dydy1
How much would you charge for a two days event for a fundraising for a non-profit organization in the Standford Connecticut area?
Furthermore, they want differen genres of music such as Hip pop, Reggae, salsa, batchata, meringue, pop music, kompa, zouk, and soca.
Furthermore, they want differen genres of music such as Hip pop, Reggae, salsa, batchata, meringue, pop music, kompa, zouk, and soca.
Posté Tue 17 Apr 07 @ 9:21 pm
bagpuss
If it's for charity i'd probably also do it for charity or not do it at all (if I couldn't). Or at least charge expenses only, in return they can promote you on their posters/adverts and help give your name a boost.
Posté Tue 17 Apr 07 @ 9:29 pm
KregCZ
Do you mean "Stanford Connecticut"?
(Southern Connecticut?)
(Southern Connecticut?)
Posté Wed 18 Apr 07 @ 12:20 am
Tear Em 'Up
I volunteer for almost every non-profit job I do. It make us look good as a profession.
Posté Wed 18 Apr 07 @ 12:26 am
KregCZ
I work in Stanford and I don't do charity stuff for free!!!
They make good money at some of these things and they will usually do these events on a Saturday night to maximize profits. This takes away from your best night to make any money or even get a party.
I think you should charge the minimum you charge and have them give you a receipt for the difference of what your maximum charge would be; so you can clame it as a donation on your taxes.
If they are not an official charity that you can deduct your donation from, you have to go by your heart and decide how much do YOU want to give to this charity. Remember once you do it for a low price they will hold you to it and tell other charities that you did it for so low, and you will get call after call saying "I heard you did it for XXX for YYY and we were hoping you would do it for us for the same".
I would charge no lower than $75 an hour; but it all depends on how many hours, the setup time, the drive time, food and lodging. so many things to factor in...
I will do no gig for less then $300 per show; 2 days = 2 shows = $600 but if they want you for more than 5 hours a day they are asking a lot from you and you need to charge more.
They make good money at some of these things and they will usually do these events on a Saturday night to maximize profits. This takes away from your best night to make any money or even get a party.
I think you should charge the minimum you charge and have them give you a receipt for the difference of what your maximum charge would be; so you can clame it as a donation on your taxes.
If they are not an official charity that you can deduct your donation from, you have to go by your heart and decide how much do YOU want to give to this charity. Remember once you do it for a low price they will hold you to it and tell other charities that you did it for so low, and you will get call after call saying "I heard you did it for XXX for YYY and we were hoping you would do it for us for the same".
I would charge no lower than $75 an hour; but it all depends on how many hours, the setup time, the drive time, food and lodging. so many things to factor in...
I will do no gig for less then $300 per show; 2 days = 2 shows = $600 but if they want you for more than 5 hours a day they are asking a lot from you and you need to charge more.
Posté Wed 18 Apr 07 @ 12:47 am
Tear Em 'Up
I hear you Kreg but, I only have one price. Not a minumim and a maximum range. And giving back to the community is everyones right to either do, or not to do. I chose to I look at it this way, almost all of ours is here in my honetown and I want my kids to see how to keep small town America alive. But everyone needs to decide for themselves. Two days is a hugh commitment, no one would argue you should get something for two days worth of work, and if they did I would walk away and thank them for considering me.
Posté Wed 18 Apr 07 @ 12:58 am
Pionara
KregCZ wrote :
I work in Stanford and I don't do charity stuff for free!!!
They make good money at some of these things and they will usually do these events on a Saturday night to maximize profits. This takes away from your best night to make any money or even get a party.
I think you should charge the minimum you charge and have them give you a receipt for the difference of what your maximum charge would be; so you can clame it as a donation on your taxes.
They make good money at some of these things and they will usually do these events on a Saturday night to maximize profits. This takes away from your best night to make any money or even get a party.
I think you should charge the minimum you charge and have them give you a receipt for the difference of what your maximum charge would be; so you can clame it as a donation on your taxes.
I would agree with this point.
