Plug and Play Maritime’s Post

What's 5%❓ We've joined fellow independent festivals asking the UK government to lower VAT on festival ticket sales from 20% to 5% for a temporary period of three years. Why❓ One in six festivals didn’t survive the global pandemic and we are still seeing more and more of the UK's best independent events close their gates. If you've been a friend of Elderflower Fields for a while, you'll know it's been a challenge. The independent festivals that survived did so by using up all our reserves. Your trust and support in buying tickets early and donating your time and creativity to encourage more families outdoors kept us going. Temporarily lowering VAT on ticket sales for the next three years would give surviving festivals including Elderflower Fields and Into The Trees in September the space to breathe. How can you support us and the Association of Independent Festivals❓ https://lnkd.in/ebQ87_Mf And, continue to buy tickets to independent events as early as you can ❤

Grimalkin Records Inc. is looking for a QTBIPOC sound engineer to run sound for our 3rd annual festival in Richmond, VA. It's on October 12-13 at Basic City Beer Co. The equipment there isn't great so we were hoping to hire someone who also has equipment to ensure good sound. Last year, Musiq Cultura RVA ran sound for us. Rei was great, but this year they aren't available for both days and we're trying to keep the sound consistent. Rei is going to play the day they're available instead. Ideally, we would like to record it from the soundboard as well. Oct 12 is 4pm-midnight and Oct 13 is 4pm-10pm. I know the manager Alex there and he said we can leave everything securely overnight from the 12th to the 13th. We can guarantee a minimum of $400 per day. We're fundraising and so it depends on if we reach our goal if we can pay more. Last year we guaranteed Rei the same rate, but we were able to pay them $500 a day after we saw what we raised in total after the festival. This may not be great pay. We're a nonprofit and so anything additional could be an in-kind donation. I know that doesn't pay the bills though. If you are interested or know someone who is, please email grimkells@grimalkinrecords.com. Grimalkin Fest is a manifestation of our mission and a celebration of Queer Joy and Resilience through a sharing of music, skills, resources and connections. It also supports, uplifts, and cultivates relationships with musicians, other creatives, community partners, and our communities. Last year, our festival’s budget was $12,600. Over $10,000 went directly to the performers and folks working at and planning the event. That's 86% of our budget going directly to artists and folks working the fest, which is unheard of as far as I know for festivals. Our goal is to raise $26,000 to expand this year’s festival budget. Achieving this goal will allow us to: *Compensate folks for travel *Provide food and snacks *Rent a house for out-of-town performers *Purchase decorations, supplies, posters, and locally silk-screened shirts *Hire a video editor for the virtual live-streamed day *Compensate event planners *Hire a consultant to assist the volunteer coordinator *Rent Starlink equipment to live-stream events happening during the two in-person days *Increase compensation for performers and folks working at the fest Last year, our budget didn’t allow us to compensate travel costs, provide full meals for performers, workers and volunteers, fairly compensate event planners, hire a consultant to assist volunteers, nor rent a Starlink to live stream the in-person days. A budget increase will. https://lnkd.in/e39VtTXB

Grimalkin Records is looking for a QTBIPOC sound engineer to run sound for our 3rd annual festival in Richmond, VA. It's on October 12-13 at Basic City Beer Co. The equipment there isn't great so we were hoping to hire someone who also has equipment to ensure good sound. Last year, Musiq Cultura RVA ran sound for us. Rei was great, but this year they aren't available for both days and we're trying to keep the sound consistent. Rei is going to play the day they're available instead. Ideally, we would like to record it from the soundboard as well. Oct 12 is 4pm-midnight and Oct 13 is 4pm-10pm. I know the manager Alex there and he said we can leave everything securely overnight from the 12th to the 13th. We can guarantee a minimum of $400 per day. We're fundraising and so it depends on if we reach our goal if we can pay more. Last year we guaranteed Rei the same rate, but we were able to pay them $500 a day after we saw what we raised in total after the festival. This may not be great pay. We're a nonprofit and so anything additional could be an in-kind donation. I know that doesn't pay the bills though. If you are interested or know someone who is, please email grimkells@grimalkinrecords.com. Grimalkin Fest is a manifestation of our mission and a celebration of Queer Joy and Resilience through a sharing of music, skills, resources and connections. It also supports, uplifts, and cultivates relationships with musicians, other creatives, community partners, and our communities. Last year, our festival’s budget was $12,600. Over $10,000 went directly to the performers and folks working at and planning the event. That's 86% of our budget going directly to artists and folks working the fest, which is unheard of as far as I know for festivals. Our goal is to raise $26,000 to expand this year’s festival budget. Achieving this goal will allow us to: *Compensate folks for travel *Provide food and snacks *Rent a house for out-of-town performers *Purchase decorations, supplies, posters, and locally silk-screened shirts *Hire a video editor for the virtual live-streamed day *Compensate event planners *Hire a consultant to assist the volunteer coordinator *Rent Starlink equipment to live-stream events happening during the two in-person days *Increase compensation for performers and folks working at the fest Last year, our budget didn’t allow us to compensate travel costs, provide full meals for performers, workers and volunteers, fairly compensate event planners, hire a consultant to assist volunteers, nor rent a Starlink to live stream the in-person days. A budget increase will. https://lnkd.in/emDMDwyJ

