Support

The God and Country Concert is organized annually by the God and Country Committee – a group of volunteers representing a mixture of community leaders from The Salvation Army, the Brass Band of Columbus, and its Board of Directors.  The Committee has taken on the task of making the God and Country Concert a sustainable event year-to-year through its dedicated funding.  While The Salvation Army of Great Columbus manages all monies, they do so as a courtesy, and the Committee normally donates a small portion of our annual budget back to the administrative offices to offset the time and efforts they expend to support our event – often at times that are not particularly convenient.

The God and Country Concert has remained a “free” public concert event, and we hope to keep it that way despite the world-class musicians that we bring in each year.

Support Needs:

Why do we need the money if it’s a free concert?

It’s a free concert being put on by the local Brass Band of Columbus (BBC) and a Salvation Army Band, right?  Well, it’s quite costly to move groups of people around, ensure they have a safe and comfortable place to hang their hats while in Columbus and eat nutritious food to eat… Unfortunately, bus companies, airlines, and hotels don’t give away their services.

Sometimes we’re lucky enough to get some small discounts.  Overall, it gets quite expensive, and each year, we (the God and Country Committee) aim to grow our budget reserves so that in the not-so-distant future, we’ll have enough money that we can do some special things such as bring in an international Salvation Army Staff Band or guest artist or perhaps even commission a new piece of brass band literature for a joint premiere… Such as the things the God and Committee dream about as we move towards our 30th concert in a short time.  We also feel a sense of financial stewardship to ensure we are not diluting the local efforts of  The Salvation Army Columbus in their services to ask them to cover these expenses without reimbursement.

What are the types of expenses faced?

• Venue Costs – whether a school, church, or concert hall, nothing comes for free, and we must pay for the use of a facility, sometimes for the technical or custodial staff or even the addition of police for traffic control or security depending upon the location.
• Musician Travel & Lodging – while the Brass Band of Columbus (BBC) is local, we bring in a large Salvation Army Band each year, and travel expenses must be covered in some manner.  If we are fortunate enough that the requested ensemble is already nearby due to a tour, we can diminish the on-the-road expense of long-haul bus or airline travel.  We must cover hotel expenses for our visiting bands and soloists (their bus drivers too) and provide their meals on the road and during their visit.   Even transporting musical instruments can be costly, requiring special shipping or truck rental.  Luckily, we can often share big things – like local percussion equipment from the BBC- but that is entirely up to those organizations to agree upon.
• Musician Fees – while musicians love to play their instruments before a crowd of appreciative listeners, such as at our God and Country Concert, our guest soloists and conductors often charge a fee similar to a speaker honorarium.
• Advertising Costs
• Concert Program Printing Costs