I like the way you think, Deach.
Are we going to do this on a larger scale, or are we staying small?
If we want to help the most kids, we need to go big. That will require many things, but first and foremost, we would need to get a 501c3 and become an official non-profit organization.
The reasons for this are myriad. Legitimacy is important. Donations are tax-deductible. It will force us to establish a program and mission and vision statement.
I vote for big.
I'll volunteer to help in any way I can. Before I saw this post and Deach's post and Alan's proposal, I had spent several hours away from the computer thinking about an ukulele give-away program and some of the start-up work that would need to be accomplished.
I think that all of Seeso's points are well taken and that we need to consider and build upon his outline. Since Alan's new U4K group is bound to grow, we probably won't go lacking for volunteers to help.
I propose that everyone contribute their input, ideas, suggestions, etc. The U4K group could form several committees, one of which could hash out details back and forth and come up with a mission statement, another one of which could look into applying for 501c3 status. We'd need an audit committee. We'd need a selection committee whose job would be to study requests or applications and then select the individual or organization to whom donations of money or instruments would be made.
Under the supervision, guidance, and limited access of an audit committee, donations could be made directly to a U4K PayPal account and funds could be maintained there instead of in a bank account, which potentially could generate monthly service fees.
Donations of used instruments can present many problems, but they're not insurmountable if we have enough volunteers willing to help. Here are some problems I foresee.
Would we have one central location to which instruments would be shipped? If enough instruments are donated, we could end up with a storage problem. What if a donated instrument is in need of repair before giving it to a donee? I'm sure we'd have a few volunteer luthiers willing to donate their services, but then shipping an instrument to them involves more shipping costs. And then after repairing, they'd turn around and ship it back, or forward it on to the donee. Another shipping cost.
Volunteers would have to juggle and coordinate logistics and many other details. Lots of communication back and forth will be involved. Before I read Deach's and Seeso's respective posts and learned of Alan's U4K group, I was thinking on the order of the very small and planning things in my mind on a scale I could work with, and I was going to step up to the plate and volunteer to coordinate a program and follow through on the work. But after reading these recent posts, I have to agree that we could operate a program on a large scale. Nothing wrong with thinking big. I think that today we've seen a generated interest that will only grow in scope and volunteerism.
Future food for thought. There's an ukulele renaissance growing around the world. Ukulele festivals are becoming very popular and well-attended. If we were to become a nonprofit organization, we could sponsor/organize regional ukulele festivals around the country as a fund-raiser and use the proceeds/profits to underwrite ukulele donations for an Ukulele For Kids program. Besides charging admission to a festival for seminars, workshops, classes, and concerts, we could sell UU T-shirts and novelty items. Like I said, future food for thought. And thinking big.
I had numerous other thoughts I was mulling over, and I just now read some additional posts submitted while I was writing this dissertation and they address other ideas and comments I had, so I won't go into them. I like Deach's comment about the Mr. Holland's Opus model. I've got to end this at some point, so I'll end with this:
Regarding today's instant case, I would like to see Bill (misteruke) provide all of his students with good ukuleles. Can we make that happen? Can we make it an impromptu project? He states that his students are pretty poor, and I don't know how many there are (Bill, if you see this, can you give us a number?), but can we get enough UU members to donate just a little and make it happen for these kids? Like right now? An immediate, enthusiastic response from the membership would serve as a good barometer of whether or not a future Kids program is even possible and doable, a good barometer of membership interest in a donation project.
Can we just kick ass and get 'er done?
