Sweet Sounds of Service is Volunteer Musicians for the Arts’ annual student-led fundraising campaign, empowering young musicians to put service, stewardship, and leadership into action through music.
Sweet Sounds of Service
Supporting student-led music outreach nationwide
Fundraising & Stewardship
Fundraising is one way students can practice leadership—but it is never the purpose of the VMA Junior Program. Our first priority is always service.
Service Is the #1 Objective
The most important thing for every VMA member to remember is:
Service comes first.
This academic year, we want to see students working toward meaningful outreach performances, bringing music into their communities and creating opportunities for others to experience live music.
Build Your Team. Build Your Impact.
VMA Clubs are encouraged to create a fundraising team with a student Team Leader.
Each team member can then create an individual peer-to-peer fundraising page through the Sweet Sounds of Service campaign.
This means your club does not have to rely on one person to do all the fundraising. Each student can reach out to their own family, friends, teachers, neighbors, and community connections.
Together, those individual efforts become a collective club effort.
Start a Sweet Sounds of Service FundraiserFundraise Ethically
Fundraising should be about inviting people into a mission, not pressuring people to give.
Be honest about why you are fundraising, where the funds will go, and what your efforts are supporting. Never pressure a family member, friend, teacher, or community member to contribute.
A thoughtful invitation is more meaningful than a high-pressure ask.
Reach Beyond Your Household
Your immediate family can, of course, support your fundraising efforts. Families have always been an important part of the VMA community, and we welcome their support.
However, to receive a VMA National Service Award, the majority of your funds must come from diverse sources and relationships beyond your immediate household.
Reach out to extended family members, friends, teachers, neighbors, local businesses, community organizations, and other people who may connect with the purpose of your service.
The goal is to demonstrate that you can build a community around your cause—not simply rely on the people closest to you.
It's About Engagement
The goal is not simply to collect as much money as possible.
The goal is to learn how to communicate a purpose, invite others to participate, build relationships, and connect your fundraising to meaningful service.
That is stewardship.
What About Parents?
Parents are absolutely welcome to support their child's fundraising efforts. They can share their student's fundraising page, introduce the campaign to friends and family, and encourage others to participate.
Parents can also support VMA independently through the VMA Annual Giving Society. A parent does not have to make a donation through their child's peer-to-peer campaign.
Students lead the fundraising campaign; families and community members can support in whatever way is meaningful to them.
Learn About the VMA Annual Giving SocietyA New Chapter in Stewardship
Families have been an important part of VMA's story from the beginning. The VMA Foundation recognizes that the Junior Program would not be where it is today without families who believed in the mission early on and whose children helped bring the program to life.
Their support, encouragement, and willingness to say yes helped build the foundation for the national community we have today.
But the Junior Program is maturing.
And so are our students.
Today's young musicians can take greater ownership of the stewardship goals that come with leadership. They can build a fundraising team, create a peer-to-peer campaign, reach beyond their immediate family, communicate a purpose, and invite their broader community to participate.
That is part of growing from a participant into a leader.
And no, you don't necessarily need to sell those famous Thin Mints to do it. 😉
The point isn't to see how much money you can collect.
The point is to learn how to engage a community in something you believe matters.
That's stewardship.
That's leadership.
It's Not About How Much You Give
For high school students especially, fundraising can become an opportunity to demonstrate stewardship.
Give Lively provides a transparent way to track fundraising activity. When students engage multiple sources and relationships in support of a meaningful purpose, they can build a documented record of community engagement.
And while recognition may be part of the VMA experience, the deeper value is in the experience itself.
- Who did you engage?
- Why did you choose the cause?
- How did you communicate your purpose?
- What did you learn?
- What difference did your efforts make?
These are the experiences that can give substance to a student's leadership story.
Be a Compassionate Leader
Fundraising is only one piece of leadership.
Through student government, clubs, outreach, and service, VMA gives students opportunities to learn how to organize, communicate, collaborate, serve, and lead with compassion.
We want to give students the tools they need—from learning the ABCs of leadership to eventually learning how to tell their own story through future opportunities.
But there is one thing we can't teach you.
Be a good person. Be an authentic person.
Serve because you care.
Lead because you want to help.
Give because your community matters.
The rest will follow.
Since 2025, We've Come This Far
Since launching the Sweet Sounds of Service campaign in 2025, our community has helped raise more than $16,000 for charitable program services and approved service initiatives. Campaign support helps provide student outreach, leadership development, educator and community partnerships, program coordination, and the resources needed to help young musicians serve others through music. Our next milestone is $25,000 by 2027.
Over halfway to our next major milestone.
Every contribution supports charitable program services and approved service initiatives that help young musicians bring music, leadership, and meaningful service to their communities. Together, we are building the next chapter of VMA's impact.
Music in the Community
When young musicians share their music in community spaces, the impact extends far beyond the performance itself. Residents gather around the piano, families listen together, and familiar melodies bring back memories.
Through Volunteer Musicians for the Arts, students discover that the music they practice every day can bring comfort, joy, and connection to others.
“We had a fantastic workshop that lasted around two hours with residents on the first floor of our Newton store. It was the first time I did something like that and it was really fulfilling.” — Patrick Elisha, Vice President, M. Steinert & Sons
Support Sweet Sounds of Service
Your support helps young musicians use music as a vehicle for service, leadership, and meaningful community impact.
100% of funds raised through Sweet Sounds of Service are dedicated to charitable program services and approved service initiatives. Campaign support helps provide student outreach concerts, leadership development, educator and community partnerships, program coordination, and the reasonable professional staff time and resources required to plan, coordinate, manage, and deliver these charitable services.
Looking to Contribute to the Long-Term Vision of VMA?
Become a member of the VMA Annual Giving Society and help sustain the organization’s long-term mission and growth.
Become an Annual Giving Society Member