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  • Funding...

    I have been thinking on this and wondered if any one has been successfull.
    I am looking into the idea of Grants for funding my haunt. If anyone has has some experience in doing this I would love to pick their mind on it. I'm not looking for mass lump sums. but a general guideline to look into. If I can find small grants fo $1,500 - $3,000 at times. Then overall that would get me further.

    Fundraising in my area is really limited, not much of a community for this type of amusement. Some see it as a waste. Too far to move to other locations and thus brings me to limited funding. It would be nice to see or hear fo other ways for gaining some capital, not wanting to go into small business loans. Because that woudl put me further in the whole before I can get ahead.

    I guess any info on specific books or links to check on would be great. Any info that can be given would be greatly appreciated. thanks for your time.

  • #2
    Most haunts will not qualify for a small business loan because they are seasonal, I have always heard.
    Find someone locally who did something wacky, but it worked and made money, they might be more prone to believe in your ideas. This is what I did after beating the dead horse of normal, conservative thinking people, which around here means 98% of the people.
    (The "Whole" and the "Hole" connotate different things, I think? Stay out the hole, unless you go into it with your whole heart and ambition.)
    Money can be evil if you have enough of it to not be inspired to do your best thinking. Desperation is an attractive stimulous for getting things done.
    hauntedravensgrin.com

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    • #3
      Grants are much harder to get than those people selling the programs on TV will tell you. Most of them are tied to employment numbers. The paperwork is so extensive your time would probably be better spend collecting aluminum cans and working for minimum wage in a convenience store to come up with the money.

      Sorry if that sounds discouraging, but it is very difficult to get that free money the govt. seems anxious to give to everyone but you.

      Comment


      • #4
        I saw a cartoon the other day that illustrates how the economy works. The bank has some money and loans it to a farmer who spends it with the seed company and the tractor dealer who each bring the same money back to the bank. That can thus send it a different avenue in another business and make money circulating the same money over and over. As the economy slowsm the banker gets real particular on who he loans the money to. The chinese guy the banker is hooked up with gets upset and cuts him off unless the government will guarentee the money. So silly things and luxuries no longer are loan worthy.

        So all of these neat soruces of money advertise with all available hype and have no real intention to give you Tuba in Aruba money, they just want the name recognition to make sure you open or keep an account at the bank, so they have it on deposit to mess with even if it is only $12.90.

        Then any level of school has brain washed everyone into thinking that the only way to start a business is to get some of this free money. Only that money has never actually been had by any of these people, they just heard it was where you go to get money. They heard it was possible to get money with out working for it. Then dreams come true if you are smart enough.

        The bottom line is you have to do it the old fashioned way and earn it. Even if you do find an investor, you will earn it for THEM and not necessarily for yourself and will have to repeat this process over and over with every cycle. In the beginning and perhaps in the end in some locations, haunting is a low profit upstart and there goes all the money you made to pay the loan and the intrest.

        There is no Endowment for the Halloween Arts. So you have to make your own. I could start one if you would send me some money?

        Two fold, things that can make halloween money indeed can be things you need in a haunt. You become the bank. selling things on Ebay, having smaller parties and fund raisers that as a whole go twoard larger events, thus building the market at the same time you build the money. Also, you haven't invested $250,000 in to a community that only deserves $300.

        similarly just because years later someone comes into the same town with money behind them, doesn't mean they will offer any thing better than someone that has earned the patronage over the years. One has a strictly commercial scam and the other one has a love as the community watched it grow and help the community instead of popping in like the circus and running out of town with large chunks of money.
        sigpic

        Another fabulous post from the U.S.Department of Wild Imaginings, now in spectaclar stereo, sponsored by the Adhesives and Sealants Council, suggesting ways to stick things together since the 1800s. Not fabulous in a gay way. Your results may vary. Illinois residents add 8% sales tax. These posts have been made by professional post makers, do not try this type of posting on your own without extensive training, lovely assistants and a trusty clown horn.

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        • #5
          Funding can be tricky

          Yep, funding can be very tricky. I did what most people do when they need start up money for a new business venture. I took out a home equity loan. Grant money is available but you need to sit down and talk with your local Small Business Administration in order to find out what, how, etc. They're helpful but don't always have the answers since this is a very unique, seasonal business which they probably won't understand.

          You could seek out private investors, silent partners, do a joint venture. For example; you provide the haunt and entertainment, they provide the property for a cut of the ticket sales. Be creative and leave no stone unturned.

          Steve...
          UptownHaunts@aol.com

          "Follow the Bloody Brick Road to Nightmare Village"

          Comment


          • #6
            Sweat Equity

            Worked for me but won't often work if you plan upon using alot of someone else's sweat because there goes all of your little pile of money, buying other people's sweat(they need money for deoderant!)
            "What is that scary smell?"
            (The haunter's secret of the arm pit!) Which can often be drowned out by the over-sized 12 yr. old boy's butt-crack he has yet to discover is behind him.
            "Tell Gene Hy when you meet him..HyGene!"
            hauntedravensgrin.com

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            • #7
              I don't know why but, even though institutions have given you other peoples money they still want it back. Then there are so many forces that make being able to get the money to give it back kind of stressful.

