There's more to forming an a capella group than blending voices and musical arrangements. As the University's newest team of singers is discovering, a capella groups trying to get off their feet also must worry a lot about finances.
Hoo's in Treble, an all female group, started at the beginning of this year. While group members are excited about being the newest a cappella group, they are begining to relize just how many financial challenges they face.
Jennifer Diefendorf, President of Hoo's in Treble, and Business Manager Melissa Fortenberry are responsible for the group's finances. Diefendorf and Fortenberry work together to do everything from creating the budget to raising money and allocating the funds. Because the group is so new, it is hard for the two to accomplish these tasks.
Diefendorf says that creating a budget for the group is difficult to do, especially without a previous business background.
"It's hard to anticipate [how much something costs] because we have no basis. We have to start from scratch and we didn't know what we were doing," said Diefendorf.
Occasionally, Diefendorf must consult veteran a cappella groups to get a better estimate for how much various activities and equipment would cost. Travelling costs are a large part of the budget, and without experience, it is difficult to predict how much should be allotted for certain expenses.
Even finding a bank account was hard to open because many accounts require a minimum balance.
In February, the group submitted their proposed budget for next year to Student Council in an effort to receive funding.
"It all depends on the group and how much of the things that they are going to do can be funded," Diefendorf said. "We're on the lower end."
Diefendorf hopes that next year the funds from Council should cover expenses for copying music and travel. However, Council will not release the results of this year's allocation process until the end of the year. Council does not pay for expenses that involve fundraising, such as putting together a concert or CD production.
Diefendorf said she expects recording and producing a CD will cost around $5,000.
An hour of recording at the studio is $60, and the group so far only has one recording date scheduled for later this month, which is not even enough to complete one song, Fortenberry said.
Despite these problems, "hopefully by the end of next year our CD will be out," Diefendorf said.
The rest of the money that is needed to pay for the a cappella group's expenses must come from other fundraising events.
Hoo's in Treble will host their first concert on the 8th of April. The event will be held in Minor Auditorium, but because of the limited seating, only 200 people can buy tickets, which limits the amount of money the group can make. In addition, the group will only be performing one night. Other a cappella groups at the University usually do two performances in a row.
"By the time we organized our group and decided around what time to have our concert our choice [on where to perform] was very limited," Diefendorf said. Organizations "could reserve places now for next year if they wanted, so we were way behind of the process."
With the ticket price set at $5, the usual price for an a cappella concert, she expects the concert will raise around $500.
Other fundraising events in the past have included a donation letter sent out to family and friends of the members which accumulated around $1,500 for the group. Singing valentines earned $250.
Diefendorf said she hopes that in the future Hoo's in Treble will be able to garner more paid gigs that will allow them to generate more revenue. They often accept non-paid gigs in order to get their name out.
"Hopefully in the coming years people will get to know us more by coming to our concerts and buying our CDs," she said.
For now, Hoo's in Treble is doing benefit gigs and guest acts, such as performing with Academical Village People, a more established a cappella group, so they can promote their name and gain experience.
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