What would you do $$$

[ACtenDance]

Looking for some suggestions. My college club, due to general success of our competition and an unexpectedly high number of new dues paying members, has a considerable amount of excess money.

If you were in a college ballroom club, what would you do with 2-4 thousand dollars? (not exactly sure how much we have... have to double check with the treasurer)

 

[cocodrilo]

Looking for some suggestions. My college club, due to general success of our competition and an unexpectedly high number of new dues paying members, has a considerable amount of excess money.

If you were in a college ballroom club, what would you do with 2-4 thousand dollars? (not exactly sure how much we have... have to double check with the treasurer)

You're asking ME? Why, caviar, all around! No, just kidding. Why not host some major event, invite some ultra-suave performers, perform yourselves, and show the community what you've got? 8)

 

[newbie]

Buy a new sound system, new CDs, one hundred T-shirts with the ballroom club logo...

Just kidding. Buy caviar of course.

 

[DancingMommy]

T-shorts for the club and invite a top pro in for coaching.

 

[Warren J. Dew]

Is your current class schedule enough to handle all the new students?

It seems like the most obvious answer would be to expand the class schedule to handle the extra students. You have to watch out for pitfalls regarding compatibility with any existing coaches, though.

More information on what your club is currently like would help.

 

[ACtenDance]

Is your current class schedule enough to handle all the new students?

It seems like the most obvious answer would be to expand the class schedule to handle the extra students. You have to watch out for pitfalls regarding compatibility with any existing coaches, though.

More information on what your club is currently like would help.

Unfortunately, we're reaching a saturation point with our increased membership. We're up to around 100 competitors and about 200 social members. We just aren't able to get the dance studio reservations that we need. Also, our coaches come in once a week from about 2 hrs away so expanding those classes isn't a great possibility. Our bronze and silver dancers are getting 2 hrs/week... which I think is plenty for group lessons.

I like the idea of tshirts. It's a simple idea that will increase team awareness and unity. We're also looking into getting one of those sound systems that have variable tempo. We've got a huge music collection so far... maybe a few WSS or comp videos would be nice . Shopping is fun when you've got money to spend.

 

[Kitty]

Is your current class schedule enough to handle all the new students?

It seems like the most obvious answer would be to expand the class schedule to handle the extra students. You have to watch out for pitfalls regarding compatibility with any existing coaches, though.

More information on what your club is currently like would help.

Unfortunately, we're reaching a saturation point with our increased membership. We're up to around 100 competitors and about 200 social members. We just aren't able to get the dance studio reservations that we need. Also, our coaches come in once a week from about 2 hrs away so expanding those classes isn't a great possibility. Our bronze and silver dancers are getting 2 hrs/week... which I think is plenty for group lessons.

I like the idea of tshirts. It's a simple idea that will increase team awareness and unity. We're also looking into getting one of those sound systems that have variable tempo. We've got a huge music collection so far... maybe a few WSS or comp videos would be nice . Shopping is fun when you've got money to spend.

Our team in such situation (unexpected extra money at the end of the year has bought:
1) team videocamera to tape competitions.
2) nice ballgown to lend to team members
3) lots of cheap circle skirts to solve costuming problem for beginners and to have matching outfits available for performances.
4) team jackets. Do you have team jackets? some of our team members own one, but for most team lends them either for competitions or for academic yeasr. I think it is a better idea than t shirts: you can wear the team jackets on top of your costume at comps.
I can see that t-shirts are also and advertizing tool if you wear them around campus...
5) I would also invite a visiting coach any day and pay for workshops, say 2 hours for newcomers, 2 hours for bronze silver people and 1-2 hours for advanced.


BTW, could you please share your experience: how did you achieve such high membership? Did you advertise the team on campus? how? and how much dues do you charge?

 

[ACtenDance]

Our club always has a massive turnout for our free beginner social dance lessons during the first week or two of classes each semester. We usually showcase a few team couples to raise interest in joining the competitive team. We would then ask people to put down their contact information if they are interested. I think the increase in numbers was due to changing how we collect that contact information. Instead of asking them to sign a sheet, a few team members would fan out during the social dance lessons and ask people one-on-one if they would like to try joining the team. We could answer questions immediately, and ended up getting 4 times as much interest in the Newcomer Team. I guess the get in their face tactic really works... but for real, I don't think it wasn't really aggressive promotion. I think that people are generally scared to try it even if they want to. They are more likely to participate if they are invited (and group invitations and email, etc invitations don't count - one-on-one works best).

Of course of what I've said is pretty intuitive, but we never thought of the obvious.

We also moved our website to a easily remembered address dancingwithwolves.org, and used business cards instead of flyers. Surveys we've taken also show that people walked into the doors for the first time because of hearing about the club through word-of-mouth or seeing one of the 5 articles that have been written about the club this year.

