We call our show telegrams “Drama Grams.” This is probably not a new idea for most of you, but in what ways can you get more from your show telegrams? Let's start with the basic idea. For $1, parents and fans can send a message backstage to any company member. We provide a short template that they simply fill out that features our program and show logo. The template is basic: to, from, and message space. (Encourage them to include the last name of students in the “to” field in case two students share the same first name). We then use younger siblings of company members to send the messages backstage.
We have a large company (140 students in our musical) and finding every student was difficult. We also found it distracting when these younger siblings tried to deliver their messages during important times like warm-ups. We created a company “mail room” by taping up brown paper bags to the wall (we actually end up having to use gaff tape because the bags get so full). Each brown paper bag is a mailbox featuring the company member’s name. Then, to make finding the right mailbox easy, we alphabetized by the first name. Now our messengers drop off to the mailbox and students can pick them up when it is convenient for them.
In addition to the drama gram for $1, we invite fans to bundle their drama gram with a show themed cookie and/or commemorative rose. Our show themed cookies are made by a local baker. For each show, we have 4-5 different shapes of cookies and our company members love to collect them all! The cookies we use are all nut-free sugar cookies decorated and shaped differently, and we even offer a gluten free option. Cookies have included kites for "Mary Poppins," crowns for "Three Musketeers," witch hats for “Into the Woods,” whatever you can think of! We’ve found that our most popular and best-selling cookies are cookies that are shaped like animals (cow for “Into the Woods,” bird for “Mary Poppins”) or whatever is the largest design. I mean, who doesn’t want the largest cookie?
At the shows, we sell the cookies for $3 each if someone wants to simply buy a cookie for themselves and eat it (because they are delicious!), or they can send it backstage with a drama gram. We also sell the cookies at a table outside our local grocer, at the farmer's market, back to school night, and other venues a few weeks before the show while we pass out show flyers. Often people invite us to keep the change or make a small cash donation to the program. If a show is a major holiday or event, we'll also theme cookies for that. For example, our winter show is near Valentine's day so we sell heart cookies.
With the cookies and drama grams we also sell commemorative roses. We purchase a bulk amount of wooden roses, and print show specific ribbons. On the ribbon is printed the show name and year which we use to tie bows around each rose stem. At the end of a student’s high school career, they will have an entire bouquet of roses that reflect each show they participated in. We sell these individually for $2, or they can bundle them with a cookie and drama gram for $5.
Our $5 bundle has become our biggest seller because you get the cookie, the rose, and the message! Our publicity chief runs the program and she uses the funds raised specifically for her publicity efforts. How do you use show telegrams to raise money for your program? What variations do you have?