Guidance

When fundraising for your group, there are many websites that you can use to take and manage your donations.

With most online donation platforms you can create a page for your group, where you can tell your story about who you are and what you are fundraising for, as well as add images and branding. You can then point people to this page where they make their online donation.

What is Zoom?

Zoom is an online platform that allows you to have a meeting virtually, where every participant is in a seperate location, but they can still hear and see each other.

Do I need the internet to use it?

Zoom is most commonly used on a device connected to the internet, and if you want to see or be seen then you will need to be online. But you can also dial in to a meeting using a normal phone line, in this case the person on the telephone can hear and be heard but cannot see or be seen.

This resource covers how to use the online meeting platform Zoom for online instrumental rehearsals. To find out more about Zoom and how to set it up, read our Zoom: how it works resource. 

This resource covers how to use the online meeting platform Zoom for online choir rehearsals. To find out more about Zoom and how to set it up, read our Zoom: how it works resource.

Many choral societies have told us that they have challenges with attracting new members. While this is definitely not the case for all choral societies, last year Making Music undertook some research to identify what might be the barriers to new members joining choral societies.

We know that designing, or redesigning, a website can be a scary task. But with time, some thought and a bit of creativity, almost anyone can produce a good website. If you can use Word or Facebook or Google, you can do this too!

In part one of our three-part guide on creating a website, we'll cover the important bit that often gets left out: planning!

The majority of our member groups are run by a committee - a group of enthusiastic people who care about their group, want to see it thrive and are willing to take responsibility for making that happen. As well as enthusiasm, a committee position requires good organisational skills, a willingness to give up some spare time and the ability to co-operate with others. And like most things in life, being on a committee will very often give you a sense of achievement and fulfilment – but it can also be tedious and frustrating, especially when things are not going right.

Being active on social media can be a great way for your group to grow your audiences, build relationships, recruit new members and learn from other groups, but it takes effort to make the most of it.

In our getting started guide we covered the basics of setting up accounts and creating your first posts. In this resource we cover our top tips for building an engaged audience and spreading your messages as far as possible.

Marketing is a broad term and covers a huge range of activities. From researching potential audiences to composing social media posts, choosing your group's 'brand colours' to deciding on ticket prices: these activities all feed into how your group is seen; how potential members, audiences and supporters feel about it; and whether they decide to engage with you.

Putting a price on a loaf of bread, a new pair of shoes, or train ticket is something that everyone is used to doing. We expect prices to be associated with these things; we can compare one loaf of bread to another, understand the value of a pair of trainers compared to a pair of flip-flops, or take a train at a different time. Pricing of less material things, like the experience of being in or going to see a music group, can be trickier to navigate.