We might love a cappella but let’s face it - it’s difficult to find the funds sometimes to keep our groups going. Although at entry-level it can be one of the most inexpensive forms of music-making due to the lack of instruments or other equipment necessary, from rehearsal space hire to album recording, it can get pretty pricey.
Here are some of the top ways your group can raise some cash to put towards those costs.
Crowdfunding
The most hands-off version of fundraising is online crowdfunding. Whether you’re using Kickstarter, Crowdfunder, JustGiving, Indiegogo or any other platform, setting up a campaign and sharing this with your fans and followers is a low-effort way to set the ball rolling on donations. Set up rewards for those who donate to show your appreciation for their support at different levels - this could be a personalised postcard for smaller donations, to a t-shirt for medium donations, all the way up to a private gig for large donations.
You can set up general crowdfunding campaigns for ongoing costs for your group, but when parting with their hard-earned cash, people will usually want to know exactly how their donation will be used, so it’s best to choose a particular project or cause to raise money for when crowdfunding.
Busking
We’ve already touted the benefits of busking as a type of rehearsal, but busking is often the prime source of income for many groups. The most important thing is to make sure you’ve looked up the rules and regulations for busking in your area before making plans to ensure that you’re not breaking the law or causing nuisance!
Popular areas to busk include town squares, near shopping centres (but not inside them, unless you have prior permission!), and close to places where passers-by will already have their purses or wallets to hand, like markets, train stations, or visitor attractions. Again, just make sure that you have permission to be near those places, and even so, it’s always best to speak to the staff or owners of any building or attraction you are busking near. Make sure that they’re happy with your volume and distance from their business and ensure that you’re not blocking people’s entry. Once you’ve formed positive relationships with nearby business owners, your busking experience will only get better!
Gigs & Concerts
Putting on your own gigs and concerts is not an option for every group, but can be a great source of income. Some things to consider when figuring out if you’re ready for a gig are:
Costs - are you able to cover the costs of venue hire, sound equipment, staff or anything else you may need?
Audience - do you already have a decent audience that you know will attend, or do you need to advertise and draw in a crowd?
Repertoire - do you have enough songs to fill a full gig by yourself or would it work best to feature or open someone else’s gig and split the income with them?
Whatever you decide, marketing is key to make sure that the gig breaks even at the minimum and to push it up to make money for your group.
Commercial Bookings
There’s high demand for a cappella groups to sing at weddings, birthdays, corporate functions, and more, and it’s a great way to make money whilst getting some professional experience. Whilst gigs do sometimes come to you, if you’re looking for regular work, you’ll definitely have to put your group out there and work on chasing those opportunities.
Luckily, there are many different websites and social media platforms where you can find these opportunities and book your first gigs - for example, Encore Musicians, LastMinuteMusicians, and The Musician’s Union are all great, reputable sources of work.
There are some things that you will need to research before putting yourself forward for gigs, like insurance, sound equipment, licences, but often these are either handled by the service you’re booking through, or they can at least advise you on what you might need.
Grants & Bursaries
Grants & bursaries are particularly useful for university a cappella groups, as often the university will offer grants themselves for musicians among their student body, or for societies within their SU. Check your university website for further details and see if your group is applicable.
If you sing outside of university a cappella then there are still lots of great sources that may be able to help you with costs, depending on your circumstances, area, makeup of your group and other factors. There’s no exhaustive list but here are some of the most notable places you can start:
Making Music UK
The Voice Festival UK
Youth Music
Arts Council England
Help Musicians
PRS for Music
Fundraising Events & Challenges
This point can tie in to crowdfunding if you go via the online route but don’t forget good old fashioned fundraising events!
You could host a raffle, a bake sale, a car wash, a sponsored run - the possibilities are endless! Choose something inexpensive that your group members will enjoy and get as many of them involved as possible. Once you’ve chosen your activity you can go ahead and invite as many people within your network as possible to sponsor your activity or buy your product.
And if you’re going via the online route, this can take the form of sponsored events like ‘24 Hour Singathons’, ‘Secret Sessions’, or even some kind of puzzle, quiz or challenge that the audience can take part in.
Selling Merchandise
From hats, to t-shirts to water bottles to very niche products like ski goggles - if you can think of it, you can slap your logo on it and sell it. The best way to make the most of merchandise is to think about what your audience likes and if there’s anything particularly unique about your group and choose an item that relates to that to sell in your merch shop. For example, if your group is based in London, an Oyster Card Holder might sell better than an apron, and if your group sings sea shanties, then a bottle opener might go well with the drinking songs you sing in your gigs. Make the most of your USP and have fun!
Sponsorship
This may not be a relevant route for every group, but particularly if you are a professional group with a large audience base, then sponsorship is something that you could consider. Try to identify businesses or brands who would like to target your audience base and get in touch with them. Prepare a sponsorship deck detailing your audience, reach, social media following, and any other relevant details that would help them decide if your group is the right fit to promote their brand.
Some businesses will have sponsorship applications on their website that are easy to find, and some will simply have a contact email for a more free-form discussion. It’s always best to start local with sponsorships, and this works well for things like hosting local business adverts in your concert or gig programme.
This is certainly not a complete list of every possible source of income, but we hope we’ve given you a good place to start and a few options to help boost income for your a cappella group.