Look at the big charities. When you go to one of their fancy fundraising nights, find out how much the tickets are. See what 'celebrities' are going to be there. Where are they holding the function?
I guarantee you this:
1/ The venue isn't free.
2/ The celebrities/guest speakers aren't free.
3/ The tickets aren't free.
And, to top it all off
4/ The DJ isn't free.
I was doing a charity event the other night in a big fancy swanky hotel near my home town. They raised £70,000 that night by auctioning...i dunno...stuff, and doing lots of other charity related things. And, because it was for more than 600 people, they hired a whole sound company to come in and do all the PA and band gear. Oh yeah, the two bands they had on that night certainly weren't free either.
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against charities. I used to think along the same lines as you, but now, having seen what real charity events are like, I reckon you can actually charge more than 'normal'. People who say 'it's for charity' are trying to mug you.
And another thing...if you had a night to do that you weren't taking any money for, and some club phoned you and said, 'Mate, we'll give you 300 bucks if you come in here and spin for 2 hours tonight...', would you be tempted, or would you say, 'No thanks, I've got two non paying gigs to do'.
I don't mean to sound harsh, and, like i say, i have nothing against charities, but we need to get our priorities right man!!! I'm not trying to tell you how to run your business, I'm just trying to help open your eyes to what I've seen. Ultimately the choice is completely yours.
Keep spinnin'...(",)
P
Posté Wed 18 Apr 07 @ 2:37 am
Tear Em 'Up
@Pionara, if a club offered me 300 USD and I had a free gig schedualed I would have one of my people work for the three hours then go back to the freebee and look cool both ways....lol
Posté Wed 18 Apr 07 @ 3:24 am
KregCZ
I know a guy who did a free show for a charity because it directly effected him (this is one of those events for a real sad cause) I really thought it was nice of him to do it, but I do this job for a living.
If I don't get paid this week: My family and I have to struggle or go without this week.
Every year I do a charity auction fundraiser for the PTA from the local school;
They sell off things the kids make, Last year they sold off plates from each grade; the cheepest one went for $1200 the highest went for over $2000.
This is a small-time event but brings in over $30,000 each year.
I don't think it would kill them to pay $300 - $500 for a DJ.
I did do one for free a long time ago but... you know I have never once had someone at one of these charities offer to help me carry my equipment in or help pack up.
I once did one for reeeaaalll cheep, the guy doing the auction was using my wireless; I asked him not to use the mic close to the speakers or there will be feedback that could damage the speakers.
The guy came close once and I warned him again, I had to leave the room and the dude walked right up to the speakers, heard the feedback and just stood there until he blew-out the horn/tweeter on my $1000ea EAW speakers.
They brought in almost $50,000 and tried to argue the price with me because I had to run the event with 1 speaker for the last hour.
I learned 2 things that day; NEVER leave the set when someone has the Mic & you have to charge something, just in case something dose get damaged, also you have to cover your gas & other expences.
If I don't get paid this week: My family and I have to struggle or go without this week.
Every year I do a charity auction fundraiser for the PTA from the local school;
They sell off things the kids make, Last year they sold off plates from each grade; the cheepest one went for $1200 the highest went for over $2000.
This is a small-time event but brings in over $30,000 each year.
I don't think it would kill them to pay $300 - $500 for a DJ.
I did do one for free a long time ago but... you know I have never once had someone at one of these charities offer to help me carry my equipment in or help pack up.
I once did one for reeeaaalll cheep, the guy doing the auction was using my wireless; I asked him not to use the mic close to the speakers or there will be feedback that could damage the speakers.
The guy came close once and I warned him again, I had to leave the room and the dude walked right up to the speakers, heard the feedback and just stood there until he blew-out the horn/tweeter on my $1000ea EAW speakers.
They brought in almost $50,000 and tried to argue the price with me because I had to run the event with 1 speaker for the last hour.
I learned 2 things that day; NEVER leave the set when someone has the Mic & you have to charge something, just in case something dose get damaged, also you have to cover your gas & other expences.
