HOW TO HELP
One gift.
One repair tech.
For life.
$4,450 closes the 9-month earning gap for one working musician learning instrument repair. Then they pay it forward — fixing 12 instruments in their own community in their first year alone.
Working Musicians Academy • For-profit education company • Tax status: not 501(c)(3)
THE MODEL
Your gift is a bridge — not a check into the void.
Working Musicians Academy is a for-profit education business. Students pay tuition: $4,450 over 24 months for Levels 1 and 2. Most working musicians cannot front that. Once they're enrolled and earning from real repair work, they cover it themselves — and self-fund Levels 3 and 4 from their own income. The hard part is the first 9 to 15 months, before the work pays for itself. That's what your sponsorship funds.
MONTHS 1-3
Level 1 begins
Student finds 12 instruments in their community. Cleans and quotes each at $50. Learns disassembly and assembly — the hardest skill barrier.
MONTHS 4-9
Level 2 — real work
Student executes the repair work they quoted. COAs at $200, economy overhauls at $350+. Net positive against tuition by month 4.
MONTHS 9-12
Tuition repaid
The full $4,450 is paid off through the student's own repair earnings. Your gift has done its job. The community has a working tech.
MONTHS 13-24
Level 3 + Level 4
Student enrolls in advanced training ($2,500 each), self-funded from continuing repair income. They never need outside money again.
THE 12-INSTRUMENT CHALLENGE
You don't trust the cause. You watch the work.
Most giving is faith-based — you donate and you hope. The 12-Instrument Challenge is different. Every WMA student fixes 12 real instruments from their local community as part of Level 1 and 2. Your sponsored student is paired with you. You see all 12 — the broken saxophone, the cracked clarinet, the stuck flute — come back to life because of your gift. You see the work happen. That's the unit.
WHAT'S ALREADY BEEN BUILT
259
Paying students trained, ages 16–70, all 50 states
88%
Student success rate
$4,450
vs. $9,375 at the only major in-person alternative
Curriculum by Bruce Marking, fmr. Head of Woodwind Repair, Buffet-Crampon.
Additional Achievements Include:
- INC. 500 Female Founder 2025
- U.S. Chamber Top 100 Small Business 2024
- Education 2.0 Innovation Award 2026
- INC. Midwest Fastest Growing 2025 & 2026
IF YOU'RE READY
Sponsor at the level that fits.
Every tier corresponds to something specific in a student's path. Tap any card to start the conversation.
$200
One month of tuition
The smallest tier — entry point for first-time donors and band parents who want to participate at a meaningful but accessible level.
SPONSOR A MONTH →
$370
One community instrument
One of the 12 instruments your sponsored student will bring back to life. You receive its story when it's complete.
FUND ONE INSTRUMENT →
$1,113
One quarter of L1+L2
Six months of a student's tuition. Often funded together by a band parent group, a small business, or two donors splitting the gift.
SPONSOR A QUARTER →
$2,500
One advanced level
Level 3 or Level 4 for a proven student who's already earning from repair work. Fund their continued mastery.
FUND AN ADVANCED LEVEL →
$4,450
Full entry bridge — L1+L2
The complete 9-month bridge. One donor, one student, the full 12-Instrument Challenge. The unit that makes a permanent local repair tech.
SPONSOR A STUDENT FULLY →
PRIMARY UNIT
$9,450
Full graduate path
All four levels in one gift. Your student never needs to find outside money again — and you fund a full master tech, not just an entry-level one.
FUND A FULL GRADUATE →
$25,000
A community pilot — 24 months, one tech, one region
For donors thinking about a specific community: fund a full graduate path AND the operational support to ensure that tech serves a defined region under priority access for 24 months. School districts, band director associations, and HNW musicians have funded these. We structure each one differently.
DISCUSS A COMMUNITY PILOT →
WMA is a for-profit C-corp, so sponsorships are not tax-deductible donations. They are gifts that fund a specific student's enrollment. Every sponsorship begins with a conversation — we pair you with a student whose story aligns with your reasons for giving, and we report back on the 12-Instrument Challenge as it happens. Reply to your tier above and Lisa responds within 24 hours.
IF YOU WANT TO TALK FIRST
Some gifts need a conversation.
If you're thinking bigger than a single sponsorship — a community pilot, a multi-student commitment, a partnership between WMA and your foundation, school district, or business — it should start with a 30-minute conversation, not a tier card.
This is also the right path if:
- You're a working musician with a platform considering the Founding Ambassador role
- You run a music shop or band program and want to discuss instrument-pipeline partnership
- You represent a family foundation or family office exploring program-related investment
- You want to fund a region or community specifically — Kansas City, Nashville, your hometown
- You just need to talk before you commit
A 30-MINUTE CALL WITH LISA
No deck. No commitment. On your timeline.
Tell Lisa what you're thinking about and what you'd want to know before deciding anything. She'll send you whatever's relevant after the call — and if there's no fit, she'll say so.