My partner and I personally taught the newcomer team (weren't paid of course :wink: ). I think my personal philosophy of "keep high expectations and let them know" helped with the retention rate significantly.

Dues (per semester):
Newcomer $20
Bronze $100
Silver $80
Advanced $0, but you have to teach lessons and volunteer significantly

(dues are kind of high, but these numbers were necessary at our previous membership numbers)

 

[dTas]

how about use money to make money... put on a dance camp. invite some pros to teach for a weekend, hold a big dance with comps and shows (not student reviews). sell shirts, jackets, group lessons, private lessons, tickets... hold a dinner dance.

then use that money for bigger things. of course a new sound system, how about a trip somewhere?

 

[Merrylegs]

Hooray for your club to have that much extra money available!

I agree with Kitty. In my opinion, you should buy costumes and shoes for your members to borrow for comps. Both skirts for ballroom and little dresses for latin. Leotard type tops are easy to find. Don't forget the guys! Latin shirts and other appropriate gear for Standard/Smooth. Black pants are easy enough to come by but it's the rest of the stuff they usually need help with.

Sticking with items that aren't too trendy would give them a longer life.

At a local college team I was once a part of, club/team members would be able to reserve costumes ahead of time and to select the stuff they need.

I guess I have a pet peeve about costuming at college level events. It is often "anything goes" when it really should be more thought out.

Let us know what you decide to do. I'll live vicariously through your spending!

Michelle

 

[ACtenDance]

how about use money to make money... put on a dance camp. invite some pros to teach for a weekend, hold a big dance with comps and shows (not student reviews). sell shirts, jackets, group lessons, private lessons, tickets... hold a dinner dance.
then use that money for bigger things. of course a new sound system, how about a trip somewhere?

Workshops and similar events have not been very successful for making a profit. It's mostly due to our location I think (Raleigh, NC). We tried getting Luca&Lorraine or Lyn Marriner earlier this year, but it didn't work out since we couldn't pay nearly as much as they would get going to Japan to teach... or something like that, don't know the exact details.

We thought about using the money to send 3-4 couples to the USA Dance Nationals, but it's kind of everyone's money. I guess it's good to send representatives to nationals... I dunno, I'm torn on that one.

 

[Chris Stratton]

Nationals could be an option for a few, but what about busses for group travel to more competitions - go out to Ohio or up to some of the large northeast comps.

I don't see any point in getting a variable speed music system when any cheap computer can do that and more...

 

[Kitty]

Workshops and similar events have not been very successful for making a profit. It's mostly due to our location I think (Raleigh, NC). We tried getting Luca&Lorraine or Lyn Marriner earlier this year, but it didn't work out since we couldn't pay nearly as much as they would get going to Japan to teach... or something like that, don't know the exact details.

We thought about using the money to send 3-4 couples to the USA Dance Nationals, but it's kind of everyone's money. I guess it's good to send representatives to nationals... I dunno, I'm torn on that one.

Why do you need to make profit if you have money? You could just organize free workshops. There are plenty of people other than the top top top pros... (although I'd love to see Luca and Lorraine)
Eugene and Maria for example - definitely very top, not too far away, so travel costs are minimal, and they could both do workshops AND a show...
Or some top coach from NYC... there are so many!

I honestly don't see how Nationals are better than any other comp at any level below champ and what would be the point of sending "representatives." But that's just me.

You could sponsor the whole team going to a comp... say Rutgers, if you are not going already.

this is a nice topic. It is always pleasant to talk about how to spend extra money

 

[robin]

Unfortunately, we're reaching a saturation point with our increased membership. We're up to around 100 competitors and about 200 social members. We just aren't able to get the dance studio reservations that we need. Also, our coaches come in once a week from about 2 hrs away so expanding those classes isn't a great possibility. Our bronze and silver dancers are getting 2 hrs/week... which I think is plenty for group lessons.

Am I right in understanding that you're reaching a saturation point because you can't provide more classes, rather than due to a lack of interest?

Supply can usually be sorted out with money. You can hire halls, you can get coaches to come twice a week, or failing that get another coach to come once a week as well. If there is more demand, it would be a shame to turn people away!

I've found with university clubs in the UK that the more classes and events you put on, the more people you get. If it's only one day a week, many people, particularly potential social dancers, can't make it due to other commitments. We've got classes pretty much every night and 4 different coaches, so we ended up with a much larger membership (500+ social dancers, ~130 competitive). It's gotten to the point where $2000 does not seem like a lot of money anymore (the kind of sum the club turns over in a week...)

If you don't want to expand, you can simply use the money to do nice things and ensure your members are happy, which in turn ensures future success. Subsidise a ball with a dinner, or maybe a trip to an open amateur comp. Putting money into teaching beginners is also always a good investment in the future, getting a few nice costumes seems to particularly make the girls happy!

 

[pygmalion]

How closely does the university watch your activities? And do they provide you any funding?