Money for something
Be creative when organizing silent sports fund-raising events
by Sarah Schoville Kyrie When Laura Clark-Taylor learned that Stoughton, Wisconsin, residents hit by August's tornado were denied FEMA funding, she was appalled. Wisconsin relief funds were headed to the Gulf Coast where Hurricane Katrina struck at about the same time.
Clark-Taylor, a Madison resident, jumped into action by rallying her running allies and organizing the November 25, 2005, Surviving the Twister Fun Run. With a short four
weeks of planning, Clark-Taylor enlisted volunteers from local running clubs and gathered donations from businesses for a live auction. The entry fee for the 4-mile fun run and the 2-mile family walk were free will, opening the door for participants to give generously. Between the event and the auction, more than $4,000 was raised to directly benefit the tornado survivors.
"The atmosphere had the good old barn raisin' spirit with neighbor helping neighbor," Clark-Taylor
said. The overall men's and women's winners even received a light-hearted award of the board game Twister.
When money needs to be earned quickly, fund-raisers can come to the rescue. And silent sports events are particularly appropriate when money is needed to send a young athlete to a championship, help a family with a member serving overseas in the military or someone diagnosed with a disease and mounting medical bills. A grass-roots enterprise can bring exposure to the cause. While
organizing a fund-raiser takes a lot of energy, a clear and original plan can ensure a profitable event.
If it's clear who is to benefit from a fund-raising event, people are more willing to participate and give. Clark-Taylor could assure supporters of the Surviving the Twister Fun Run that the funds raised would be given to the community of Stoughton which was "collecting funds to help those who applied for financial assistance." She recruited enough sponsorship to cover all
the costs of the event except for the awards for the top runners.
Small-scale fund-raisers can be especially effective if volunteers and in-kind donations can be harnessed, like a carwash put on by kids who bring sponges and buckets from home. Some groups opt to resell a product bought in bulk for less. That's fine if what's being sold is in keeping with the cause. A running club looking to offer athletic scholarships, for instance, probably ought not to sell candy bars, pizzas or
other junk food door-to-door.
A lot of people are needed to pound the pavement both to get an event off the ground and participate in the event. Others may be tapped to provide behind-the-scenes support or pledge additional funds.
As a certified dietitian, Clark-Taylor convinced the National Dietary Managers Association to match the financial contributions the fun run raised. Other businesses will do as much if the fund-raiser is held on their property or otherwise brings them
good publicity. Restaurants and grocery stores may donate juice and healthy snacks to athletes while also allowing use of their parking lots.
Entrepreneur Ken Hakuta once said, "Lack of money is no obstacle. Lack of an idea is an obstacle." The most support will be drawn by events mixing familiar and new fund-raising tactics.
Races like Surviving the Twister, Race for the Cure and the ACT Rides can be extremely successful. Nontraditional athletic events can also
recruit people by offering something new. For instance, cross-country skiers can assemble teams with members of varied skills and then estimate the time it would take them to complete a relay race around a 2K loop. No watches allowed. Similar to a sport-a-thon-type event where participants seek pledges per lap, a relay event allows folks of every skill level to participate and compete.
Orienteering courses and scavenger hunts tend to be events adults don't usually get to indulge in.
"Marathon" cookie walks can be set up with stations a kilometer or two apart. Course volunteers can then dress according to a theme (giving them a chance to drag out old Halloween costumes). This event leaves participants fed, exercised and entertained.
The meal
Spaghetti feeds pop up everywhere, and for good reason. Pasta is cheap and easy to prepare for large crowds. By the end of the season, however, taste buds can easily have been burnt out on the Italian fare.
Regional cuisine can take more time to assemble but the output pays off. The Lakeland Ski Club of Minocqua once hosted a traditional Norwegian dinner. They turned 50 pounds of potatoes into lefse as well as served meatballs, fruit soup and rosettas. To top off the special menu, servers dressed in Scandinavian garb a few as Vikings. The group slaved for more than 60 hours ahead of time, but the unique menu drew a crowd willing to pay a few extra dollars.
Fruit and nut or oatmeal mixes
can be assembled easily and cheaply and sold for $5 per quart-sized Ziplock bag enough breakfast for two carbo-loading athletes. Cookies, breads and other trail mixes can be prepared in this way.
Tried and true bake sales aren't just for church or school functions anymore. As the worlds of outdoor sports collide, a bike team setting up a bake sale at a ski race is guaranteed to serve a supportive crowd. A bake sale during a ski swap can draw in nonskiers who happen to be passing
through especially if the sale takes place in a high-traffic public place like, uh, a church or school.
There are more automated ways to do the same thing. The Wausau High School Nordic Team invested in a vending machine for the chalet at Nine Mile Park. "They weren't doing concessions at the chalet anymore," coach Rachel Kresse said, "so we purchased a vending machine and filled it up with healthy snacks." The team has avoided paying electric bills by purchasing a
vending machine with a crank. The hope is to have the machine paid off within a few years.
Selling services
Setting up a station at their annual ski swap, the Wausau ski team also makes money by waxing skis. Charging $10 per base wax, the group raked in more than $350 in one weekend. "We'll even pine tar wood skis," Kresse said.
The team also mounts bindings, having bought the materials at cost. With a $5 markup, the team can offer a cheaper rate than most ski
shops while still making a profit. A savvy bike team could do a similar service tuning up bicycles.
Discount cards are a moneymaker, too, with the added benefit of involving the greater community. The way it works is team members ask local businesses to offer a discount say, 20 percent off all boots at the shoe store; two-for-one cones at the ice cream shop; free Chapstick at the sporting goods store and those deals are printed on a card or in a coupon book that sells for $10 or so.
Merchants are pleased with the
business it draws in and buyers are happy for the savings.
Ski swaps tend to be the staple moneymaker for many teams. After collecting used ski equipment from locals either as donations or on consignment, the team takes a share of the profit. Conglomerate garage sales can work the same way. Silent auctions can also pull in much more than the value of the individual items.
When raising money to send a few skiers to Junior Olympics, the Lakeland
Nordic Ski Team of Minocqua sold prints of a painting by Toni Lieppert Polfus. Polfus, an artist and avid skier, created a watercolor of a bear skate skiing, an otter in a tuck position, and a fox striding. Selling for $15 each, the prints sold quickly to skiers looking to decorate their homes and cabins Nordic style.
Every fund-raiser should be followed-up with a news blip or "thank you" letter to the editor of the local newspaper. (Fund-raisers should be aware, however,
that many newspaper editors refuse to clutter their limited space with "thank you" letters. It is always best to take the time to send personal letters of appreciation to individual sponsors and volunteers.) When John Bauer collected donations for his trips to the Olympics, he sent appreciative postcards from the site, delighting the recipients. People are always happy to see their money in action. When they do, they're more likely to donate again in the future.
Sarah
Schoville Kyrie lives with her husband, Ash, and their 3-month-old daughter, Finn, in Madison, Wisconsin where she is perfecting the art of nursing and one-handed typing.
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