Singing Circles, An Election Time First Go
How To Create a Singing Circle
The idea of the circle – singing circles, non-hierarchical structures, collectives of care and cross-silo collaboration– play a large role in my work this year. I will explore the circle’s roots and resonance through projects as the year moves forward. To begin, though, I wanted to look back at what we learned during an election-time singing circle advocating for reproductive freedoms in NC. Sing Out NC! 2022 partnered advocacy groups, activists, musicians and volunteers to highlight the extent to which reproductive freedoms were on the ballot in our election. I am proud to say that we raised nearly $23,000 for Pro-Choice NC, El Pueblo, ACLU NC, Equality NC, Common Cause NC and Planned Parenthood South Atlantic. I remain uplifted about exploring how political action and performance collectives can make positive change through community building, storytelling and singing about things that need attention. I hope other circles can build on what we learned and stage singing circles advocating for positive change in their communities around issues important to them, and I am grateful to live in NC where our voices can make a difference. I am also very thankful to everyone who participated in Sing Out NC! I hope our work together is just beginning. Love tift
THE ECOSYSTEM OF RIGHTS & THE SINGING CIRCLE.
There is a deep history of women’s collectives building kindness, support and activism in the structure of a circle. The circle is grounded in principles of care: just division of labor and rewards, horizontal structures, reciprocal attentiveness, an ethos of mutual support. Bringing our shared lights and individual expertise across systems, we can bring advocacy, music and political organization together to teach, learn, listen and take meaningful action to protect the ecosystem of rights connected to ensuring bodily autonomy for all in NC, which isn’t just about reproductive health care. It’s also about protecting voting rights, so our elected bodies reflect our values and communities. It’s about advancing racial justice so we aren’t leaving behind communities that have been systematically excluded from our society. It’s about gender equality and not allowing misogynistic and transphobic attitudes and beliefs to dictate our access to essential health care, the right to control our bodies and sexualities, and our ability to create the loving families that we desire. Due to this, the organizations included in this circle were ones that supported the above goals, not just organizations that we classically think of as those that support reproductive rights. We can also use this model to support other community concerns that require a holistic and circle focused approach, and we are hoping to develop a template that can be used for the concerns that a community holds dear.
We started with the seed of an idea to impact the midterm election in late August and mounted this show in basically two months. That was fast! We will benefit from longer lead times and deeper cross-reference of our learned experiences. While the synergy of the organizations was incredible, it might be beneficial to have 2-3 sentences for each organization on the event website as to what part of their organization supported the general mission.
The Basic How To.
We started with a donated venue, musicians and a cause. Frank Health from Cat’s Cradle reached out to me about using the space outside which kicked off the idea for the event. Our singers donated their time, each singing a song or two and harmonizing with others. Our production costs were the sound, the stage and the engineering, the artwork commission and the rhythm section who provided backup for the entire set.
What we learned. Next time we will consider building different community spaces as well as cost-free spaces. We can also do a better job emphasizing the importance of an encouraging space for feedback, listening and learning about how to message and collaborate best, as cross-silo work has different specializations and that is the essence of coming together to be stronger. Getting messaging, artists and organizations confirmed and approved on all materials was difficult. Next time we will emphasize a deadline, a feedback forum and a confirmation approval system. Having a dedicated event manager would be IDEAL, especially if it were a volunteer. In addition, we want to consider providing education and community (quarterly dinners?) throughout the year to stakeholders so that when we gather together for the event everyone involved will feel connected to the event’s mission. NEXT TIME, we need more of our male allies to step up more and support.
Our Campaign.
We commissioned an artist to make a branding for posters, tees as well as a six week education campaign. Our volunteer Cindy Palay conferred with political organizations and campaigns about impactful actions to message. We posted twice to three times a week.
Next time, we won’t make SO MANY POSTS! We learned that people don’t look at Google docs, and maybe an event manager could also manage social media. It was challenging to get folks to post about a campaign, not just the promo to the show. We will also have greater messaging discussion before anything goes out, with an understanding that when talking across silos, we need everyone’s expertise and feedback. Worth noting that Gov Cooper told us that our election messaging was right on point!
Press.
We had a volunteer press person release a press release. We got some press, but folks were able to dodge coverage by saying “Oh, that’s political,” or “Oh, that’s music.” We were not able to push social media posts because the word reproductive is flagged as political. We were advised a 0 in the “o ‘position in the word “political” was a workaround. Also, I wrote an article.
