Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jane "Electric Blue" on March 9, 2010 at 3:37am

Generally for some thing like this i would at least ask for a bit of money to cover expenses like travel and food for the evening.

Charity and donation performances are really hard to manage I usually set my self a small quota of free gigs a year and make sure that the cause is something i really believe in.

The biggest problem that I have with a lot of unpaid gigs is that for some reason as soon as they are not paying you to be there they immediatly undervalue you and don't take care of your technical issues or really make the most of your performance.

So many times I have done free gigs and been stuck on some poky stage at a dumb time with no music. Where as even for my lowest paying gigs they seem to value the performance more and make sure they are getting there moneys worth by giving you what you need to put on the best show.

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Permalink Reply by shimarella* on March 11, 2010 at 7:36am

Ask them what their entertainment budget is. Its the nicest way of being upfront about expecting to be paid. Put the ball back in their court.

I've been paid a minimum of a $100 for a 10-15 minute set which is still pretty dang reasonable. If they say they can't pay you then think about whether or not you want to do it. If you do, I'd make a request for a letter acknowledging the value of your donation ( you'll have to give them a number...you can make it higher than what you were going to charge them... I have a "charity" /non profit rate for entertainment & a for profit one...let them see what you are worth). That way you can at least write it off.

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Permalink Reply by MaisieHoops of *HulaHoopers.ca* on March 11, 2010 at 8:01am

I have never hooped for money or in a volunteer capacity, but I wanted to address the Girl Scouts aspect. I haven't been involved in years... but as I understand it, most of the presentations, etc that were done were volunteer. They spend most of their year fund raising in order to help the girls get to camp, so I do not think they would be able to offer you much in the way of $. When I was a Cubs leader, we certainly had zero money for that kind of thing. Anyone that came in to help/volunteer/teach did so for free.

I think I would look at it more as a free advertising event. Bring maybe some business cards or do up a little friendship bracelet for all of the girls and call them hoop rings or something and put your card on them. And now you have 20 girls excited about hula hooping with your name and info.

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Permalink Reply by Caroleeena of Circles of Joy on February 22, 2011 at 11:23pm

The Girl Scouts budgets for speakers. It's part of their organization. I have been paid for teaching and performing at several Girl Scout events. I didn't bring up money, they did. One of the organizers told me that part of the money from all those cookie sales is set aside for presenters because good presenters are not always able or willing to do what they do for free, even if they support the Girl Scouts, which makes sense to me. (Also, I have never made any other money from these events -- no hoop sales, no class sales, etc. I find you're more likely to make money from adult leads than from kids.)

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Permalink Reply by BenaeQuee on March 11, 2010 at 9:56am

I have to agree with a few people. I was a Girl Scout and we sold the cookies and had bake sales to get us to camp and for supplies for projects. As far as I know our 'speakers' were always there on their own with no money involved.

Volunteer work is a great thing, I do so much volunteering every year through various other groups I'm in and LOVE it. The feeling of having made someone's day makes my day that much better. A lot of times places will offer water/food and a secure area to store things. On a rare occassion, they will pay for transportation/parking (always nice).

Jodie's idea is great, make a friendship bracelet with a card attached. You can take yarn, lanyard cord, or embroidery floss and make a simple braided bracelet (cheap!). It's a great take away that the girls would love, and advertising to their parents ;-)

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Permalink Reply by Aurora of Elemental Hoops on February 22, 2011 at 10:48am

i'm having a somewhat similar but not similar problem:

a school just called me to take part in their health fair. their health fair will consist of stations, a double dutch station, soccer station, hula hoop station, etc and i would be attending the event from 1-3. its about 30 minutes away and i'd have to be a pain and ask for friday off at work. friday isnt normally a day off at my job and i have yet to ask for a friday off because fridays off are rare for us. anyway, i'd have to make special size hoops for k-8 kids and they want me to do it as "advertisement" for myself. i feel guilty for considering charging but all that is going to take time. driving, teaching, making hoops. i gave her a price of 110. 3 $20 hoops, 5 $10 dollar hoops and two borrowed. she said shed talk it over with the board to see if it was in their budget.

should i feel guilty? i mean i have to work on 8 hoops and these hoops will be used and i wont have any use for them after the event but to sit in my room and im not charging time or gas...

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Permalink Reply by Martika* of MartikasMysticDesign on February 22, 2011 at 6:12pm

I don't think you should feel bad, it's your job. Do you have trouble asking your boss for your paycheck when it's payday?

 

How can you continue a business without the means of funding it? No matter how fun it is to volunteer it can involve a lot of time and money. I agree with Jane in picking a number of free gigs you will do every year. 

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Permalink Reply by Aurora of Elemental Hoops on February 22, 2011 at 6:16pm

yeah. i feel much better now.i talked it over with my boyfriend and friend and they agreed. and this help too. thanks:)

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Permalink Reply by Caroleeena of Circles of Joy on February 22, 2011 at 11:23pm

Look at this and then decide. It always helps me.

 

http://www.shouldiworkforfree.com/

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Permalink Reply by Robin Weiss on April 7, 2011 at 11:00am

I did a girl scout troop event. This was what they used their cookie sale money for. My friend was the leader. She bought about 15 matching hoops from me, which I gave her a "bulk" discount on, and paid me $50 which is about half of what I would have charged. She was a friend and it was the Girl Scouts, but I certainly deserve to get paid.

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