If you’re already getting frustrated with your position as the school sports manager, by the time you finish reading this you may have cause to smile again. It has always been the case with school sports and I understand how you feel so hard pressed running the school football team with little or no funding. No one seems to be interested in financing the school team’s programs and they expect you to perform magic. Well, if the school board couldn’t give you money and you can’t find sponsors anywhere, then it’s time you begin to consider other creative ways to finance the school team.
Maybe, you should go for a fund drive. You have to look at ways that you can organize fund raising activities to solicit donations that can supplement the existing resources you have. Although, sports organizations have had a long tradition of conducting fund raising events, only recently have some schools established formal, on-going fund raising programs and I think you should do the same for your school. It has become one of the most successful ways of financing school sports, for example, in 2003, the Fresno State University Athletic department received slightly over $8 million from its annual fund raising event and in 2011, Coventry College received #10 million pounds like wise…
When considering how to go about the fund drive, you may want to know for instance; Who are the possible people you may be asking to donate (Target Donors); What will be the right amount to ask from them and for what reason (Type of Donation); What are the various ways to reach them and to persuade them to donate (Persuasive method)?
1. Target Donors: Fund raising tends to target more of select individuals that have emotional attachment with the school. Especially people that have such altruism with the school football team – fans, alumni, and Parents teachers Association (PTA).
Fans support group are some relatively high income individuals who passionately follow and support the school team. These zealous boosters are more likely to donate big time by their desire for the school team to win at all time.
Alumni are ex-students of the school. They are more likely to be interested to donate to their alma mater’s football team.
Parents Teachers Association (PTA), include elites of the community where the school is located, Teacher in the school as well as Parents of the students, who come together to assume a fatherly role for the school. They usually respond to the schools needs and are more likely to donate big time to the school football team.
2. Type of Donation: How much amount you’ll ask from your target donors will depend on what the donation is meant for and how frequently you will be asking them to donate. There are basically three types of donations: Annual, Major, and Endowment.
Annual donations are solicited yearly from a broad base of donors including fans and alumni. They are usually smaller amount ($100 - $1, 000 for each donor), used to defray current operating expenses.
Major donations are solicited generally from a smaller selected group of donors across PTA, Alumni, and fans. They are usually one time donations of significantly monetary value – often directed at capital projects such as building new sports arena, buying buses or buying new training equipment for the team.
Endowment is gifts donated by an individual out of his passionate love for the team; it’s not solicited for. They include some special planned deferred donations in legal instruments such as: Wills and Insurance policies, which can only be used after the death of the donor.
3. How to Persuade The Donors: The first approach is to send a very persuasive fund raising letter to the donors, asking them to join the annual donor group. Typically, membership is categorized with minimum donation required for a start. Then, membership incentives are used to persuade donors to upgrade.
The second approach is to organize the school sports day, where the school football team show case its achievements and donors are asked to increase their donation for the next level. The sports day may include an auction program, where donors are placed to compete against one another to see who can raise the most money for the auctioned items.
The third approach is to organize a fund raising dinner and award banquet, where all donors are invited. Every donor is entitled to a seating privilege, but the more you give the higher the seating priority. Award is given to donors at different level of their donations. The preferred sitting arrangement and other incentives given to awardees appear to provide impetus for donors to upgrade and increase their donations.
