PAGEANT EMERGENCY FUNDRAISER

We are accepting tax-deductible donations here.

PAGEANT is facing financial strain due to a substantial ConEd bill for heat, the cancellation and rescheduling of a show, and low event rentals! In order to recover from this unexpected financial blow and to ensure the continuation of our valuable programming, PAGEANT is reaching out to the community for support.

As a volunteer-operated organization, all income generated from bimonthly performance runs, rehearsal memberships, event rentals, donations and Patreon goes directly toward covering our space’s basic expenses: rent, utilities and artist payments. Pageant’s main team: Sharleen, Lili, Jade, Owen, and Alexa run the operation without payment. We have a weekly meeting, answer emails, organize programming, send out contracts, update marketing materials, orchestrate rentals, clean, tidy, repair the studio space, and run technical support and staff every Pageant programmed event. We do this without pay because we love Pageant, we love making dances and, we love seeing others make performances they may not get to show at other venues.

Our operation is kept afloat month-to-month by three main income streams: bimonthly performance runs, rehearsal space memberships, and event rentals. Since the new year, event rentals via Peerspace and community word-of-mouth have been low. In February, one of our shows had to be canceled due to unforeseen circumstances and rescheduled over our Tuesday yoga class, resulting in a double loss of income. Lastly, we were hit with an unexpectedly large ConEdison electricity bill at the end of February. Since paying March 1 rent, we are unable to afford our outstanding and upcoming bills.

In March we are expected to make $4040.

We are asking for $6500 to supplement this amount so that we can:

Pay our outstanding and upcoming March 2024 bills - $3600

Cover our April 1 rent - $4500

Cover our April 15 property taxes - $1105.97

Cover the GoFundMe fee (2.9% + $0.30 per transaction) - approx. $250 if $6500 is raised.

This will cover our basic expenses until we host our gala on April 27, tickets to which will fundraise a financial buffer for the coming year.

We intentionally keep ticket sales low to ensure that our community can engage with dance and performance. We prioritize providing artists with a 40% cut of their box office (the maximum amount we can afford), resulting in artist fees of $400 - $1400 dollars for a show run. By prioritizing affordability and artist support, we strive to remove financial barriers and compensate artists for their work, welcoming individuals from all walks of life to participate in our programming.

Please reach out if you would like further transparency regarding our finances, we would be happy to provide. We are also interested in receiving business and financial consulting, if that is something you would like to offer instead of a monetary donation.

We thank you for your help!

Sharleen, Lili, Jade, Owen, and Alexa