              People connected to the haunt or operations go off and die in their daily lives this becomng unreliable and leaving you with everything. Huricanes come by and stop your ability to do things and get money from others when it was expected.

              Things like rent and storage fees, if you aren't lucky enough to already have this paid for, keep cranking on top of loaned money expectations.

              Things like the SBA are bad ju ju as the government also has an endless source of income and man power to come take all of your worldly possessions if you don't pay on schedule. Negotiations can be costly. So if you HAVE to borrow or partner up, make sure it is someone that is also in it for the investment level of: If it doesn't make money, we don't get paid until it makes money.

              Similar burdens are promissing people they will get paid if they do some service or act in your haunt. Starting out how do you really know if you will make enough money to cover any of these promises. What are you really willing to have the sherrif haul off because you wanted to jump around a few weekend in a mask and t wasn't robbing a series of bank?

              Entertaining the possibility of having a silent partner can turn bad as all of a sudden they don't have any money because they gave it to you and were supposed to have gotten it back so, how much is your time worth answering late Saturday and Sunday phone calls asking for $30? If it was say $3000, even if you can come up with $30 every other week to satisfy their crack habit and record every entry in a little book, that is still 100 phone calls, possibly 25 trips to the bank at what ever gas costs, another 2 hours per visit waiting for them to show up to get their money. Basically 2 to 3 hours per transaction returning their money to them as requested at worst case 300 plus hours involved in non sociable conversation because it wasn't your money.

              There is nothing wrong with thinking that yearly, everyone else ads things to their custom motorcycle and hits the highway for a few road trips, they go on get away vacations and buy boats and such. At worst case the haunt business is a so many dollar per year hobby/investment and that is okay. Yet, every 10 years the economy tanks, everyone has to cut back on all those luxuries and getting away at all. This lack of funding or a proper earned customer base results in not being able to have the event for any number of reasons down the road.

              But, if it is all yours and paid for as you go, it might be okay if it doesn't mak money a year or two.

              It is possible to have volunteer set up, building, volunteer decorating, donated and borrowed sound systems lighting and even fire extinguishers. You can get the location, building and insurance on someone elses resource. The things that never go away are storage, wear and tear of the stuff and building more every year to keep the endevor promising and fresh. Your own labor can be free and it might even have involved 200 people doing things that are no longer with us.

              With time you can come up with free storage but, this what are we going to have new this year cost never goes away. Moving it in and out costs never go away.

              Resouces come from ever day life. Dumpster diving, helpers from your day job skimmed away in small quantities, support from a number of people in the community all coordinated to come up with something good. Money instead of vacations, getting rid of family members to stop a flow of money going out of the refrigerator, devoting time to your dream instead of watching every episode of lost. If you sit back and do put a value on this kind of stuff you can weasel $25,000 per year for about $500 in real expense and not have anyone coming after you for $30 or telling you that the contract you signed says this....
              sigpic

              Another fabulous post from the U.S.Department of Wild Imaginings, now in spectaclar stereo, sponsored by the Adhesives and Sealants Council, suggesting ways to stick things together since the 1800s. Not fabulous in a gay way. Your results may vary. Illinois residents add 8% sales tax. These posts have been made by professional post makers, do not try this type of posting on your own without extensive training, lovely assistants and a trusty clown horn.

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              • #8
                If anything I wrote with all the spelling errors has raised questions, beyond why can't Greg type on a laptop, there may be more insight on a blog I had a year or so ago. I have been informed by AOL that it will no longer exist after Oct 31 st, so check it while you can.

                http://journals.aol.com/ghaunt1313/Vampire_Safari/
                sigpic

                Another fabulous post from the U.S.Department of Wild Imaginings, now in spectaclar stereo, sponsored by the Adhesives and Sealants Council, suggesting ways to stick things together since the 1800s. Not fabulous in a gay way. Your results may vary. Illinois residents add 8% sales tax. These posts have been made by professional post makers, do not try this type of posting on your own without extensive training, lovely assistants and a trusty clown horn.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Void where prohibited by law.
                  UptownHaunts@aol.com

                  "Follow the Bloody Brick Road to Nightmare Village"

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Uptown Haunts View Post
                    Void where prohibited by law.
                    What are you referring to?
                    sigpic

                    Another fabulous post from the U.S.Department of Wild Imaginings, now in spectaclar stereo, sponsored by the Adhesives and Sealants Council, suggesting ways to stick things together since the 1800s. Not fabulous in a gay way. Your results may vary. Illinois residents add 8% sales tax. These posts have been made by professional post makers, do not try this type of posting on your own without extensive training, lovely assistants and a trusty clown horn.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      I'd love to elaborate. The helpers I'm stealing from work are my employees, that when it is bad weather still like to put in the hours and make an income. We work on the haunt rather than outdoor construction at our shop or at the haunt location. I'm spending what could be profits to keep people that are trained.

