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Wow, that has been the longest break that I have had from HIVE in quite a long while... a week or so since my last post.

Anyway, all of it was due to the fact that our little ensemble was running two seperate programmes for two different concerts in one week... which meant lots of different rehearsals, and lots of music to remain stuffed in the head... and also different programmes, publicity, and talks to be written and done. So much stuff that I got completely swamped from morning to evening...

Anyway, the second concert was finished up last night... and so, I have time to write again! And it does feel nice be writing and letting my brain spew out my thoughts for a bit.

... and this time, I'm writing about the financial side of running the two concerts. There is so much to still be done... and if I'm prepared, then it prevents things from snowballing. Over the last year of running the ensemble, we are getting much more efficient with that side of things... but it is still a bit of a necessary hassle to get to the fun part of playing the concerts!

So, what needs to be done post concert...

... well, on the financial side of things. We have to send out all the emails to make sure that we give all the musicians the information that they need to invoice us correctly. Not a difficult thing, but we do like to send out personal emails to thank them all individually for their contribution as well. But given that the ensemble is only a maximum of 7 people, it isn't that onerous... and it does feel good! And as soon as the invoices come in, I pay them immediately.. I don't wait to batch them or anything. I know how annoying it can be to be waiting for a payment that has been delayed just because someone else is disorganised.

Then, there are the emails that need to be written to people who have donated during the concert ticketing flow. Again, to personally thank them regardless of the amounts that were contributed... and also to ask if they would be okay if they were listed on our list of supporters.

... then, we need to write follow-up emails to the people who had offerred to support us formally with larger donation amounts, either through the tax-deductible options or just directly. This is always exciting, as these larger donation amounts enable us to really deliver on our performing and education visions.... but I'm always more than a little bit nervous about following through. Especially if they ask US about how much they should donate!

After that, we move on to the ticketing receipts... we use a booking service, so it is a quick moment to authorise the transfer of the funds from ticket bookings to our account. Then the doors sales via the card reader... again, just automated and it moves immediately without any need for action on our behalf. However, the cash sales need to be tallied up and checked... and then we need to move the cash to the bank, when we have a free moment!

Thankfully, most of the expenses that were incurred were paid immediately and we paid off the venue fees at the start of the year in a single lump sum. There is still some Facebook ads that need to be reimbursed, but that is quick and easy to do.

So, these two concerts ended up with some small donations, a couple of larger donations, and pretty decent ticket sales as well! For the first concert of our 2024 series, we are now in pretty good financial condition and well on our way to buffering up some reserves for some slightly more ambitious concerts in 2025.

... tomorrow, I'll write about the administrative side of wrapping up the concerts!

I can also be found cross-posting at:
Hive
Steem
Publish0x

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