The Church of Bass has been competing for a $50,000 Pepsi grant in September and October. We have done really well, finishing September in 94th position, and 48th (est) in October, out of almost 500 entries! Our ranking reflects strong support for the CoB in the communities we serve, and is a clear indication that the CoB Vision* resonates well beyond the PNW!

Although we will not finish in the Top10 in Oct, we will likely finish in the Top100 and advance to the November round, offering us another opportunity to win $50k. It leaves us with a difficult decision: Should we campaign in November, or not?

“Pepsi is evil, and we should not accept their money”

Each of us have our own opinion of Pepsi. The CoB is not endorsing them or their products, nor are we required to do so. However, redirecting $20mil Superbowl ad money into this grant program is a brilliant marketing strategy. Contest winners receive a no-strings cash grant. As for solicitations – we have not received a single solicitation from Pepsi since registering to vote 6 months ago.

“Competing with worthy medical and social causes is wrong.”

This is a popularity contest, definitely not a contest based on merit. Winners are determined solely by online and text votes alone. Everyone can vote for 10 ideas daily, which leaves 9 votes with which to support other programs. Although we make it easy to vote for our worthy partner projects when voting for the CoB, everyone is free to vote for other projects.

“We’ve given it our all and have fallen short.”

Short URL statistics show an average of only 60 clicks per day to the Pepsi site via the short links we used in our campaign. (This excludes votes via Facebook, text, made directly on pepsi site, votes from the public, votes from our partner projects.) We have 1,000′s of people in our community, many of whom are in support of the CoB vision. We believe that we can do better.

“Voting reminders, pepsi, and all that jazz is getting old!” and “I feel like I am being spammed to vote.”

We are not experienced campaigners, and have learned a lot about campaign communications along the way. Daily reminders are essential – We even forgot to vote some days! We are asking our supporters to sign up for daily email or txt reminders, and receive one message or txt from us per day.

“We can’t possibly win.”

We have been living and breathing this contest for 2 months now, and have spent a lot of time doing research, analysis, and networking – with other contestants as well as past winners. Strong partnerships with other projects in the contest is the proven (only) way to win. We have very strong partners now, many of whom joined us at the end of Oct. Very few past grant winners won in their first or second months – most won in their 3rd or 4th months in the contest.

Other considerations:

Raising $50k with conventional fundraisers is very hard and will take a long time. A successful party yields perhaps $1,000, and many much less than that. We have a great understanding of the contest, as well as two months worth of “experience”. Our first month cut our teeth and we made it to #94, this month we built partnerships and made it to #48, next month…?

Our decision:

After carefully considering our position, the pro’s and con’s, we believe that competing for one more month makes a lot of sense. With your support we have a really good chance to win and get the funding we need!

Connection & Unity:

Our November campaign will be different: Our theme will be uniting us all behind the CoB Vision*, and honoring personal connection. Rather than a barrage of messages, we will ask every individual in support of the CoB to own our cause, and act as a spokesperson/activist for the CoB. If we all reach into our close personal circle for support, it will unite us and we will reach our goal!

Our Proposal:

We are inviting you to unite behind the CoB Vision*, vote religiously every day in Nov (3-ways if possible), act as a CoB spokesperson, and win this grant!

Thank you for your support and encouragement. We are planning to win this grant, start construction in January, and reopen the new CoB in the spring. We can only do it with you!

In loving gratitude,

Hendrik

on behalf of Church of Bass family

*Church of Bass Vision:

The Church of Bass in Seattle, WA is a not-for-profit volunteer organized community space founded in 2006 upon the premise that music is a common thread that overcomes all cultural barriers. Our Vision is to facilitate community through an expression of music, movement, wellness, and heartfelt connection.