Hi James,
Welcome to the Community Tool Box (CTB) and Ask an Advisor, we’re very glad you chose to visit us and for your excellent questions. Thank you for the work you are doing on behalf of your community and for the very clever and interesting strategies you’ve come up with to tackle some real community issues. The idea of using the talent show as a fund-raiser for three day community-based projects is fascinating. Okay, let me address each question one at a time.
So, you’re planning to hold a talent show and you want to know if the CTB can provide one or two people to relate with during the course of the event, correct? Unfortunately James, that’s beyond the scope of the CTB. Basically, the CTB is an online resource for those working to build healthier communities and bring about social change, offering thousands of pages of tips and tools for taking action in communities. The vision behind the CTB is that people — locally and globally — are better prepared to work together to change conditions that affect their lives. Our mission is to promote community health and development by connecting people, ideas, and resources. One of the ways we connect people is through what we call Community Stories (https://ctb.ku.edu/en/community-stories). I found a story that might interest you because it’s kind of related to what you want to do with the talent show, Holistic Health and Wellness Expo, https://ctb.ku.edu/en/community-stories/holistic_health. You might connect with them and see if anyone wants to partner with you in some way; it’s worth a try anyway.
To your second question about whether you can finance the project with registration and advertisement fees? The short answer is yes, yes you can. After you pay whatever expenses you might have to actually put on the talent show the remainder can be used for the project, in fact, that is the way most organizations use their funds after expenses. Related to funding, I think it would be helpful for you to look at a few CTB resources I found for you. Specifically, there are three chapters in the Generating, Managing, and Sustaining Financial Resources section of the CTB which provides information about writing grants, preparing an annual budget, and planning for the future (i.e., sustainability). It’s all well and good to use the talent show as a one off, but if you really want to solve intransigent community problems then you need to think outside of one event and consider how you might do this long-term. The three resources are Chapter 42. Getting Grants and Financial Resources, Chapter 43. Managing Finances, and Chapter 44. Investing in Community Resources. I suggest reading the entirety of Chapter 42, Sections 2 and 3 of Chapter 43, and Section 2 (the only section truth be told), of Chapter 44. Sections 2 and 3 of Chapter 42 is all about managing your finances and provides a primer on how to account for the money your talent show will generate. Section 2 of Chapter 44 will give you with information about providing community groups with small grants, which is what you’re already planning on doing with the proceeds of the talent show, this section will help you to formalize the process.
With that James, I think you have plenty of resources to look through and consider. If for any reason these CTB resources are insufficient, or I didn’t interpret your questions correctly do visit the CTB again soon and I’ll work with you to find exactly what you need. On behalf of the CTB I wish you the greatest of success in all your endeavors and again thank you for the work you are doing on behalf of your community.
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