Raising our Prices

Over the years, we've had some dances that made money, others that lost money, and it has generally balanced out.  Over the last year, however, we've started having more dances that lose money:

The change is due to both attendance and financials.  Our attendance is down somewhat, now averaging around 100 dancers per evening rather than the 125 we were seeing a couple years ago.  Our financials are also tighter due to increases in our expenses, the biggest change being that over our eight years at the Masonic Hall they've slowly raised the rent from $190 to the $450 we're paying now.  At this point, after a season of money-losing dances, we've eaten through our savings and we need to change something.

We had been advertising a $5-$12 sliding scale, and we saw an average contribution right in the middle of that range, at $8.  A few years ago $8 was also our break-even contribution, but now the amount we need to break even is $10/dancer.  We don't want to raise the low end of our scale if we can avoid it: it's very important to us that we offer a financially accessible dance.  So we're planning to raise the high end instead, asking $5-$15.  This puts our break-even amount back in the center of the range, and should put us in a more stable place financially.

Here's the guidance we're thinking of putting up at the door:

• $5: Low Income
  You are a valued member of our community, and we’re so happy you’re here!
• $10: Dance Sustainer
  You make BIDA a sustainable dance by paying enough to help us break even!
• $15: Dance Supporter
  You help make it possible for others to come to our dance! Thank you! 

It's still a sliding scale, so if you'd like to pay $7, $11, or whatever, that's good too.  We're also always looking for more volunteers to help out at the dance: write to bida@bidadance.org for opportunities.

Thank you for supporting BIDA!