Over in Vegas, there is a concert supporting rights for gays, bisexuals and lesbians. If they have something like this, why can't we?
Just think about it! We get some of the most famous bands and hold a three day concert against pro-cure! I know it seems insane but we could all work together we'd get it done in no time!
sounds like a good idea but in order to organize something like this and have the proceeds go to charity, there must be a charity that is acceptable to people with autism. Are there any non-cure charities besides AFF?
actually I don't think that AFF is really a legal charity anyway. Gareth would tell you that information.
They just had a concert in the name of Autism Speaks with a lot of notable musicians. Its unfortunate that they don't know the reality of it all as far as where the money goes, the causes etc.
It would be interesting to have, it could involve Autie musicians and just be sort of like a gathering for everybody. The massive amount of people attending would bring attention to it.
actually I don't think that AFF is really a legal charity anyway. Gareth would tell you that information.
Even something simple as a Doctor Who fanclub can be a registered charity, as long as it is legally registered as a foundation. There is no organ which decides what legal entities are to be considered charities or not (e.g. whether they do "good" work or not, as this is entirely in a person's perception), and if AFF is a proper legal foundation there should be no trouble in setting up a charity event for AFF.
The only downside is that we don't have much of an initial budget -- I can pull some major strings in AV and media coverage but famous artists are terribly expensive. I'd go for independent (preferably Aspie) artists instead, and display a wide musical variety.
Well I participated in a concert that was set up to raise funds for a hospital burn unit. It was a very worthy cause (as could be a charity that benefits people with autism, as opposed to one that just gives money to research on autism). One person mostly organized it. He got a school auditorium for free, donations for a meal for the musicians, got the musicians to work for free and other necessary workers. The only problem was that he did not organize it ahead of time enough and do enough advertising. I was trying to sell concert tickets but I found that most people have bought tickets for other events or had plans already. If you want to do a concert -- plan one year or at least six months ahead and try to see if any other major event will compete on the same date with your "targetted audience". He was disappointed that he only raised $2000 but I told him, well, it was $2000 that the burn unit didn't have before.
Even if you don't use famous artists to perform, just regular people or local talent will do because their friends and family (first line of fans) will buy tickets. You just have to have accountability to handle funds and a budget that is meant for charity. People have to trust you. I would have been furious if I found out after doing a freebie concert that someone had taken money or profited for themselves from it. (also people could be prosecuted for theft or fraud). You might want to get a charity or church involved in helping. There is no shame is starting small and growing bigger year after year.
When I was a kid I helped these other kids have a fun fair in their backyard every year. Just selling lemonade, doing a puppet show, toss the bean bags. We used to raise about $50 for cancer research. It was not much and it was small but we did raise some money.
You could even learn by volunteering for some established charity event and studying how they organize and do things to learn. Don't give up on your dream.