Tag Day

Overview of Tag Day

Tag Day is our annual, district-wide fundraising event in which band students go door-to-door and simply ask for tax-deductible donations.  We give everyone a tag which contains information about the band, our performances, and ways to support our bands. 

At 8:00 AM on a Saturday morning toward the beginning of the school year, band members and volunteers meet at Thomas Dale. Students put on their uniforms while parent volunteers pick up their packet of neighborhood information. 

From 9:00 AM to noon, TDHS Marching Knights visit neighborhoods that all feed into Thomas Dale High School, knocking on doors to ask for donations while parent chaperones keep an eye on them and keep track of the money they collect.

Marchers' Responsibilities

⏰ When do the kids arrive at TDHS?

Students should arrive at TDHS by 8:00 A.M. on the designated Saturday morning.

👕 What do the kids wear?


🚗 Which cars do the kids go in?

🥁 What about their instruments or equipment?

Students bring their instruments and can play 🎶 a little something for the folks answering their door.  Guard members can spin their sabres and rifles to show their skills!

They can also play as they walk down the street to drum up some interest. 

🏠 What do the kids do when someone comes to the door?

Students will get a slip of paper the morning of Tag Day with a short spiel of what to say to potential patrons. It goes something like this:

Hello, we are Thomas Dale Marching Knights, and we are going door-to-door asking for donations to help us this season. Your donation will help us with transportation, uniforms, instrument repair, and other equipment. If you would like to help us, you can write a check or give us cash. Also, we can leave you this tag with our upcoming events which also has our Venmo, CashApp, and address if you prefer to send a donation. We hope to see you at a performance!

Ways To Support:

🧭 Parent Volunteer

Volunteer to be a driver! Click on our Volunteer Opportunities page to sign up to be a driver.

We need parents to chaperone student through neighborhoods and hold any money collected.

🚘 I signed up to be a driver; what does that mean?!

First of all, thank you!

On or before Tag Day, you will receive a packet that contains the following:

🚗 Guidelines for Driving




🚙 Will I be driving my own child?

Possibly. 

Our goal is to make sure groups of students are paired with drivers. 

If your child signed up with a group of 6 students (because there was a group of 6 available), but your car holds 4, then you will be driving a group of 4. 

Whatever group of kids you get are pretty awesome, and they will appreciate having someone who will be chauffeuring them around the neighborhood. 

❓Ok. I'm pretty skeptical. Is going door-to-door effective?  It seems invasive and antiquated.

You would think so; however, we earn roughly $8,000.00 after 4 hours of ~100 students genuinely stating that we benefit from our community investing in an incredible group of kids who work hard learning and playing music to perform for that same amazing community!

Kids in uniforms are unique and adorable -- the community appreciates earnest, legitimate requests.