Go Fund Me Question

Have any clubs used any of the funding sites to get more equipment. Our club is considering doing this for a new trailer.

Any thoughts out there?

Don’t forget the Tripoli Prefecture Improvement Program, which was $500 last year and the NAR Section Grants which are $250 I believe.

Steve Shannon said:

Don’t forget the Tripoli Prefecture Improvement Program, which was $500 last year and the NAR Section Grants which are $250 I believe.

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Plus if your club is 501c3, some workplaces have pre-tax contribution programs and/or donation matching.

Check out the fees that they charge. If you're mostly collecting from club members, those fees might be significant. If you're using it as an advertisement to reach outside of the club, then may make more sense.

Thanks guys. Our trailer is 10 years old and showing its age. Just researching for options now.

In general, it seems like GFM is a way to raise money from people already involved in the process or to raise money from relatives. I would expect that if you started a campaign you’d just get donations from club members. It’s probably easier to save the fees and put out a direct ask.

I am the vice president of the German Shepherd Rescue of Southern New Mexico. We recently started a go fund me campaign trying to raise $2,000 to build a quarantine area for rescues when we first pull them from animal control. They almost always have some type of respiratory infection that will be transmitted to the other dogs. Our vet did quarantine them for 10 days at no charge to us but he was shut down last month due to a licensing issue. The best any other vet in town will offer is a 10% discount which would make the bill for boarding, spay or neuter, microchipping and shots very expensive. We would have to raise the adoption fee from $200 to $500 to cover the expenses. Anyway, we did generate about $500 right away but then the donations just stopped. It seems that you have to have some way to get it out there, past friends and family, if you really want to raise some money. We just don't now how to do that.

-Bob

Don't knock other kinds of fundraisers like asking for rocket related donations and holding a club (live or online) auction. Or bring a grill to monthly launches and sell hot dogs, or ask club members to bring a donation to a bake sale for dessert. Churches, schools, scout troops and many others have been successful at these things for years. You may not get a zillion dollars at once, but baby steps will get you to your destination.

Also, don't discount the possibility of recruiting a few handy folks to spend a warm weather work day giving your trailer a "spa day." A wire brush, some paint, a pressure washer, and little elbow grease might just be all your trailer needs for another five of ten years of use.

I was on the governing board of a local high school marching band parents organization for several years and in that time saw quite a few different fundraising ideas tried.

One thought for you is to try and make the case ( if true) that your club actively supports people outside your organization - e.g. you are big TARC supporters or that your club does some sort of educational outreach. Absent something of that nature, you are just trying to raise money for your hobby, and that is a tough sell to people that are not directly involved in the hobby.

If it comes down to raising money directly from club members, then the typical raffle / bbq social event might do the trick. Have a firm idea of the amount you are trying to raise and make sure that everyone in the club is aware of the cost of the new trailer and why you need a new one. A few people "in the know" might understand the problem, but make sure that everyone knows.

Finally - don't be afraid to pay credit card fees. For years our organization resisted accepting credit cards because of the processing cost. Once we started accepting credit cards for all transactions, our revenues increased dramatically. We simply repriced things we sold ( e.g. shirts ) to account for the fees and adjusted our fundraising goals to assume that most transactions would have an associated fee. People are accustomed to paying with credit cards, and you never want to turn away money by being unable to accept that form of payment.