The short answer is only if you organize one!  We have Side to Side Projects at the festivals Donna organizes or headlines.  We are a fan-based group, not an arm of the band, but the band has always been supportive of our efforts, has always donated prizes for our projects and is glad we do what we do.  Great Blue Heron, Fingerlakes Grassroots, and Shakori Grassroots will always have a Side to Side project, as long Herd Charity is around.  The Florida Herd has been stellar, an integral part of Herd Charity from the beginning, at the fests above, raising big money at Springfest and Magfest to give to LOMAF, and raising $500 at the Miami show the night before the cruise. 

Herd Charity is a circle of people, not a pyramid, and the fact is that if a Project is going to happen, the people who want it to happen make it happen.  No one person in the Herd does all the work of Herd Charity.  It is truly a family picture, everyone has a part, no one is more important than the rest.  The Prez is an organizer, good at telling people how to go about doing a project and who to ask for help.  The Prez also needs to know what's happening, and to approve the non-profit and the plan, so she can inform the band about what's going on.  The Prez can send you a how-to and answer questions as you go.  If you have a non-profit in your town you want to support, and Donna is coming, then you may have a Side to Side in the making.  Find a friend to help you out and make it happen!   

Our Future

We could incorporate as a non-profit organization.  It would be nice to have a Herd Charity History book (details, lists, notes, photos and thank you letters).  We’re all pretty busy, and it’s alright if all we do is organize Side to Side projects and give all the money to organizations that help people in need.  A bigger, more active, more official organization would require that some of our income go to administration, and that’s just not a place we’re headed at this time.

What Can You Do?

Buy tickets, tell others about the project, write a press release and get it to the right people, donate prizes, sell tickets, recruit others to sell tickets, help set up, help clean up, organize a Side to Side project (talk to the Herd Charity Prez first to get an idea of what's involved or to get a project approved), walk up to the organizer and ask what they need help with, help with getting the prizes to the winners, help with getting the money to the organization. 

We have found that projects tend to work better at festivals than at one night shows, but don't let that discourage you if you want to make one happen when Donna is in your town for a night.  It's just a different kind of project. 

We keep it light and low stress.  We don't want the work of Herd Charity to interfere with the fun we all want to have at festivals; we want it to add to the bliss! 

The bottom line is whatever money we take in goes directly to a non-profit organization in line with our Mission Statement, with no strings attached.  Non-profit org's really need this kind of money.  Most money they get is earmarked for specific uses, and all kinds of needs come up that don't fall into those categories.  This is the direct benefit of our work, and the folks who run the organizations really appreciate what we do.  They serve people in need, and by helping them do their work, we are helping people in need. 

A side benefit to our giving is that when we leave town, the people who work for that non-profit, and their friends, and anyone who reads the press release (if it's done) or the next newsletter put out by that group associates Donna the Buffalo, whatever fest we attended, and The Herd with an action of love.  Tangible Love is left in our wake, and that is important to the future or our band, and festivals and freedom for all.