An Idea For Drum Circles, Drum Makers, and Us too ...

I just scared myself.  I took a short nap and had a dream about how we can fund this event, save the poor of the world through MIcrofinance, provide funding for drum circles everywhere, promote drums, drumming, and drum manufacturers, and make money for everyone!  ... I know, that's why I'm scared.  Space aliens may have invaded my mind while I was snoring ... I've been told that happens by several wives.

So, how does this work exactly, ... well I'm not sure exactly but here's the idea.  Maybe some smart person out there will have another dream  and all the dots will connect.   As you may recall we plan to fund the Kenya/Washington leg of the drum circle with sponsor grants from.

Target Sponsor List

1. Drum Manufacturers
2. Music Equipment Manufactures
3. Socially Responsible Corporations
4. Microfinance Funders and Investors

However, our plan for raising the $5 Million dollar Micro Enterprise fund will come from proceeds of a planned on-line, video telethon ... tied to the opening of the Africa/Middle East Regional Micro Credit Summit to he held in Nairobi, Kenya April 7-10, 2010.  This is where we plan to have drummers in Nairobi actually play in real-time with drummers in Washington DC.  The technical and logistical funding of the linked drum circles will come from sponsors but the actual fund development will come from people everywhere!  This is a decent idea, but ... we have to prove it will actually work.  We just started the day before Christmas and issued our first formal Press Release.

In addition to this Intercontinental Drum Circle our prospective plan calls for the creation of an annual day for the event.  To be called:  Global Drum Out Poverty Day.   In association with our select sponsor (a drum manufacturer) we will solicit existing and prospective drum circles around the world.  We will start with the existing groups.  Remember we are doing this to raise funds AND to raise the level of Global awareness of both Micro Credit and Microfinance.  We will offer them a partnership.  The business details, contracts, laws, etc will have to be worked out.  This assumes that it can be done on some reasonable basis (one hopes)  We (our drum mfg. partner and us) will offer this deal:

This Part Came After the Dream

• We sign an agreement with our prospective drum circle partners (essentially a franchise)
• We send them a promotional package (hats, banners, tshirts, some drums, a how to video and Public Information spots for print and electronic local media)
• We promote "The Global Drum Out Poverty Day."
• The event focus is:  Sponsor a Drummer for an hour, for "n" amount of local currency
• Also, a donation to the drum circle is collected during the performance.
• We seek an 8 hour commitment from each drum circle 
• 1 hour for each of the 8 million who die every year because of poverty.
• They pay for the promotional package (perhaps out of proceeds)
• They pay a percentage of funds raised to us as franchisor
• We do this every year.

This should result in a win/win/win/win/ for all parties.  The drum circles will have an annual source of revenue, local visibility as a socially responsible organization, the drum manufactures will get a big promotional advantage, a self liquidating program the could actually make them money, the poor will get more opportunity for sustainable businesses, and we all will get additional revenue to operate our social mission organization.

Now, I'd like to hear from Product Marketing Managers ... Business Development Managers, NGO Executives, Microfinance Funding Organizations ... Anyone who can make suggestions and/or critique this.  I don't care about my ideas, but I do care that this works ... there are far too many poor perople out there ... as Ghandi said "... poverty is the worst possible form of violence."

In another post I will explain how I see the money being handled so the distribution of funds will be fair, open, and transparent to all.