budget in the 5-figures, we'd like to replace our Dimmer System, which is an old-school 'pull and slide' kind of setup. We run no intelligent lighting, we have a limited selection of Gels, and a board that is next-to-impossible to program anything but basic shows on.

Where could we look for grants to apply to, grants that will supply us with more then a few hundred dollars? Also - what kinds of Fundraising activities could we look into having students and auditorium works do? Anything would help out. Thank you so much!


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## DrPinto (Dec 7, 2011)

National Endowment for the Arts - Grants for Theater

Get a teacher who has applied for a grant before and knows how to play the game.


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## chausman (Dec 7, 2011)

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All have good information. I've heard some people have good success with Target stores as well.


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## sk8rsdad (Dec 7, 2011)

Then there are these 2 promotions you could try to get in on:
Show us your ETC
LEDko challenge


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## farmerjo1111 (Dec 8, 2011)

The big thing that helps me is outside rentals. Any chance you can start to rent out your space to outside groups? If you are part of a school have you talked to the school board about doing a referendum? Also another place to look is your local utilities company. One space I worked in got a grant from the local electric company to buy new fixtures to replace the old ones. Since new fixtures are more energy efficient. In one space I worked in we hired a grant writer/fundraiser. She was able to find and get money in places we didn't know existed. These are just a few more ideas for you to think about.


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## Nelson (Dec 8, 2011)

Only 6 S4s? I still don't have any S4s for our auditorium! Too expensive. 360Qs are the newest and fanciest fixtures that we use. Still, we put on some neat, well-lit shows!

With a very limited budget, I first did all I could to repair and maintain our existing units, no matter how old. I brought all of our old lights back into good working order with minimal costs for parts and my time. I had to sacrifice a few units for parts, but it was worth it. Then I bought a few more used fixtures on eBay that were affordable. If you can find someone to help you repair your existing fixtures, you might be able to get more fixtures back in service without spending much money.


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