                      The rest is a certified charity haunt and any donations from any entity are legitimate donations. This supports the community directly where there is no tax base supporting things.

                      Perhaps in Philidelphia you would have to also pay out $XX,000 in bribes to public officials, and union bosses, then there are 30 pages of registering with the state tax board and local authorities, you should have an attorney on your board of directors but, after that it is all totally legal.
                      sigpic

                      Another fabulous post from the U.S.Department of Wild Imaginings, now in spectaclar stereo, sponsored by the Adhesives and Sealants Council, suggesting ways to stick things together since the 1800s. Not fabulous in a gay way. Your results may vary. Illinois residents add 8% sales tax. These posts have been made by professional post makers, do not try this type of posting on your own without extensive training, lovely assistants and a trusty clown horn.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Butt..

                        If you "Void" where legally prohibited, you will be arrested, you will be arrested, falling a foul of the law.
                        "Void" as in "evacuating fluids or solids from the body."
                        hauntedravensgrin.com

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Gothyc

                          SBA grants and government grants are *far* from the only grants available. It is true, however, that all grants will take time to acquire, even if you are approved.

                          I thought you might find this site helpful:

                          http://foundationcenter.org/getstart...ividuals/faqs/


                          If you look down the center column, there is a category for for-profit ventures. If it so happens that your haunt is charity-based, well, then this site is the mother lode for you!

                          Best of luck to you,
                          Sarah
                          Sarah Meier
                          Haunting Copy Copywriting Services
                          "Words they remember you by"

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            A long time ago I invested in a car lot with sweat equity. I rebuilt a carburetor for the man and he sold a pick up truck and made money. Then it was transmissions, then engines and what ever. I let him hang onto the money and buy more cars at the auction. I brought a couple hundred a week from other work was doing to buy cars and parts and get them out on the streets. By the end of the year I owned the car lot and all but one car there. I didn't really want a car lot so every thing got cashed in at auction.

                            In the haunt business I have built facades and done detailing with a similar pay m in November concept and no matter how low the dollar figure or how high their attendance, pretty much had to consider going there and taking my stuff. Apparently it as good stuff because they paid rather than have me go through all their trailers a couple hundred miles from here.

                            So, the market has taught me, to work on only my own cars, to work on only my own haunt. But, this might be missing out on opportunities?

                            Right now I'm planning on whether I can handle squanering about $6,000 on a second location. I already know it is lots of work beyond that cash investment. So, what if I didn't do that second location and gave you $3,000 what would I get and when?

                            Usually haunt investors are in the same town, have in a way developed a relation ship with the haunt operator and they have been very lucky in being successful from year to year. They are in towns of high population and fork out sums to the tune of $25 to $50 thousand each and are in for 30% on their money or some percentage of the profits that might be higher than that.

                            If you got a loan from a bank and they see you spent their money on a stack of plywood and some masks and want more for an air compressor and to pay the building inspectors, they would be pissed. Repayment would be to the letter of the contract with no variance.

                            I'm really intrested in some feed back on this topic. Every year Jim and I just advise otherwise. but, what if I spent the profits from my business on your haut instead of putting it into local charity that may or may not dserve such support. What do I get back?

                            What if I took one of these investors $25,000 per year gambles and diversified his portfolio a bit with 10 loans rather than 1 very risky venture per year? How would that work out? If your event didn't make the money back would it come from your current job income? Or from your profits running a small business? Over time? Secured or unsecured?
                            sigpic

                            Another fabulous post from the U.S.Department of Wild Imaginings, now in spectaclar stereo, sponsored by the Adhesives and Sealants Council, suggesting ways to stick things together since the 1800s. Not fabulous in a gay way. Your results may vary. Illinois residents add 8% sales tax. These posts have been made by professional post makers, do not try this type of posting on your own without extensive training, lovely assistants and a trusty clown horn.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              I think he asked if any one had successfully gotten a grant? Actually done it. Probably not...You can fill out applications and buy books until you are blue in the face.

                              Here's a better link:

                              http://www.cracked.com/article_16648...till-fall.html
                              sigpic

                              Another fabulous post from the U.S.Department of Wild Imaginings, now in spectaclar stereo, sponsored by the Adhesives and Sealants Council, suggesting ways to stick things together since the 1800s. Not fabulous in a gay way. Your results may vary. Illinois residents add 8% sales tax. These posts have been made by professional post makers, do not try this type of posting on your own without extensive training, lovely assistants and a trusty clown horn.

                              Comment

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