Bluegrass Pride: Porch Pride 2020 Sponsor Deck

In April 2020, Bluegrass Pride made the decision to cancel all plans for an in-person Pride celebration and instead redirect our energy towards planning our first-ever music festival. This digital event featured over 11 hours of live music across two days in what would have been Pride weekend in San Francisco. In collaboration with both our community of grassroots supporters and corporate sponsors, we were able to raise over $23,000 in support of musicians struggling through the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, enabling us to pay each artist $825 for their performances. These funds also helped Bluegrass Pride to grow our year-round operations, providing the resources necessary to create new programs like the Live with Bluegrass Pride showcase series and mini-grant program. Below is a sample of the language included in the sponsor deck.

A Note from the Executive Director

Dear friend,

As a young nonprofit, our events are everything. From our intimate parlor shows highlighting talented and diverse roots musicians all the way to our float and marching contingent in front of an audience of millions, these celebrations help us to grow our connections and create a deeper community with those who support our mission. They are all a platform to show the world that bluegrass is for everyone. So when the COVID pandemic forced us to cancel our events to protect the safety of our community, we knew we had to take action. In order to save those connections and inspire new ones, we needed to find a way to bring Bluegrass Pride directly to the people that need it. With that idea, Porch Pride was born. 

Porch Pride: A Bluegrass Pride Queer-antine Festival will feature over 10 hours of live music over what would have been Pride weekend in San Francisco. Our purpose is to highlight and showcase LGBT roots musicians, while also generating financial support for them as they navigate the new non-existent performance landscape.

This showcase will not only support musicians in need, but bring joy to the homes of many isolated people across the country and beyond. Bluegrass Pride will be diverting all funds allocated for our annual parade and celebration concert in SF towards this event. Over 90% of those funds have been dedicated to artist pay. 

Now, more than ever, we need community. Bluegrass Pride is asking you to consider sponsoring this uplifting event. Sponsorship funds will be dispersed through Bluegrass Pride, and 50% of the net proceeds will be divided equally among all performing artists throughout the weekend. Attached you will find our sponsorship packet. All sponsorships include media promotion and recognition as a supporter of diversity and acceptance in American traditional music. 

Thank you for your consideration.

In gratitude,
Kara Kundert
Executive Director, Bluegrass Pride