Donor Fatigue: "Free" performances are not "Free"

I have a very different kind of "Donor Fatigue".

As a company, we are often asked to "donate" our services for a "great" PR opportunity, cause, charity, event, etc. While we LOVE to dance anytime, for anyone; this is also our JOB. We dance because we love to do it, but we also chose this as a career - not a hobby.

Most "Free" performances, even when we do them, are not "free" to us. The company MUST pay the artists involved, even if the company receives zero compensation from the host, venue, or sales. Attracting qualified, healthy, and stable dancers & collaborators to create quality work requires PAYING those artists for their contribution.

I have certainly asked the artists to donate their time occasionally, and honestly, I feel awful each and every time. It is one thing for me to volunteer my services, but it is another thing entirely for me to ask that of others - in the name of my company.

In addition to performer pay, there are costumes, designers, props, composers, etc who all need to be paid fairly for their contribution/materials as well. Not to mention rehearsal space rental... you get the idea - I could go on.

Why do many presenters and organizations assume dance companies should/would perform at their event for free?

I am currently asking for sponsors to support one such request - that is for a great cause. However, if we don't get the sponsorship, we cannot perform. It's as simple as that.

(scratches her head)

If you are interested in supporting our "free" efforts, write ContradictionDance@gmail.com. Or, visit: http://contradictiondance.com/about/donate/

Join Jeremy's Cause & Support Contradiction Dance

Contradiction Dance at XinDC, pictured: Jasmine Artis

Dear Friends,

I am writing this note with a mixture of sadness, humility, gratitude and hope in my heart. Sadness for the state of the economy and it's dramatic impact on the arts' community at large - and on dance specifically. Humility for the outpouring of support from family, friends, and strangers for my company, Contradiction Dance. Gratitude for the understanding of those we work with as we navigate the challenges of our financial stress - in particular the owner of the building that houses our studio. And finally, hope. Hope for the future - a future you will help create. Hope born out of a dear friend's willingness to support us through his personal donation, and his call to action. 

Please read the letter below, written by my friend Jeremy Skidmore, and consider taking action. This not simply business, this is my life's work.

Thank you,

k.k. :)

Kelly Mayfield
o-240.450.2420
www.contradictiondance.com

CONTRADICTION DANCE: An Exchange Between Life & Dance

Hello all.

So with greater excitement and urgency, each year I find myself focusing on a different non-profit organization to which I lend time and whatever knowledge I can in order to help the cause they represent. From planting trees to cancer research to my trip last year to Africa, I have been searching for essential ways to get involved with something bigger. But in all my past choices, what has left me feeling a bit unanchored has been the fact that, like Africa, I found myself supporting or traveling to all these different places to do all these different things, but was never turning my sights to doing work in my own community. So this year, I am attempting to do just that: making tangible, simple contributions to my own community. 

Less than a year ago, I moved to the neighborhood of Takoma Park (for those who do not know, it is a wonderful, family dominated community right on the boarder between DC and Maryland). I love it here. Very much. And in my time here I have become aware of an organization called Contradiction Dance. Located just a few blocks from my house, Contradiction not only consists of two professional dance companies, but it also offers an amazing variety of classes in dance, theater, yoga, tai-chi, circus techniques and even summer camps for kids. For a community like mine in Takoma Park, their presence has quickly become essential and serves as a source of pride for my neighbors and local businesses. But on top of all that, Contradiction has been developing its own studio space for all of its operations. What has emerged is something that is difficult to describe. A studio that possesses an energy that nurtures creativity and learning like few other rooms I have ever stepped into. I cannot say enough how much I have come to love this space. Even in my own work, I have chosen to be in this studio whenever I can because as a vessel that holds inspiration for me there is no place I would rather be. I have upped the ante of my own involvement in helping this company and this space by taking on their process of becoming non-profit and incorporated in the state of Maryland. Anything I can do to ensure that this company, and this space, remain right where they are, I will do.

And that is why I am writing to you now. I have just learned that Contradiction Dance has an opportunity to extend and make more permanent their presence in this studio space. The owner of the building is negotiating a unique arrangement with them that will keep them as a part of the community and will keep the space as a studio for a long time to come. Part of the agreement is that a portion of the rent for the rest of the year must be paid up front by June 1st. While the offer itself is generous, the time frame that Contradiction has been given to meet the opportunity is obviously tight. So I am turning to each of you. I cannot say enough how important this organization has become to me. I am putting more of my own time into it than I have in any other organization outside of my own former theater company.

So I am asking each of you to take a moment and visit this link below to donate $10 to Contradiction Dance. That is it. Just $10. Even just $10 right now, before June 1st, will more deeply carve out the possibility of keeping Contradiction Dance right where they belong in their amazing studio space in Takoma Park. And that would make me very, very happy.


http://contradictiondance.com/donate/ 

Thank you very much for your time and your contribution.

Sincerely, and with much gratitude,

Jeremy Skidmore

What you need to know...

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