All these benefit concerts, 12-12-12, hurricane relief, you name it there’s a concert for every cause. All we need is a reason and we suddenly feel the need to see Alicia Keys sing some pathetic patriotic song…wait, that was the Super Bowl.
The point is always that celebrities want to use their fame to help others. Actually, their managers use their fame for positive public relations. Is there any money in this act? Putting on a show of such magnitude doesn’t come cheap. Even if the performers were to donate every bit of their act- there is still expenditure to a benefit and in a recent Pollstar investigation it was found that concerts aren’t really the way to go when it comes to fundraising. Actually it’s not even a great way to raise awareness either.
It’s not only natural disaster it’s any cause than needs a buck. From Cancer to Autism to Lupus to MS there is some person who wants John Mayer to join in their efforts raising awareness or funds to end and support their concern. A great success story would be Warped Tour. In this vehicle bands promote causes, organizations have free standing info booths and well there are about a dozen different gimmicks to either get in free or get some ridiculously cool perk- such as standing side stage during your fave bands set.
Kevin Lyman, Warped creator started out doing production stage management for Lollapalooza. He believes in a subtle approach, including adding a 25-cent-per-ticket charity surcharge. “We’ve done 7 million to 8 million tickets,” Lyman said. “You can cut it right into the deal.”
But he and others acknowledged it’s not always easy to get an artist or, more typically, its agent to sign off on the deal. “It’s frustrating,” Lyman said. “When you’re paying $100 for a ticket that extra quarter isn’t going to be a deal breaker.”
And often the charities themselves aren’t much help. “It’s a really antiquated segment that needs to be amped up. It’s extremely difficult to activate charities. One friend’s advice was don’t even bother going to get the charities to help you. It’s a bridge to nowhere.”
The “Keep A Breast” foundation with the I <3 Boobies campaign is a good example of success in fundraising.
“Being involved with tours like Warped, Mayhem, smaller club tours and with individual bands can involve having a booth or having a mini-kit at the merch booth,” she said. “We’re fortunate to be in a position to just be there.
“We’re passionate about breast cancer and prevention. Everybody knows somebody impacted by breast cancer. The bands often come to us, they get engaged, they tell us their story. Normally, our relationships begin with a band member first. They can wear a T-shirt or a bracelet. They may do a public service announcement.
“We’re weasels; we’ll weasel in any way we can. The bands get asked for so many money things so much. For us, it’s a constant challenge.” And best of all you don’t have to listen to Alicia Keys.
When the concert for Hurricane Relief took place for the people of Haiti, Wycliffe Jean was brought to his knees with mismanagement and where did all that money go? With grand scale fundraisers the hoi polloi come out and write a check never wondering where their cash has gone and assuming it’s in the hands of little Juan’s rice bowl- but it’s not. Its filtered down a million times and diluted in value.
Which brings us right back to Kevin Lyman, who knows the culture of this generation more than they know themselves. In creating a giving environment he has created a fan base who expects to give- and waits for it. With Warped festival-goers, Lyman used an example of how charitable habits develop.
“Three years ago we developed a guest list with $5 that goes to Musicares. At first, they were resistant. But now they expect it. They show up with the money in hand. Then somebody thought of giving a free ticket with a blood donation at Warped. Last year we were credited with 70,000 pints of blood.” Bring a canned food item for a cut the line pass, a dead cell phone for another perk, do this or donate that and get free water all day.. (this was before the now standard free water). It makes more sense to create a constant flow of earmarked charity funds than to throw a big ego boost party that ends up in probate before the funds are distributed to the intended.