Fundraising - New Plays Festival

The Theatre Program believes in the value of learning how to produce theatre within certain prescribed time and financial constraints. In terms of thesis production budgets, the Theatre Program provides rehearsal space(s); the performance venue including front-of-house staff; lighting, sound and projection equipment; scenic, electrics, costume, props, and sound shop labor; a stage manager; backstage crew and/or board operator(s); administrative support; marketing material templates; a photographer for photocall; and access to the Theatre Department’s own inventory of props and costumes as well as access to MTFA. Columbia also provides a discretionary budget that is primarily meant to cover artist fees and custom design elements for each specific production. 

If, after consultation with the student’s Concentration Head and the Theatre Production staff, there is an aspect of a thesis production that cannot be realized within the allotted discretionary budget, third-year students may submit a proposal to raise additional funds. A committee consisting of faculty and staff will review all proposals. 

Fundraising Overview

A fundraising proposal must be submitted no later than 12 weeks before the first public performance. It is required that a proposal draft be submitted to Production Management by the draft deadline, in order to receive any feedback and have an opportunity to address initial questions and/or concerns before formal submission.  The draft budget will be reviewed during the Budget Review Meeting.

No late submissions will be considered. Please note that raising additional funds requires foresight into the specific needs of the production; some artistic and design decisions will need to be made significantly earlier if a process includes fundraising.

The maximum amount that can be fundraised is $5000. However, if the proposal is for a musical production, a request may be made to exceed this cap in order to cover the hiring of the additional artists required for musicals. This request should be made and approved prior to submitting the formal proposal for review.

Raised funds can be applied to production aspects such as:

  • Fees/stipends for actors and/or creative team members.*
  • Costs for specific production elements
  • Administrative costs for a specific need (i.e. printing, marketing materials, or rehearsal expenses)

*Note that Columbia MFA Theatre students can only be paid for their participation in Columbia Theatre productions if they are serving in one of the following six roles: Scenic Designer, Props Designer, Lighting Designer, Sound Designer, Costume Designer, or Projection/Video Designer.

Fundraising may not be used for:

  • Scenic build materials
  • Costumes (excepting accessory items, like jewelry, that would not be expected in a fitting)
  • Rentals, including prop weapons (Columbia must be the signatory for all rentals)
  • Performance Rights
  • Union Contracts

The timely submission of a proposal does not automatically guarantee approval. Fundraising cannot begin until the proposal has been officially approved.

If the proposal is approved by the committee, the following protocols must be followed:

  • Fundraising must use a public-facing online donation platform (i.e. GoFundMe, Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, etc.) for all donations. Production Management must approve the content of the fundraising page prior to launch.
  • No one individual or company may contribute more than 50% of the fundraising goal.
  • All funds raised must be in-hand no later than the first rehearsal or five (5) weeks before the first public performance, whichever is earlier.
  • A complete list of all contributions and sources must be delivered to Production Management no later than five (5) weeks before the first public performance. All contributors must be identified to Columbia, though they may be listed as anonymous on public-facing platforms.
  • All purchases made or fees/stipends paid with raised funds must be notated on the Expense Tracking document distributed by Production Management, in real time.
  • Original receipts or signed invoices are required for all expenses. These must be submitted to Production management within 21 days of strike.
  • Students should not be promising payment to individuals from fundraised funds before those funds are secured. In the event a fundraising shortfall results in a production no longer being able to meet its original budget, the original budget will be subject to review and budget funds may be reallocated by Production Management with priority given to paying the production’s collaborators their agreed-upon compensation.

If the above protocols are not followed, the Theatre Program reserves the right to revoke permission to fundraise or to use the money that has been raised.

Proposal Details

The proposal must include two parts, each entirely and accurately completed:

  1. A Budget with and without fundraising.
    1. These budgets must be submitted in the format linked here:
      1. New Plays Festival Sample Fundraising Budget
    2. Submit the budget as an .xls file or Google sheet; please do not convert to a pdf.
    3. The budget without fundraising should reflect your budget as if fundraising were not approved. A good faith effort to detail how the production can be mounted without additional funds is vital to a successful fundraising proposal.
  2. A Narrative Proposal detailing the specific need for additional funds and how the funds will be raised. Please completely fill out the Narrative Proposal Questionnaire. All questions must be answered.

Detail is a critical element of a successful proposal, as it allows the committee to understand the need for additional funds. Please be specific and clear about your request and its rationale. If the proposal includes raising money for a material or administrative element, please identify the specific element sought, its anticipated cost, and what assumptions you have made or research you have done to come up with the dollar amount. General requests such as “$800 for props” are inadequate and will result in a rejection of your proposal.

An example of a specific request might read: 

“With the choreography requirements for the barber chair in Sweeney Todd, we are seeking to raise $800 to purchase and modify a chair for the production. The predicted cost of this element is based on an estimated expenditure of $750 for the base chair (examples of chairs at this price can be found here and here), plus $50 for materials necessary to add the lever and weathering effects.” 

Pay particular attention to ensuring the math on the proposal is accurate. Inconsistencies between the narrative proposal and the budget, and inaccurate budget calculations could result in the rejection of a proposal.

As part of your fundraising plan, include details about any online platforms that will be used, any in-person events that will be held, and how the fundraiser(s) will be publicized. All publicity for fundraising must be approved by Production Management prior to release.

Proposals should be sent to Corrie Beth Knott at [email protected] and Brendan O'Brien at [email protected].