Battle of the Bands Fundraiser

Forget that same old, same old talent show. A battle of the bands fundraiser is great way to raise money for your charity and give your fundraising cause a cool reputation at the same time.

How a Battle of Bands Event Makes Dough

A battle of the bands event brings crowds out for a rocking, fun time. Raise money for your fundraising cause by charging folks an entry fee. You can also ask bands to pay a nominal registration fee to perform as well. And don’t forget to ask the performers to say a little bit about the charity they are supporting before they start their set.

Organizing a Rockin’ Good Time

Battle of the bands fundraisers are not as hard to organize as you’d think. All you really need is a space and a PA system. Try to get the space rent-free, by holding your battle of the bands fundraiser in a school gym or community hall.

Or look to local theaters that might be willing to provide space for free in exchange for the promotion of their theater and upcoming events. Avoid having to rent electronic equipment by simply asking the bands to provide their own amps, speakers, and instruments.

Getting Some Top-quality Entertainment

Next, you’ll need to encourage bands or solo musicians to participate, but don’t narrow your talent down by only making the night available to performing musicians. Instead, invite musical performers as well as dance troupes, spoken word artists/poets, magicians, and performance artists to get on stage as well.

If your event is a smaller one, or if you can’t find enough real musicians to perform, you can always have a games night fundraiser. Host a battle of the bands—video style with Guitar Hero or Rock Band video games in the house!

Finding your Band Judges

In addition to your entertainment, you will also need to recruit volunteer judges to score the battle of the bands competition. You can make the judging itself part of the show by asking well known people from the community to participate. For example, the mayor, popular radio hosts, local sports stars, and theater performers are all great people to get involved.

Prizes for the Performers and Crowd

Prizes will be fairly easy to get for your battle of the bands competition. Simply call local businesses to see if they would be willing to donate prizes for the winning performers, and even as raffle prizes for the audience. Most companies will donate prizes showcasing their logo or store information in exchange for the free promotion it will garner.

Selling Merchandise

The obvious thing to have at your battle of the bands fundraiser is music swag. If this is an outdoor event, then you can set up a merchandise stand where people can purchase CDs, band T-shirts, and other entertainment items donated by local merchants in exchange for on-site advertising. Battle of the bands T-shirts are a great way to bring in the funds for your charity event as well.

Enlist the help of a local screen printing shop. Ask them to make you a bulk order of t-shirts showcasing your event, date, and performers. You can ask the screen printing company to cover the cost of the T-shirts and printing in exchange for ad space on the backs of the shirts where they can print their logo and company info.

Free advertising is a great opportunity for smaller companies, so they will likely take you up on it. Plus, your battle of the bands fundraising T-shirts will be a great memento for attending fans and performing bands alike.

Food for the Masses

In addition to merchandise, ask your fundraising volunteers to donate food that they prepare at home. Or approach a local grocer or fast food restaurant, and ask them to donate food, drinks, and condiments in exchange for free advertising. If you have the swag and food donated, it means that all the money made from sales goes directly to your fundraiser.