2019 Door County Folk Festival Fundraiser Campaign

Greetings Friends of Traditional Dance, Music and Singing:

Requesting Your Assistance to Reach the 2019 DCFF Fundraising Goal of $7500

Hi, I'm Paul Collins, a director of the Door County Folk Festival (DCFF), a dance and
music festival held annually (for 40 years) in North-East Wisconsin - www.dcff.net

Our motto is "Get Your Foot in the Door!"

I launched a “Go Fund Me Campaign” for the 2019 Door County Folk Festival
(DCFF) on August 18th 2019. 

Thanks to 76 contributions totaling $9,290, we’ve exceeded of our fundraising goal
of $7,500 by $1,790, and we were able to meet our 2019 financial obligations.

·         The average contribution amount was $122 per donor.

·         For the time being, donations will still be accepted, both online and offline!
          Additional donations will help fund 2020 Festival start-up costs.

·        If you contribute to the fund offline, please specify whether to list your name
         or “anonymous” as the donor.

·        Send your offline contributions to DCFF - P. O. Box 25548 - Chicago, IL 60625
          Checks Payable to DCFF.

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We initiated this GoFundMe campaign in August of 2019 and here's why...

     While the overall attendance was about the same as 2018, there was a revenue
           shortfall due to changes in registration, including:

                    Fewer full-time preregistered participants
                    Fewer on-site registrants who purchased Weekend or Daily passes
                    More on-site and part-time registrants, who purchased
                                 individual event tickets (instead of passes)
                    More than 50 participants from 2018 did not attend in 2019
                                 (not quite offset by newbies and returnees from before 2018)

     There were several moderate increases in expenses

The fundraising campaign’s main purposes are to: (1) retire the remaining debt
from the 2019 Festival, (2) raise start-up funds for 2020 Festival, and (3) take care
of the legal work required to obtain 501(c)(3) status for tax exemption. 
There are additional reasons detailed below.

Thanks to the contributions of 76 donors (people and organizations),
totaling $9,290, we’ve exceeded of our fundraising goal of $7,500 by $1,790.

Additional contributions will provide start-up funding for the 2020 Festival.

Please consider contributing to the best of your ability!

The Festival reached out to various communities who are passionate about
honoring and sustaining America's diverse cultural heritages, including:

·         current and past Festival participants
·         members of  dance communities who’ve not yet attended DCFF
·         lovers of ethnic/folk dance, contra/square dance, folk music and folk singing
·         members of ethnic communities who recognize/appreciate how DCFF honors
           and preserves their traditions and cultures
·         anyone who has an interest in the success of participatory, user-friendly festivals
 
While were not able to offer “thank you gifts” to all donors, we do have a limited number
of extra items from previous Festivals that we can offer to contributors who contribute
at $75 and above. 

If you are interested any of these items, after making your donation,
please contact us at [email redacted] and suggest what you
would be interested in receiving.  We will arrange to provide something that
works for you. These items include:

·         T-Shirts (various sizes, styles and colors)
·         DCFF Drinking Mugs (various colors)
·         Dance Music from various years (CDs, FDs, Downloadable)
·         Dance Descriptions from various years (Paper, FDs, Downloadable)
·         Dance Review DVDs from various years


Suggested Donation Levels

For security and privacy reasons GoFundMe no longer supports associating
“Donor Levels” with individual donations. We’ve created our own up donor
levels using themes around our motto: "Get Your Foot in the Door!"
Contributing at these suggested levels will help us attain our goal. 
However, you may donate any amount and it will be gratefully welcomed
and appreciated. 

·         Donate $25 – “Put-Your-Foot-in-the-Sock” as you cushion your feet
          with a second pair of socks
·         Donate $50 – “Get-Your-Feet-Untangled” as you unravel your feet
          after doing  Kolo U Sest
·         Donate $75 – “Put-Your-Feet-Up” as you prop up your legs on the
          next chair during a break
·         Donate $100 – “Put-Your-Foot-in-the-Water” as you cool off in the
          waters of Lake Michigan or Green Bay
·         Donate $150 – “Put-Your-Foot-in-Opanci” as you put on those cute
          Serbian moccasins with the curled-up toes
·         Donate $250 – “Put-Your-Foot-on-the-Floor” in Baileys Harbor Town Hall
·         Donate $500 or more – “Get Your Foot-in-the-Door” (our motto)


About the Festival
 
The Door County Folk Festival (DCFF) presents a memorable extended July
weekend of ethnic/folk dance workshops, contra/square dance workshops,
singing workshops, culture sessions, group discussions, dance parties and
other activities in Wisconsin’s North-East Peninsula (Door County).
This year marked the Festival’s 40th anniversary. The Door County location offers
many more activities and experiences for non-dancing families, friends, significant
others, etc.
 
DCFF provides a congenial, relaxed community atmosphere that enables participants
of  all levels of experience and ability to:

·         learn fascinating and enjoyable forms of dancing and singing
·         celebrate and engage in festive dance parties
·         socialize, connect and share experiences with old friends and meet new friends


Success in securing these funds will enable the Festival to:

·         retire the remaining 2019 debt due vendors and musicians
·         raise startup funds for the 2020 Festival
·         get an early start to the 2020 planning and budgeting processes
·         complete the legal work required to obtain tax exempt status
·         improve our community service program that brings entertainment to
          local senior citizens
·         strengthen our cultural outreach & creativity programs to local youth
          working with the YMCA and other organizations
·         develop contingencies for unexpected fees, travel expenses and
          price increases
·         revise our pricing models to increase revenue while keep the Festival
          affordable for participants
·         strengthen the funding mechanisms for the work scholar program that
          enables students and others with limited means to participate at reduced
          costs in exchange for administrative work
·         minimize and/or eliminate costs in programs/activities less relevant
          to our audience
·         develop and maintain stronger relationships with regional International
          Folk Dance (IFD) groups
·         improve marketing messages and social media connections with our
          primary regional audiences
·         determine other audiences to whom we should reach out
 

We are extremely grateful that you have considered becoming a Festival contributor.


This Campaign began on August 18, 2019 and will end on January 31, 2020.

We ask you to:

·         make generous donations to help us exceed our fundraising goal
·         leave comments describing your most memorable experience(s) at DCFF
·         forward this request to friends and colleagues who might be willing and
          able to help with fundraising


If you prefer to Contribute Offline please mail your donation (via USPS) to:
DCFF, P O Box 25548, Chicago, IL 60625.  Donations payable to DCFF.


FYI: Tentative dates for next year's Festival are: Thu-Sun, July 9-12, 2020.


Sincerely,

Paul Collins  - [email redacted]