Posté Wed 18 Apr 07 @ 3:56 am
vantinedj
I play in Stanford a lot. (Also Westport - Greenwich)Mostly private functions. It might be charity but there is tons of $$ there. I tend to stay away from charity for my time is very valuable. I give when I can and would rather give a donation then give up a Saturday night. BTW. You cannot write off a charity event. Only your gas and miles. Most charities will not say you donated say $500.00 unless you donate it. The service no matter how much it costs is not tax deductable. At lease in US. Found that out the hard way once. So charge them. Especially if it is a premium night!
You know since you are in the area. (I know this is off topic but...) We all get call for price quotes. I hate the price shoppers. You know some guy the other day insisted he called three DJ's in the CT area and was getting prices of no more than $600.00 for a 6 hour last minute wedding. I think he was lying to me but this guy kepy insulting me saying I am overpriced and no DJ's even close to me out there. Even when I first started I was getting more than that and that was ten years ago. That is just pricing in this area. Most 5 hours are between $900.00 (very low end) to $1600.00 (very high end), single dj's five hours. I hate when these customer cop an attitude with you. Your price is your price. When they go into walmart do they haggle with the checkout clerk, or ask but don't get rude about it. I ended up telling this guy I must not be for him but he kept trying to get my price down... Well just needed to vent. Make sure you charge these guys, unless it is a charity that is special to you and you can afford to loose the night!
Good luck...
You know since you are in the area. (I know this is off topic but...) We all get call for price quotes. I hate the price shoppers. You know some guy the other day insisted he called three DJ's in the CT area and was getting prices of no more than $600.00 for a 6 hour last minute wedding. I think he was lying to me but this guy kepy insulting me saying I am overpriced and no DJ's even close to me out there. Even when I first started I was getting more than that and that was ten years ago. That is just pricing in this area. Most 5 hours are between $900.00 (very low end) to $1600.00 (very high end), single dj's five hours. I hate when these customer cop an attitude with you. Your price is your price. When they go into walmart do they haggle with the checkout clerk, or ask but don't get rude about it. I ended up telling this guy I must not be for him but he kept trying to get my price down... Well just needed to vent. Make sure you charge these guys, unless it is a charity that is special to you and you can afford to loose the night!
Good luck...
Posté Wed 18 Apr 07 @ 4:56 am
DJBIGMARK
charge them no less than $1200 for starters
Posté Wed 18 Apr 07 @ 11:24 pm
A Man and His Music
If this is a all day thing, charge them $2,000.00. You have to be listed as the entertainment on their brochures, and any other material for that event. I would make a donation of $500.00 to $1000.00, which ever you feel comfortable with. I would do $800.00. The donation will have to be listed with the other donations. The contract has to say $2000.00. You will make the donations after you get the signed contract, and the deposit. There is no mention of your donation, in writing. Only your check. This should work for everyone. This is based on 6 hour play time, less then 50 miles one way, no stairs, and a 250 people dance area. You can adjust if you think it will be a bigger or smaller event, based on what you normally charge. I have a minimum of $600.00, even if it's one hour. Let them know how big of a break they are getting.
Posté Thu 19 Apr 07 @ 12:08 am
Tear Em 'Up
I am not saying do not charge anything!!! A lot of businesses donate, whether it is money or services or just a location for events like this. If you consider yourself a business you need to take that into account. I get a boat-load of business from my volunteer work. I do mean a boat-load. Exposure is a major component of our line of work. I should clarify, everything I donate is four hours or less in duration. After that, different issue. But it is something to think about...where do you as a business draw the line at donation and profit. But, giving back is part of business. Look at every major chain store in the world, every one of them in some way donates to the community around it. And some give back in a hugh way like by sponsering marathons (i.e. Capitol 1sponsored the Chicago Marathon). A business cannot just take from a community and expect to stay in business, a lot of people notice things like that and mention it to others.
Posté Thu 19 Apr 07 @ 2:36 am
dydy1
Thank you for everyone' s imput on the matter. actually, I asked these question for one of my DJ friend who live in Stanford.
Once again thank you all
Once again thank you all
Posté Fri 20 Apr 07 @ 4:09 am