Who's supplying the paint for the volunteers?

Hi there,

I have been reading a lot of topics recently on this forum and I love it! Me and a friend have been facepainting for about one year and we are getting pretty addicted to it...
So I decided to register to be able to post.

So as I said, me and my friend, we love to paint faces. We have been volunteering at some occasions in the past year and the word is spreading so now we are getting asked for paid gigs so we are hoping to make some profit to cover all the orders of supplies that we desperately need ;-)

But this is the thing, we have offered to volunteer at a festival recently, we would receive a small fee (here it is all volunteering that organisations depend on) and we decided to do this just to get our names and skills out and for the fun of it. They were expecting a lot of kids and there were also a few volunteers avalaible who would help us out when line got too long.

I actually hadn't thought of how this would work out, but when the volunteers came in, they happily started facpainting with our supplies, brushes, sponges, glitter and so on. I managed to keep the splitcakes and glitter safe , but we constantly had to tell them not to let our brushes stand IN the water, please not to drag the paints over the edges of the containers and so on  So that will not happen again  

In august we have another gig, compared to this. An organisation on low budget, the two of us along with some volunteers. We are happy to do this at a low fee, just to practice and for the fun of it, but we are not planning on having our kits ruined. Now I was thinking to buy 1 or 2 small kits to keep for me to use by volunteers so that in the future we can provide volunteers with some decent facepaint but not our own stuff. We will charge extra for this ofcourse, I see this as a sort of extra service we can offer.

I was wondering how you would handle this?

For the record, we live in Holland

I would have the other volunteers manage the line for you. Help the kids wipe their faces as needed, pin back their hair, write down the choice of design, keep everybody happy, hand them a mirror as they leave your chair & you guys JUST paint. ("Oh yeah, I discovered my insurance doesn't have a clause that covers you...")

Volunteers are not covered in my insurance.
I find they are disrespectful with my brushes, wasteful with my paint, and completely unhygienic with the paint. (I had a mom once LICK HER FINGER, STICK IT IN MY GLITTER, AND APPLY GLITTER TO A CHILD (not her own) just because she felt that I did not apply enough glitter.
Don't touch my paint, brushes, glitter, bling, SuzySparkles.... just. get. away. from. the. table.
It is too expensive to supply volunteers.

And since it's late and hot and I'm depleted and grumpy, even though this isn't the "Beef" section, I will add to Fess's diatribe: Note to parents: Hey! I paid eighteen dollars for that brush. I did not buy it so your toddler could explore tactile sensations while your five-year-old gets painted. Do you have something valuable that I could grab and rub and touch in exchange???!!!

Whew! That felt good! And for the English lover in me, I got to use a colon TWICE in one sentence. Rare! Cool!

Okay, I am less grumpy.

On with the Forum ...

And, Oh my gosh   I just re-read my last post. I have left myself SO open to lewd rejoinders with that question to parents! I think I'd re-phrase it, and say something like: Can you pass me a twenty dollar bill? I'd like to tear off little bits of it, and then I'll give it right back!

But no, forget the grab and rub and touch question. This is a family-friendly booth!

Politely explain to the organizers that you don't let anyone, ANYONE paint from your kit! Make it clear before the events that you need volunteers to line manage (it really helps) and for any other personal errands, but not to paint. Unless its a place net and dear consider asking them to pay a supply fee. Please keep in mind that volunteering is great, I do a lot myself, but marketing will get your paying jobs, so cover your cost. I used my paying jobs to pay for my volunteering for a very long time.

Another thing to consider ~

If you allow volunteer 'helpers' to paint, is their painting going to be of your standard? My guess is not. Do you really want someone who doesn't know what they're doing painting along side you when you're handing out YOUR business cards & trying to get more paid work?

JJJJJ wrote:..... Do you have something valuable that I could grab and rub and touch in exchange???!!!...

BWAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I only tend to volunteer where I'm known (kinder school etc) and where I've need "helpers" Ive laid down the workshop rule. I host a 2hr workshop on hygiene, courtesy and kit managment at $5 -$10 bucks a pop. Only "qualified helpers" can touch my kit! Cha ching!

Beans wrote:I only tend to volunteer where I'm known (kinder school etc) and where I've need "helpers" Ive laid down the workshop rule. I host a 2hr workshop on hygiene, courtesy and kit managment at $5 -$10 bucks a pop. Only "qualified helpers" can touch my kit! Cha ching!

Not a bad idea... Seems like it would weed out the people who really want to help from the riff-raff who just want to play with your kit.

I did that once and ended up showing my competition too much recently I make them sign non compete. I know they don't hold up in court but I think it is discouraging.

