III-Fund Raising

This aspect of the production is a crucial part of the process of putting together a play. In most of the occasions fund raising goes on almost independently from the rest of the process.
EVEN IF THE PLAY HAS NOT BEEN SELECTED, FUNDS NEED TO BE REQUESTED EARLY IN THE SEMESTER AND THE ORGANIZATION NEEDS TO BE REGISTERED IN THE 5TH FLOOR OF WILLARD STRAIGHT HALL, OTHERWISE ALL FUNDS WILL BE DENIED.

A. How to Budget a show:
• Budgeting a play is the responsibility of the director and the producer. The director is the only one who really understands the artistic needs of the play and the producer is the only one who knows the costs of room rentals, etc.
• Budgets for Teatrotaller tend to be generic. Enclosed are two samples of budgets: one for a full scale production and one for a smaller scale production.

B. Each budget must include:
A-) Room Rental Costs
(Broken down by number of hours and cost/ hr.)
B-) Production costs
1-) Costumes and Make-up (specify number of characters)
2-) Lighting Equipment Rental
3-) Sound Equipment
4-) Sets
5-) Props

C-) Documentation
1-) Video Camera Rental
2-) Film and film processing

D-) Publicity
1-) Flyers
2-) Ad in the Cornell Daily Sun
3-) Mailing Labels
4-) Banner
5-) Program

E-) Transportation costs
(U-Haul Rental)

F-) Reception
(Optional)C. Sources of Support:
In the past, we have received funding/ support from the following organizations: Contact numbers have been provided in the general contact sheet.
SAFC, 501 Willard Straight Hall
(Student Assembly Finance Commission)
LSP, contact person, Marti Dense
Latino Studies Program
LASP, contact person, Mary Jo Dudley
Latin American Studies Program
ISPB
International Students Programming Board
Biometrics Unit, contact person Carlos Castillo- Chávez
MFC
Minority Finance Commission
CCC
(Cornell Council for the Arts)
Public Service Center, contact person, Leonardo VargasD. Possible Sources of Support:
Undergraduate Research Office, contact person, Dean Marilyn Williams
The Rose Goldsen Fund
Dean of Students
Latino Civic Association, contact person, Leonardo Vargas
Romance Studies, contact person, Prof. Debra Castillo
CUSLAR
Third World Students Programming Board

E. Co- Sponsorships:
• In the past we have been approached by other organizations who are interested in doing a joint activity with Teatrotaller. In these cases, Teatrotaller and the other organization divide the budget in such a way that the co-sponsoring organization requests funds for part of the budget and Teatrotaller seeks funds for the remaining part.
I strongly discourage the group from get engaged in this type of negotiations with other organizations because often times, the co-sponsoring organization is unable to raise the money to complete our budget. Co-sponsorships have been extremely problematic in the past.
• However, if done correctly, co-sponsorships may have more positive results. In the event that the group decides to co-sponsor an event with another organization, I suggest the following:
• When defending the budget to the SAFC committee, DO NOT present it as a co-sponsorship. Both organizations should prepare separate budgets. Present the incoming money from the co-sponsoring organization as a performance fee that we are charging them for performing in “their” event. This avoids preparing a budget and a budget presentation between the two organizations.
• Write a contract where the other organization agrees to pay ____ amount to Teatrotaller for the production of the play. The contract should also specify the date by which Teatrotaller expects to receive this payment, and how the name of both organizations will appear on the flyer. In the past , flyers for co-sponsoring activities have read: Organización ------- presenta a Teatrotaller en ---------. Make sure that our logo will be printed on the flyer.
• Also, it is good to specify on the contract how the work will be divided between the two organizations, that is, who will take care of what and by when. Both organizations should work together on preparing a calendar of deadlines that affect each other (i.e. publicity materials, tickets, etc.)
• Specify the play that will be performed. In the past, Teatrotaller has usually taken care of the full preparation of the play and therefore, has had artistic freedom when it comes to play interpretation, etc.

F. Keys to a good proposal:
• Make sure that you clearly specify and explain how the mission of Teatrotaller’s project matches the mission of the funding organization. Thus, if requesting money from ISPB, explain how the international community will benefit from our production and in which ways it promotes multiculturalism and a better understanding between peoples of different nations.
• Funding organizations are usually reluctant to fund our rehearsal time in the Statler and other theaters that have high rental fees. Explain our artistic reasons for using these spaces. Putting on a professional quality performance in a space like Hollis E. Cornell is simply impossible because it lacks lights, backstage area, etc.
• Make sure the budget is clearly presented and adds up correctly. Show how the money from tickets sales will be used to pay some of the production expenses.
• Stress Teatrotaller’s contribution to the entire Cornell and Ithaca Latino Communities.
• Talk about other Teatrotaller efforts to raise money in the community

Amigos de Teatrotaller
Ticket Sales to organizations, etc. (these will be further explained in the publicity section of this production manual.)

G. Duties of the Treasurer:
The most important duties of the treasurer are:
• Keeping track of all expenditures and copies of the receipts.
• Balancing the account regularly and knowing how much money Teatrotaller has in the account.
• Depositing regularly the money from ticket sales, etc.
• Attending the SAFC treasurer’s workshop at the beginning of the semester. This is required for the disbursement of funds.
• Preparing a budget for the production along with the producer and the director.

• Researching possible funding sources and submitting funding requests for each of these. Some funding sources have specific budget applications; make sure that guidelines are met. Attending some budget hearings might be necessary. Deadlines may vary depending on the organization.
• Once the results of the budget hearings are known, let each production team member know how much money they have been awarded. (i.e. sets $300).
• Along with the producer or the publicity team, prepare the materials for the Amigos de Teatrotaller and student organization tickets campaign.
• The procedure and purpose of these two campaigns is further explained in the publicity section of the manual. Please refer to that section for more details.
• The treasurer is also in charge of ticket sales. Tickets should be ready as soon as the publicity materials are out, which should happen two weeks before the play. The treasurer is in charge of numbering the tickets and keeping track of who has them.
• The treasurer must also send the tickets to the members of the Amigos de Teatrotaller program and the student organizations. Courtesy tickets must also be sent to the sponsors, advisors , specific professors and people of special interest to the group. All of these tickets must be sent at least a week and a half prior to the performance.
• Once the play is over, the treasurer must make sure that all of the above have paid for the tickets.
• The treasurer must keep track of the total number of tickets sold, deposit the money in our account, and keep track of expenses, etc.
• The treasurer must also collect receipts from those members of the group who have paid for materials with their own money. Receipts have to be original and must include name, social security #, and address.
• SAFC provides vouchers for certain purchases (KC Copy, Gnomon, Campus Store, Daily Sun, etc.). If paying with a voucher, Teatrotaller, as a Cornell student organization, does not have to pay sales tax.
• Receptions are usually organized by the treasurer and/ or the producer. The producer will indicate who is in charge of planning the reception.

H. Receptions:
• Teatrotaller currently has in stock a few articles that are always used for receptions. These are:
Two “marble” trays
Two small aluminum trays
One large aluminum tray
One bowl with spoon for drinks
One large cooler
• The menu for the receptions is generally planned according to the occasion/number of people expected. However, here is a general checklist of those articles that are usually served or used in receptions.
---- napkins
---- plates
---- plastic silverware
---- plastic tablecloth
---- cups
---- toothpicks
---- ice
---- cheese
---- crackers
---- cookies/ brownies/ sweets
---- carrots, celery
---- dip
---- potato chips, nachos
---- fruits, grapes
---- trashbags
---- knives. serving utensils
---- drinks