House Concerts

COSTS

Ministering together through music is what the Lord has called us to do full-time.  In order to meet our expenses and yours, there are several ways that could help to cover the costs of hosting a House Concert, such as taking a love offering, giving an honorarium based on travel and the size of the event, (we could discuss that by email or phone) having a basket for donations out or ticket sales if appropriate.  If there is extra travel, housing outside what is normal, playing more than one concert or other requests beyond what we normally do, then we will need to discuss the possible additional expenses we may incur and therefore might need help covering.  It is our desire to be able to come and play whenever we are asked, as well as to be a blessing to the people we play for, so we do not want the finances to be a reason that we do not come and play.  If donations are not possible, then we can discuss other means of fundraising by e-mail or phone.  We are trusting the Lord to provide for our family as we minister together in this way, and ask that you would pray for Him to do so along with us.
Due to the fact that we travel, we ask that the love offering/fee be paid to the Wintons that day at the end of your concert.

HOSTING GROUP

What we are asking of the hosting family, church or group is pretty simple.  We ask them to provide a venue for the House Concert, to advertise the event with the material we send and which can be obtained from our website, and to advertise on the free on-air radio station calendars in your area.  We also ask for the ability to sell our merchandise in an area that will receive the traffic of those attending the concert.  We ask that the person in charge of the event have someone prepared to take a love offering for us during the concert unless we have made other arrangements.  Due to the fact that we will be leaving your area immediately after the concert in most cases,  we ask that all money from the love offering be given to The Wintons that day at the end of the concert.

CONCERT DETAILS

Our House Concert is generally 60- 75 minutes in length.  We will come up with the emcee of your choice as they introduce us.  Please have the emcee mention the merchandise table and the method in which the love offering or gifts will be received.  About  halfway through the House Concert, we will talk about what our family does and why, then if the venue allows we will show 2-3  trailers from the Freedom Films that we offer.  At that point if this is what we agreed upon the emcee can take the love offering or gifts.  While the love offering or gifts are being taken we will continue playing music and finish out the concert.  The emcee should come up after the House Concert and mention the merchandise table and the love offering or gift basket (if that is how the love offering will be taken) and then dismiss everyone.

REFRESHMENTS

Many of the hosts of a House Concert have refreshments before and after the concert.  This can be done by asking others to help out by bringing some refreshments to share, or the host can furnish them themselves.

EVENT TYPES

We have determined that we will do concert-type settings only and we do not play background music for an event. It is our desire to speak to various issues pertaining to family, serving together, clearly present the gospel and other topics, at our House Concerts.  Please don’t have us play during a meal or while other events are going on.  If people are sitting around tables during a meal or meeting prior to our House Concert, we ask that you would have everyone put their chairs in a concert-type seating arrangement before we play.  If there are any changes to the arrangements or schedule that we have agreed upon prior to the House Concert, please let us know prior to us arriving.

FREEDOM FILMS

We are proud to partner with Freedom Films to offer quality family entertainment and instructional media.  We look forward to introducing you and others to these great films on DVD and offer them for purchase at our merchandise table at the end of our event.  If the venue allows, we plan to take 5-7 minutes during our concert to show a few preview clips of some of the films we currently offer.

CHRISTIAN HOME INDUSTRY

We are proud to offer an opportunity for home businesses to have an internet marketplace that will be advertised all over the country.  Our family started and runs this web-based marketplace.  Please feel free to check it out at christianhomeindustry.com.

GETTING THE WORD OUT

-You can download our bio from our website in order to create promotional materials of your own.
-Please e-mail us if you would like us to e-mail photos you can use for promotion.
-Once we have established an event date, we will send you a 1/2 sheet bulletin insert via e-mail and you can make as many copies as needed.
-We have 11×14 posters that include a photo and an area to fill in the date and location.  Please let us know if you would like some.  We can mail them to you or send you a file you can take to a printer to have copies printed.
-Advertising on the radio and local newspapers will help as well.  Most radio stations have a free community calendar that they promote on air.