Thread: Responding to a request for a "no budget" event

And not "no budget" as in "the sky's the limit..."

Here is an excerpt from a message I received for a university-affiliated event. The event is free of charge for attendees.

"We will have art projects, activities, storytelling, and live performers. In the past we have had performances by a traditional Italian dance troupe, Chinese dancers, Indian dancers, Chinese yo-yo performers, Spanish Flamenco dancers, etc. Unfortunately, we are working with a very tight budget and are not in a position to hire performers for the event."

As a rule, I only extend discounts to 501(3)c charities, and have occasionally donated performances to charity causes that I support. This venue is not a registered charity, as far as I can tell.

What I'm unsure about in this case is if (a) anyone else who is performing would also be unpaid or (b) if the performers they reference from the past are university student groups (who generally never get paid at university events) or other pro performers. I found an article about the event from a few years ago, and there was a reference to "artists who generously donated their time;" one of the groups was a major international pro music ensemble while another was a junior dance troupe from the local Chinese language school, so I don't know if that's a journalistic nicety, or if they performed for free.

Anyone have some nicely worded lines to express "I can work within your budget but not without one?"

"Thank you very much for contacting me about your event! As a working professional, I must prioritize events that generate revenue for me above those who are unable to pay. If you're looking for a donated performance, I regret that I cannot accommodate that at this time, as I can't afford to set aside a time slot I may otherwise be able to use for a paid opportunity. However, if you do have some budget available, please let me know what you are able to offer, and we can discuss further.

Again, thank you very much for contacting me. Even if this event doesn't work out, I'd be interested in keeping the door open for future opportunities to work together."



Aside from that, do you have students who aren't pro level yet, but are skilled enough to do a polished performance? Maybe an option could be to treat this as an opportunity for your students to get performance experience, and you could give them a stack of flyers promoting your classes to distribute.

I have done quite a lot of events of that ilk, and they will normally pay a small token, either cash or in the form of vouchers (for instance I did a performance for UCSA and was paid in UCSA shop vouchers, which was handy since I was a student at the time).

If they don't pay anything at all you can either think of them as "promotion" (and often fun) or just decline.

I've danced for several University-associated events (usually multicultural fairs) and always been paid, usually the full rate for our entire troupe. Occasionally we've had to negotiate a bit of a discount to work within their budget, but I haven't been asked to dance for free for a college event yet.

I suppose there could be pros doing it because they think it will be good publicity for their classes? Trouble is, college kids rarely have money to spend on classes, and get all kinds of free or supercheap ones through the college rec center!

I don't like to put student groups out in front of the general public. Just like soloists, if they're good enough to perform, they're good enough to earn the going rate. if not, they should stick to friendly, student environments (for their own sake if not the sake of the art form. People can be quite rude and often forget that we can HEAR the things they're saying about us while we perform!)

I would just say thanks for asking me, sorry, I'm not available. (or I donate a limited number of performances per year and I've already committed my limit for 2012) They don't need/want an explanation, and if they're finding others who will perform for free, any attempt to 'educate' them on how to treat you with respect will just come off as bitchy/difficult.
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My students definitely aren't ready yet for a public performance (baby beginners), and I wouldn't push them to make a debut at an event like this.

I definitely do want to keep a relationship open with these folks, which is making the response writing a little difficult (weighing my words)

Originally Posted by najla86

My students definitely aren't ready yet for a public performance (baby beginners), and I wouldn't push them to make a debut at an event like this.

I agree, beginners should NEVER make their debut at an event like this. When I suggested students, I was thinking in terms of ones who have been studying belly dance for a couple of years already and have enough performing experience to put on a polished performance. Maybe not necessarily pro level, but good enough to represent our dance well. But if yours aren't at that level, then I agree you shouldn't consider having them perform at this.