1000 People, $50

We had a staff meeting for Scrollworks last night. Mary Lee Rice, one of our wonderful parents who is a Vestavia Hills city councilwoman, came and talked to us about fund raising. She explained how we need to get people who are 'connected' to believe in and be passionate about Scrollworks. Then we need to get those people to convince their connections to give. Great advice. We're working on that right now.

After she left, we talked. We are all extremely passionate about Scrollworks--and are finding others equally as passionate around every corner. But they're mostly just regular people. Many are really good musicians, none are wealthy. We decided we'd really like to have 1000 small donations from regular people. We would certainly appreciate a generous donation, but we won't sell our name to become Megacorp Music School. And we don't want to act with a benefactor's reaction always in mind. Some people won't even TALK to us because they're afraid of upsetting a certain local donor. That's not how we want to operate, and it's probably not even what that donor would want. The focus should be on getting children involved in music, not on getting the next big donation.

So we're going to start a campaign, passing out fliers to plumbers, churches, at auto parts stores, everywhere we do business or can think of--on street corners, if we have to. We're looking for community support and involvement. We believe it is there.

(Another thing we decided last night is that the first semester of Scrollworks will be free to any child that can get there on a regular basis. After that, we'll institute our 'sliding scale'.)

I have put a counter up on the blogs so you can watch our progress. I've already donated $50 and I was wondering if you guys, even though many of you've already donated to the orchestras, could donate another 50 bucks--or $10 or whatever--to Scrollworks. And if you know anyone who might donate, please ask them for me. People are getting ready to put $50 of cr%& under their Christmas tree, or on the tree, or in their yard--stuff that'll end up at Goodwill in a few months. I know. I've done it many times myself. Wouldn't it be great to give music to kids instead--a gift that can't be discarded, but can be 're-gifted' many times?

I will also post a list of donors' names--and dedications. If you would like to designate your donation to be in someone's honor, there's a place to leave a comment on the PayPal donation page--or you can email me.