Dear Alumni, Volunteers, Supporters and Friends of The Glassmen,
Now, more than ever, the Glassmen need your help! We are at a tipping point.
David Stinson, our Interim Executive Director, has been going through our finances with a fine-toothed comb. Dave, who is working without pay through the end of this calendar year, has determined that we will receive $550,000 from members, DCI appearance fees, and fund-raisers, but our anticipated annual operating budget is over $850,000. This leaves us with a gap of $300,000.
We are appealing to you to save our organization. We need to raise the $300,000 before the end of the year, preferably by Thanksgiving, to ensure the corps can get from auditions weekend to the post-season banquet and home again. Dave is confident that with your help, “The Glassmen can overcome our fiscal challenges and field a corps for the 2013 season.”
There are many reasons we are in a budget crisis. The primary cause is that our once lucrative Bingo income rapidly declined over the last decade and eventually cost us more to operate than we earned. New fund-raisers have not been as successful or sustainable as we had hoped; and, the cost of fielding a competitive corps in DCI has escalated each year. We have stayed afloat by reducing operating costs, utilizing generous volunteers, and, unfortunately, securing loans. We are now in the process of selling G-East to help offset some of our past debt and move toward operating within our means.
That is a brief explanation of why we need you. The Glassmen is not the board, nor a past or future director, nor the color guard, the drum line, or the horns. The Glassmen is us...all of us, and we must come together to save it. If we are successful, then, just as it was for you, The Glassmen will continue to be a life changing organization for many young men and women to come.
Giving to The Glassmen will be taking action to make the world a better place. Past and present drum corps participants and supporters know that the life lessons they learned endures well beyond the show. The young women and men who march off that field understand that no job is too difficult or too hard; that there are rewards for working longer and harder; and, that a life of purpose and integrity transcends the activity. Let’s work together to make this opportunity available for future generations of young people who want the experience of a lifetime!
Please consider donating today. We thank you in advance for giving as much as you possibly can to save our cherished Drum Corps.
Sincerely,
Tom Sink, President Board of Directors Glassmen, Inc.
October 20, 2012
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