Mid-Mississippi Community Band

MORE THOUGHTS ON ORGANIZATION

of the

MID-MISSISSIPPI COMMUNITY BAND

Planning Document #2, February 2, 2004

There is no particular order to these points – they’re simply jotted down as they occur. Feel free to take notes right on your copy here, and be sure to send a copy of any suggestions to David P. Miller at so I can include them in the next planning document.

CONTENTS

The organizational meeting:

Getting the word out:

What “word” do we get out?

The name of the group:

Getting sponsors – startup money:

Board of directors:

Band member’s handbook:

Communications:

The website:

Section leaders:

The music committee:

Copyright permissions:

Concert admission:

Recordings:

Social events:

Awards:

Suggestions:

Planning committee:

Finalization and organization of details

THE ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING:

First, we need to set a big organizational meeting. It should probably be before the first rehearsal (March 22) if we can swing it. How does February 16 or 23 (both Mondays) sound?

The objective of the organizational meeting would be to gather names of people who would love to see community music come (back) to central Mississippi. They don't even have to play an instrument. All that's needed is that they want the music and are willing to help make it happen.

We should try to get as many people to the meeting as we can. It would be wonderful if we could get a couple hundred people to the meeting, and get enough volunteer workers to make sure we have enough people to make things happen the way they should.

For this organizational meeting, we need two maing things: a place to have it and people to attend. To get people to attend, we need to get the word out.

GETTING THE WORD OUT:

Some ways we might consider getting the word out would be

Go to ALL the churches we can find. Ask them to make announcements each week between now and the meeting, and to print it in their bulletin and post a notice on their bulletin boards.

Go to all the high school and junior high bands, get the word to PARENTS as well as band directors. Lots of kids are in bands because their parents were in band, and had a great time. They might want to play again.

Get the word to all the newspapers, flyers, bulletins, and newsletters we can learn about

Get the word to radio stations. See how many Public Service Announcements we can get them to broadcast. See if we can find a “Champion” at some of the radio stations. I suggest William Fulton at PBM, he’s a former tuba player. Hey, he might even want to join!

Get the word to all the local television stations. They also broadcast public service announcements, and perhaps they would cover this as news. See if we can find a “Champion” at a TV station as well. This could become a cause celebre.

How many spots on how many channels can we get with RoadRunner? Would they possibly even become a sponsor of the band?

Get the word to all musicians we know about. Encourage musician-to-musician word of mouth.

It seems to me that the more we can do of this in person, the more effective it will be. For example, we could just send a letter or email to a church or radio or TV station. But a phone call would be better, and a personal visit even more effective.

Rayford, you're the publicity guru. Any more suggestions?

WHAT “WORD” DO WE GET OUT?

We need to figure out exactly what “word” it is we get out when we do get the word out. We probably need to come up with a press release and a flyer.

It should be brief, meaty, and hard-hitting.

It should have on it WHAT we’re doing, WHY we’re doing it, WHO we want to come to the meeting, the Date, Time, and Location, and a phone number to call for more information.

The phone number will also be for people who want to get involved, but for some reason can’t make it to the organizational meeting.

Here is a start with some suggested wording for the press release/flyer. As with everything at this stage, it’s wide open to discussion and improvement.

MID-MISSISSIPPI COMMUNITY SYMPHONIC BAND

IS FORMING NOW!

THE NAME OF THE GROUP:

(Thoughts & Suggestions) How about Mid-Mississippi Community Band instead of Mid-South ? Mid-South sounds too general to me. It seems to cover a larger territory than Ms.Just my thoughts on this.

Perhaps we should get a "working name" then hold a contest among all the supporters (maybe those who come to the organizational meeting?) to come up with the official name for the group. That way, people would feel more involved.

I had more thoughts myself. Just "Mississippi Community Band," "Mississippi Pops Band," "Magnolia Community Band," "Magnolia Pops," and "Mississippi Symphonic Band," to name a few.

I kind of like the "SymphonicBand" part because it seems to exude more of an air of professionalism, and less of the 'adult beginner'aura that "community band" seems to have. Maybe if we grow to two groups, we can have the Symphonic group and the Community group.

It would probably be best to let’s decide soon HOW we’re going to decide the name.

GETTING SPONSORS – STARTUP MONEY:

One thing I think we need to pay attention to early on is getting some sponsors. Both individual supporters and corporate supporters. Namely because it's going to take some money to make this happen the way it should, even in the early phases.

One of the things I’ve learned through my association with the Mississippi Center for NonProfits is that one of the first questions potential sponsors ask when they are approached for support is “Do ALL the Board Members contribute?” This pretty much means that anyone who wants to be a member of the Board should be willing to kick in some seed money.

Getting startup money is going to be a bit difficult, since we don’t yet have official 501(c)(3) status, and most donors require that before they’ll give any appreciable amount. There are two ways around this. First, we could get ourselves associated with an existing 501(c)(3) organization, such as a church, and have the money donated to them to be passed to us. This shouldn’t be a problem. The other way around it is that once we apply for 501(c)(3) status, any donations given are deductible, once the status is approved, retroactive back to the day we applied. I should think the first way would be easier.

Is there any chance we could “take over” the old community band’s 501(c)(3) status?

Regardless of how we do it, we do need to get some startup money. In the beginning, it’s going to have to come from people who are so determined to get the band going that they’re willing to give some money even if it might not be deductible.

I have every confidence that all monies donated WILL be deductible, but until we get some kind of status or affiliation, we can’t tell people that it is.

We need to get someone SOON to handle this part.

On another note, I went to the "Mozart By Candlelight" concert Saturday night (Jan 31), and I have the program. In that program are the names of HUNDREDS of people and corporations who support the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra. It’s obvious these are people who like music, and want to see it come to the community. We need to get someone to head up a team to call on each of these people (eventually, not all in one week) to see if they will support the community band as well. This should be part of the Operations Division or the Executive Director Division.

