The Impact of Volunteers
Since our collaborative was founded back in April of 2022, we have often been referred to as a “grassroots” organization. If you aren’t familiar with this term, the Sunflower Foundation defines it as “the basic source of support from the ground up, grassroots advocacy includes organizing, mobilizing, and engaging the public to advocate for themselves.” Essentially the power and capacity of a grassroots organization comes from people. And it might sound cliche, but really the only reason the collaborative was able to launch our programs is because of our people. Our vision and goals as a music and arts organization are contingent on the fact that we always strive to prioritize actual people and individuals in our community.
Our brief history starts with people. We were founded by a volunteer group of local artists and musicians. We held countless meetings with other folks in our music scene. We threw a kick off fundraiser that had over 500 individuals contribute an average of $28 to help us raise over $14,000. And our first program funneled those funds right back to the individuals we intend to serve. Now our main Artist Grants Program is giving five independent artists $200 a month to help support their work as musicians.
It has been a wild ride. And the reality is it would not have been possible without the network of many individuals coming together and working their asses off to make it possible. Most of these folks did the work without a paycheck or any compensation. And that is a big ask in a time where managing finances, health, and time is more difficult than ever. But I truly believe without their support, love, and generosity - the Local Sound Collaborative would still just be a messy google doc sitting on my computer.
As we continue to grow, two things are apparent:
A very big aspect of our organization is creating opportunities for local musicians. Often we are referring specifically to financial opportunities so we can sustain our fragile music ecosystem.
As a grassroots organization we often juggle small budgets, limited resources, and a small team of volunteers working real fucking hard.
That is a weird juxtaposition! It has me scratching my head. Our group is founded on the idea that we can create more opportunities for artists in our area. That is paramount and will continue to be the primary concern of our programming capabilities. But often causes like this depend on volunteer efforts to get things done, and that is tricky. But I think we can walk this line of being a grassroots organization that prioritizes people in our programs, AND can get some help along the way.
If you are reading this, here is my specific ask (because I hate blog posts that ramble and don’t have a point).
There are musicians and other non-music folks who might care about the work LSC is doing, and also might have the capacity to donate some of your time. If you are one of those people, we would absolutely love to get you in our database of volunteers. We have demand for benefit shows, music education classes, and more that our team would love to have community support behind at times. Your ability to volunteer and donate your time allows us to keep the focus of $$$ and program offerings behind folks who need it.
It isn’t easy to ask for help, but if you are able to come be a part of the Local Sound Community, we would love to have you. You can be one of the many individuals that helps carry our organization into year two.
Interested in learning more about volunteer opportunities? Click the button or email Ray to get involved!
Ray Mahar
Collaborative Director
ray@thelocalsoundcollaborative.org
Source: https://www.gih.org/files/usrdoc/Grassroots_Advocacy_Sunflower_Foundation_November_2010.pdf