[Cash-and-caring] Our Fundraiser in Salt Lake

[Mark T]

 Hello Everyone on the list!
I thought I should take a quick moment to report on a chapter fundraiser we recently did and found successful.  In Salt Lake County we held a No-Tap Bowling Tournament.  We made nearly $1000 for a tournament lasting less than 3 hours.  This was our first one, so with some lessons learned, we think we can do better next year.  How it worked:
1) Negotiate a good deal with the bowling alley and pick a date. We told them we would have around 60 bowlers, they reserved 16 lanes, which could accommodate 64 bowlers.  They gave us a rate of $10 for 3 games and included shoe rental. 
2) Try to give yourself 6 months to find sponsors, prizes, and to advertise and promote.
3) Recruit sponsors.  They can be a platinum sponsor for $500, Gold for $250, etc.  Or they can sponsor the first place prizes.  This area is where we fell short.  We didn’t have enough time.
4) We went around to the local businesses close to the alley and asked for door prizes.  Most were happy to do so, including free meals, discount meals, free haircuts, headphones, etc.
5) We charged $25/person.  We had prizes donated for the winning team, and some fun prizes to give out for things like: best team name, worst score.  We had about 50 bowlers show up, plus had a couple teams donate even though they didn’t show up.  So made about $900.
6) One lesson learned, registration was difficult.  Have people show up one half hour prior to bowling time.  Best if you can find a way to pre-register teams and collect money prior to the tournament.  That will be our goal next year.
7) We had quite a few blind bowlers participate, but only had 2 rails to make it accessible.  We are looking for more rails for next year.  However, my goal was to get lots of community people coming, so we are not just making money off ourselves.
8) Try to keep things simple.
I spent a few hours here and there for a couple months prior to the tournament.  I had about 4 people dedicated during the tournament to solving problems like registration, where to go, which lane they are on, distributing door prizes, etc.
Compared to our other fundraising activities, we got a lot more bang for the buck from this one.  And we were also able to get our presence felt and present a positive image.  The bowling alley was happy to host our fundraiser.  It is probably beneficial to work with an alley that you have a relationship with.  I bowl at this house every week and know most of the employees.  But I don’t think this is a necessity.  People had a lot of fun and $25 is a reasonable price for bowling, especially when you are getting door prizes and the chance at some bigger prizes.  It didn’t “feel” like a fundraiser, but just a fun Saturday afternoon.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Mark Turley
blindsquid at yahoo.com
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