Next time, again, we will benefit from an earlier start. Would companies that support social justice initiatives have communications that could support getting the word out. We will, additionally, vary our messaging to not flag social media sites.
Financials.
Budget transparency is budget morality. Unmanageable Arts was our 501c3 fiscal agent and one of the only companies doing this work. They charge 7% gross profits to administrate all money as well as send tax acknowledgement to donors and sponsors. We made a QR code and text to now, as well as a website (Give Butter is an online fundraising platform) where we sold tickets, posted auction and donation links, and how to find your NC General Assembly District. Most non-profit teams are small and do not need to take on ticketing, the holding and distribution of funds, and accounting which accompany an event like this. Nathaniel Ratliff’s foundation The Marigold Project recommended Unmanageable’s work, and I have collaborated with them on numerous projects. They are unique leaders in this field.
Fundraising and Goals.
Sing Out NC began with a phone call to Tara Romano, the executive director of Pro-Choice NC, in which we agreed we had to do SOMETHING. Our original intent was to simply raise awareness about our critical election. As our effort grew, we were surprised at our capacity and juggled new goals like fundraising and registering voters. While goals are always growing and changing and success, in part, is the ability to grow wisely, next time we will have the experience to lay out some clearly defined marks to hit, like the number of tickets sold, a fundraising goal, a number of new voters registered.
Election time is a tough time to fundraise; our original intent was to highlight the critical election. We raised about half of our funding total through ticket sales, donations and two sponsors, Yep Roc and The Get Out! Our auction – run incredibly by volunteer Cindy Palay – was our most direct way to raise money with unique experiences and companies from all over the country donating goods. Better World has an excellent template, and Unmanageable Arts was able to write letters of acknowledgement. We found that people bid more extravagantly on items that they could not purchase otherwise (such as dinner with 3 of the musicians) or items that are favorites in the community like the Stanbury. Additionally, we held a SOUNDCHECK party in which we sold $250 tickets to a backstage party with the musicians, with donated wine and cheese. This money went directly to the organizations.
Next time, we will set a fundraising goal. We did not have fundraising as a goal for this event, simply an educational one. With enough lead time we might be able to get additional underwriting. Perhaps an auction at Christmas time rather than during election time? Also, maybe not as many auction items but more publicity.
Day Of Show.
We had an enormous volunteer team on the ground the day of the show, which was amazingly helpful. We were very careful to have a secured site and careful security as we were alerted by the organizations that protesters were likely. I was very relieved that everything remained peaceful and loving without protest. The set up for the VIP party was intricate and could not have been done without Leslie Randall and Supercollider. A great education session was held backstage from the organizations for the musicians – we were all grateful to learn about the many aspects of their advocacy and how to better talk about abortion. Each organization had a few minutes to speak onstage during the show; all the performances were incredible and the togetherness was palpable. We also sold about $1000 of merch and made sure everyone on the team got tee shirts and posters.
Next time, an information session between the organizations and the musicians at the beginning of the project would be wonderful, so that all feel lifted up with the goals for the event/campaign and also understand the nuances of each other’s work and expertise.
Wins.
We got the word out about the election!
We raised over $20,000 in 3 months. We worked on the auction for less than 4 weeks.
We had an amazing day of show team, VIP event, auction and music show.
We built community and spread a sense of togetherness and positivity – and a team.
We talked about abortion to lessen stigma.
Seeds and Dreams.
As we continue to explore how music and advocacy can impact positive community change, we want to remind people that they can make a difference and help show them how to do it, as well as reach deeper and wider into NC’s communities. How might community building equip us all with better understanding of the nuance of issues and advocacy organizations? Could we host quarterly dinners featuring educational anchors (deeper understanding of a political campaign that needs our help, how to talk about abortion or an organization’s work, or how to handle negativity online). Could we produce a list of focus issues for next year? Could we produce a list of issues to affect political change for the 2024 election? Can we model budget morality and support an organization that most needs funding ? Could we stream next year and enlarge our map?
PLEASE ADD TO THE LIST AND HOST A SINGING CIRCLE OF YOUR OWN. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW TO DO IT AND WHAT WE LEARNED, BE IN TOUCH!