Maybe at the organizational meeting we'll find enough volunteers to handle that.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

The Interim BOD. Before the organizational meeting, I think we need to see about assembling an Interim Board of Directors. I recommend we start with us three, and add volunteers until we reach about seven or nine people. It needs to be an odd number. Our criteria for membership on this board should be this: That members of the BOD are dedicated enough to getting the band started that they’re willing to put in time (at least two evenings a week), effort (willing to actually do something besides attend meetings), and money (whatever they can afford) to help get the band started. We don’t want drones. We don’t want people on the board just for the status of it. We want people who will get things done.

The IBOD will need to get all the initial activities rolling. This includes

Getting a (volunteer) executive director who will get the ball rolling on getting us granted non-profit status. The ED will be the principal liaison between the BOD and the non-profit business of the band.

Writing and approving a constitution and bylaws

Doing initial fund-raising.

• We will need approximately $1000 just to pay for all the things we need to get non-profit status.
• We will also need about $500 for initial music purchase so we can have our first concert.
• We can probably borrow the instruments and equipment we need until we can purchase our own.

Complying with all Mississippi State requirements for NP organizations. This includes registering as a NonProfit corporation, filing with the Secretary of State so we can solicit contributions, and any other actions that might be needed.

Recruiting and qualifying Permanent Board of Directors members.

I know from experience getting non-profit status takes most of a year. So we can't wait for NP status before we do anything else. We’ve got to just keep rolling, anticipating that NP status will come.

The IBOD will serve in interim status for not more than one year. During the year, they will work on the taskings above. By the end of the one year interim period, they will either convert to permanent status or turn over their Board membership to the permanent members.

The Permanent BOD. The makeup, quantity, duties, and terms of service for members of the PBOD will be set out in the Bylaws.

I suggest there be between 15 and 25 PBOD members, and that they serve three year terms, staggered so that approximately 1/3 of the members are new each year.

We need to discuss what the PBOD duties will be.

BAND MEMBER’S HANDBOOK:

It might be a good idea to begin thinking of generating a Band Member’s Handbook, something we’ll give to each member of the band. We should also make it available on the website.

The Band Member’s Handbook should contain such things as

The Band’s Vision, Mission, Philosophy, and Goals

The Code of Conduct (see below) for Members

Rehearsal schedule – tells what time to show up, what time the rehearsal starts, where it will be (if known), and any sectional rehearsals.

Dress expectations – what members will be expected to wear at concerts.

Contact Information – Who the current staff members are and how to get in touch with them

Staff Structure – how the different divisions of the band are laid out, what the responsibilities are, and how to get in touch with them

Music Committee Guidelines – what guidelines the Music Committee follows in selecting the music for rehearsals and the program for concerts

Suggestions – how to submit suggestions for the band, the music, the operations, fund-raising, or non-profit activities.

Membership Requirements – what’s required of performing members

Composer Guidelines – What to do if you want to write music for the Band

Feature Performer(s) Guidelines – What to do if you know of a soloist or an ensemble the Band might feature in a concert

Awards – What awards are available to people in various capacities

Events Calendar – should contain as much as we know about rehearsals, concerts, social events, and other activities.

The Band Member’s Handbook needs to be a dynamic, easily updated, and easily distributed. This pretty much means digital format. However, we need to consider that there will be members who don’t have computers, so we need to have it available in a paper-based version as well.

We might also consider having as our primary or only criteria for being a performing member are that the member has (a) received, read and understood a copy of the Band Member’s Handbook, and (b) they agree to abide by the Code Of Conduct contained in it. We should probably get their signature on a document that says all this before they are allowed to participate in a concert. Getting this document should be the responsibility of the Section Leader.

COMMUNICATIONS:

One of the highest priority items that will make this band a success is how well we communicate among all concerned, including, members, staff, and volunteers.

We should have a notification tree for each division of the Band – the Music Division, the Executive Division, and the Operations Division.

Each person affiliated with the Band should have a preferred and alternate means of contact. I suggest that for any communications with an action date of 1 day or more in the future, we have a default preference of email, because it is least expensive and easiest to administer. For any communications with an action date within 24 hours, we use the telephone. I would suggest that U.S. mail and printed communications be the lowest priority, because they are slowest to deliver and cost the most.

We can also use the website as a means of broadcast communication, but should not rely on it to communicate critical information to members. In other words, if someone shows up to a concert wearing clown shoes, we can’t point to the website and say “Well it says on the website you were supposed to wear swim fins!” Critical information should be individually communicated.

THE WEBSITE:

As soon as we get an official name, I’ll get us a website up and running. It will be an information-only website, and I will be able to give all the staff members their own email address at the website.

For example, if we become the “Mid-Mississippi Community Symphonic Band,” we might get as our website, and your email could be or . I can also have those email addresses forwarded to your main email address so you don’t have to check it all the time.

Until we get a permanent website, we can use as our website. I’ve already put some information up there, and as we get more information, I’ll post it there as well.

SECTION LEADERS:

In this band, perhaps more than any other, it is important to have strong section leaders.

Section Leaders should get to know everyone in their section very well. A section leader does not have to be the best player in the section, but rather should be the person in the section who (a) can play (or is willing to learn) all the music, (b) is willing to do the work necessary to make sure everyone in the section can and will play the music, and (c) is willing to do the work necessary to stay in touch with all members of the section.

This means occasional sectional rehearsals, it means making an unpopular decision or demand once in a while, and it means doing a bit more work than everyone else, for the good of the band.

It means making special efforts to be at every rehearsal and concert, and staying in constant touch with all the members of the section to be aware of when they’ll be there and when they won’t.