Looking forward to reading this: "From cinema programmers to orchestra CEOs, figures across the arts world reveal what 14 years of Tory rule has done to the sector – and whether a change of government would improve anything." In the past, as a Trustee of an impactful arts charity, I appraised that a more enterprising approach can yield more revenue than reliance on the public purse. Whether developing services, engaging with local or regional Corporate Social Responsibility agendas or simply contracting patrons whose tax regimens would be incentivised by donating and their brands developed by a publicly recognised partnership, there are many options that can add value and mitigate the risk of dwindling aid each financial year. #arts #britain #charity #cic #socialenterprise #funding #freedom #addvalue https://lnkd.in/ec-FrhpF

The ballet of M&E and M-O-N-E-Y: using M&E in your program’s donor relations   Most social impact initiatives rely heavily on donations and grants to sustain their activities. To attract and sustain donor support, program leaders need to demonstrate results.   Enter monitoring and evaluation (M&E), the underappreciated hero of securing donor support.   How about a theatrical metaphor to represent the interplay between funding and M&E?   Imagine yourself on stage, ready to present your social impact program to an eager audience of current and potential donors.   As you weave the narrative of your endeavours, from needs assessment to activities and outcomes, M&E acts as the silent partner, providing insights and invaluable evidence that bolster the credibility of your program’s efficacy and instil confidence in its efforts.   With robust M&E data, you’re presenting tangible evidence of your program’s impact. This is what donors seek – assurance that their contributions are making, and would make, a difference.   Like an audience craving a powerful performance, donors desire results. They want to see the fruit of their generosity reflected in credible and compelling storytelling.   But beyond showcasing outcomes, M&E can also help engage donors in a narrative larger than themselves. By demonstrating the transformative ripple effect of their contributions, you turn donors into inspired patrons of your cause, committed to supporting your endeavours.   So, the next time you are preparing to raise funds for your social impact program or otherwise engage with donors, remember: M&E isn't just a backstage player. It’s the architect of your program’s narrative, the orchestrator of confidence, and a key catalyst for impact – all of which are key factors in donor relations.   [Drawn from the blog article: Shejavali, K. (2023, August 1). The dance between M&E and M-O-N-E-Y: using M&E in your program’s donor relations. Blog article. RM3 Consulting. Available at: https://lnkd.in/eH3dgwzG (accessed: 4 April 2024).]   #monitoringandevaluation #internationaldevelopment #nonprofit #rm3

Read my post below to learn a little more about me - and the explanation behind this photo (taken in 2013). https://lnkd.in/gibhVY3v

For the last five weeks, Lydia and I have loved getting to take FREE, private swing dance lessons (east coast swing)! How did that happen? Well, every Saturday night in Summer, there is free live music and swing dancing in our downtown ( and even a free 15-minute group lesson). It was fun, but it got boring quickly because of how little I knew. You can’t learn much in 15 minutes, especially when the lesson is mostly the same week to week. So I started looking for private swing dance lessons. In the meantime, we kept going to the Saturday dancing because hey, it was free and the live music was fun. Then one day, Lydia had a conversation with one of the organizers, who also happens to run a nonprofit organization that promotes swing dancing here in the city. She mentioned that I ran a business that helps nonprofits with marketing, and he immediately lit up and wanted to talk with us. A short conversation later, I offered to help them with all the marketing advice I could – free of charge. They had organized these Saturday dances, and offered a lot of other events that were extremely cheap (i.e. $5/person!), I thought the least I could do was try to share what I know. Then I had an idea and said: “Look, I can help out the org with some marketing, and in exchange maybe you can give us some swing lessons.” He laughed and said that he would be happy to give us lessons. Five weeks later (and after trying to find other ways to give back!), we’re still getting a free lesson each week . . . . . . All because I started by trying to help. You know that this same thing can happen when you’re trying to get new corporate sponsors for your org? Instead of approaching companies asking for something, what if you went to them looking for ways to help? Unsure of what that might look like for you? We just wrote an article on how to forge the best kind of corporate-nonprofit partnerships, sharing stories on how by seeking to give to corporate partners, you can end up receiving more in return! (link below) #nonprofitmarketing #corporatepartnerships #nonprofits #corporatesponsorships

Although securing a politician for a fundraiser event involves careful planning and attention to detail, their presence guarantees impactful gatherings and memorable moments. #politicians #fundraisers #fundraiserevents #evententertainment #entertainment #events #eventprofs #event #evententertainers #livemusic #liveentertainment #music #specialevents #partyentertainment #party #parties #performance #celebrity #celebrities

So at the end of week 4, I have walked a total of 95,542 steps, that’s 326,562 steps since 1st May! Definitely the festival helped to push up those extra steps! Only a few more days left, if you would like to sponsor me, the link is below #10kstepsaday #10kstepschallenge #10kstepseverydayinmay #motofoundation #thanks #giveback @moto.way https://lnkd.in/e7wGKfQg