Wow thanks everyone for responding! I have thought of teaching the volunteers before, but I doubt they would pay me for that and no, they probably won't meet up to my standard. We experienced this at our latest gig, we would look at some painted kids and think "did I do that? Naaaah... Did you do that? Naaaaaaahhhh you wouldn't"  

So I really like the idea of having the volunteers managing the line, maybe they can do the lips and the glitter, can't ruin much with that I suppose.

And then we just have to pick some fast designs, untill now we had some books available (they tend to pick the most extravagant design) , when I'm on my own I like to work with no examples at all but I find that every kid wants "what she has", so I end up painting flowersflowersflowersflowerszombieszombieszombies etc  

Thanks again everyone!

The last place I volunteered at was a school I once worked at. They saw my kit and tried to unpack it. I made sure they had their own paint, brushes and sponges to work with. I let them borrow a few of my books a week earlier. They gave me $50 and I got them a starter kit (including glitter) with everything they needed. Bottom line, I treat my kit like it is my sixth child, strangers are not allowed to touch.

mslalahoney wrote:The last place I volunteered at was a school I once worked at.  They saw my kit and tried to unpack it.  I made sure they had their own paint, brushes and sponges to work with.  I let them borrow a few of my books a week earlier.  They gave me $50 and I got them a starter kit (including glitter) with everything they needed.  Bottom line, I treat my kit like it is my sixth child, strangers are not allowed to touch.

I feel the same way! I don't want anyone (not familiar with painting) to touch my stuff either, not even my own kids!
If they are getting really interested in painting too, I will give them their own kit. 

I wish that I'd JUST ONCE met the ditzy volunteer mom's request to "borrow a few of my colors...since I had so many" with a straight faced request to see their updated donor card. Unfortunately, the opportunity is gone now that I have no kids in elementary anymore.

Nobody touches my kit. Period. You can ask ( I will say ,"no") but you can't argue with me about something that I've invested hundreds of dollars in. I can't even phath sitting by and watching my kit be destroyed or not making it clear that my kit belongs to me and me alone. And that includes my sponges and brushes too!

As for buying paint for volunteers. Why add the expense? If the event wants to have volunteer painters instead of line managers, have THE EVENT pay to outfit them!

As for training the volunteers...other than a cursory how-to on the basics of activating the paint and how to avoid over wetting the makeup, they'd get nothing from me.
You should always be careful about training up your competition...always. Many a painter has blown off that advise while thinking their advisors paranoid only to kick themselves months later when they find themselves being replaced by well trained "volunteers" or undercutting past students.

I'm quite neurotic about my kit: no-one paints with my paints, no-one touches my brushes, and keep your hands off my glitter!
(I even don't like my sister to co-use my paints when we're painting together, she uses them all wrong, and then doesn't put them back on the table like they should be)
controlfreak? ME????? naaaaaah :rolleyes:

So I guess it was a natural reaction for us to feel upset haha! I think I've worked it out: I have asked my lovely twelve yo niece to help us out with the linemanagement, lips and the glitter and she loves the idea! So no volunteers at our table yeaaaaay!

Thank you all SO much for this advice. Recently did a festival where the organisers insisted that I have a volunteer, and I insisted (politely) that they couldn't use my paints. They spent the day (very happily) controlling the line, collecting donations (it was a charity festival) and generally keeping things pleasant. It went very smoothly. THANKS GUYS!

I'm having a similar problem. I've trained a teen to paint w/me (she's awesome). I pay her & she keeps her tips.  Last year, we did a haunted house @ a large school & are doing it again this year. We arrive early in the day & do the scary faces for the HH. We charge $10/face & keep whatever we make. Next we move to our tent outside & paint the public. There is an "enchanted forest" for younger kids & lots of activities. It's a huge fundraiser. We gave 50% to the school. Last yr, my niece came to manage the line & collect $. Well, last night after our 1st meeting, the organizer told me her 16 yr old daughter was going to help me face paint. Told her, "Sorry, I don't let anyone touch my supplies except the other artist who paints w/me." She told me she knew another face painter in our area who had been training her daughter but that person was no longer well enough to paint. I think I'll offer to let her daughter manage the line & let my niece do glitter tattoos. That way, I'll see what she's like & decide if it would be good to train her. Often, I do a large gig & can use extra help.
Can't hurt, could help.

JJJJJ wrote:And since it's late and hot and I'm depleted and grumpy, even though this isn't the "Beef" section, I will add to Fess's diatribe: Note to parents: Hey! I paid eighteen dollars for that brush. I did not buy it so your toddler could explore tactile sensations while your five-year-old gets painted. Do you have something valuable that I could grab and rub and touch in exchange???!!!

Whew! That felt good! And for the English lover in me, I got to use a colon TWICE in one sentence. Rare! Cool!

Okay, I am less grumpy.

On with the Forum ...

I never fail to have a good laugh on this forum. Lol!