7 Fundraising Tips For Your New Track Project
Raising the money to pay for a new outdoor or indoor track has always been a challenge. But it sure has gotten easier since the late 1990s and early 2000s, when many grassroots organizations and their coaches, teams and supporters didn’t fully understand the benefits and long-term cost savings of a polyurethane track surface.
Today, Beynon, a global leader with over 4,000 installations in North America, is helping facilities across the nation convert to a track and field system focused on increased usage and safety, improved performance and enhanced durability.
Beynon can help with all stages of your planning process, from design to creating optimal pricing models, so that when it comes time to fundraise there are firm numbers and tangible plans for the potential donors to see. To help make your dream track and field surface a reality, here are seven fundraising tips to get started on your project:
1. Establish a fundraising committee through a booster organization.
If this is a school district or college/university project, consider creating a private, non-profit fundraising organization that is overseen by a booster group as a separate entity. The group’s sole task is to raise money to pay for the surface and other elements of the track and field facility. People who want to donate funds for a new surface can do so directly, confident their money will not be used for any other purpose.
2. Seek out alumni and other track and field supporters for donations.
Keeping former students apprised of on-campus projects can pay off mightily. For example, the new Beynon track at the renovated Steve Miller & John Capriotti Athletics Facility at Cal Poly was made possible in part through donations by several track and field alumni, as was the surface at Montana State University’s Bobcat Track and Field Complex. High school track projects, such as ones at Immanuel High School in Reedley, Calif., and Walla Walla (Wash.) High School, also received funding from loyal donors.
3. Finance the track, just as you would a building project.
Beynon, in partnership with TCF Financial, helps organizations install the track surface of their dreams with nothing more than a small down payment. The balance of the project’s cost can be paid off over the next several years at highly competitive interest rates.
Typical financing terms with Beynon Financial are for between two and eight years, and payments can be scheduled monthly, quarterly or annually to match the timing of fiscal budgets. This option allows facility owners to retain their cash and use their Beynon surface to generate revenue that will help cover regular payments. It also helps hedge inflation by budgeting today’s costs to today’s revenues and tomorrow’s costs to future revenues.
4. Apply for grants.
Money is out there, waiting to be awarded to facilities serious about installing a Beynon track. Research the federal, state and local grants available in your area. Additional funds can come in the form of private grants too, such as the USA Track & Field Foundation’s Youth Club Grant, which helps to expand existing youth programs, provide additional competitive opportunities for children and enhance the track and field experience for all participants.
5. Sell facility advertising, naming rights or corporate sponsorships.
Once a Beynon track is installed, multiple local organizations will readily pay fees to use the surface for training and events. If you know going into a project that the facility will be leased to specific groups on a regular basis, consider offering those groups (as well as others in the community) corporate sponsorship opportunities.
Sponsors of a prominent facility deserve prominent placement within that facility; make available a wide variety of options at multiple price points to help ensure sponsorships are both affordable and effective.
6. Launch a crowdfunding campaign.
The strategy of asking a large number of strangers to donate money (typically online) toward a specific cause has become a common funding strategy for everyone from entrepreneurs to musicians to people who need extra cash for an unforeseen medical emergency. The installation of a Beynon track surface is certainly a worthwhile community cause that many individuals likely would be happy to support.
7. Create public or private partnerships.
The excitement of installing a state-of-the-art track surface like the ones used by the world’s most elite athletes makes a Beynon project appealing to a wide variety of users and potential stakeholders, some of whom might even be willing to invest significantly in its long-term financial success.
Implementing any of these ideas, or a combination of two or more, can significantly help ease the financial cost of installing a Beynon track surface.
Contact your Beynon expert today to get started.