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Post by pockets on Jun 10, 2015 13:44:55 GMT -5
Austin, Just let me know I should be able to get the venue at a discount as I have famy that are members. May also have an inside track on getting tickets printed as well as possibly a food vendor .
Mike
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Post by pockets on Jun 10, 2015 13:47:24 GMT -5
There is plenty of parking room for tailgaters or vendors as well. Open to the public and use as an educational opportunity
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austinp
#3 Newhouse
the next fur season is never far from our minds :)
Posts: 3,008
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Post by austinp on Jun 10, 2015 14:14:24 GMT -5
That type of program right there is, in my opinion, the ONLY hope for trapping associations' revenue to grow. whether it is raffle tickets that appeal to outsiders or dinner-party events that attract outsiders, trapping associations NEED outside funds to flow in.
The days of relying on donations from trappers to totally fund trapping organizations is done, spent, shot in the head and completely over with. Did we impress on that fact enough? National and state organizations have way too little money on hand now and it dwindles lower all the time. Unless someone(s) spearhead programs real soon to pull money inside from outside, organizations will inevitably implode.
What exactly constitutes operating "expenses" or who gets reimbursed what for time and travel has not been discussed or even considered yet. Nor is that important at all to the big picture. The only thing that matters: can we raise net profits from outside our tiny little trappers' cult enough to be effective?
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Post by pockets on Jun 10, 2015 14:20:16 GMT -5
Well being open to the public would be a great opportunity for us to educate those that do not have any idea about trapping or what it is. Could have tanned fur for people to to touch and hold as well as people to talk about the different species and answer questions that people have. There is plenty of parking and could have vendors or tailgaters there as well. Who know may even be able to have a trapprrs course scheduled. Cohocton river is very close by (within a couple hundred yards) to give demos as well.
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austinp
#3 Newhouse
the next fur season is never far from our minds :)
Posts: 3,008
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Post by austinp on Jun 10, 2015 14:46:12 GMT -5
all constructive suggestions and thoughts are most welcome!
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Post by steven49er on Jun 10, 2015 20:46:24 GMT -5
I have talked extensively with a few guys in MN about doing DU style banquets. We have a MTA banquet in the winter that is very successful but I believe its lacking in a couple areas.
Number one is its only trappers that attend and only draws from the pool of individuals who give anyway.
I've been on the local DU chapter of my county for 20 years. What DU does that is genius IMHO is they draw from a broad pool. I'd wager that 75 percent of the participants at our banquet never hunt ducks. I know I don't, haven't bought a stamp in 15 years. Also everyone who buys a dinner ticket gets a membership with the ticket. It swells the published ranks. Maybe artificially but so what. Helps when they say they have x amount of members when in reality it would be less if it were only duck hunters.
If you want to draw a diverse crowd its going to take an initial investment that may not be recouped and that is the risk. I'd say around here it would take a banquet with 20 guns and probably another 75 decent prizes to bring in a hundred people and make 15 20k profit.
Its worth a shot Austin.
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tmc
#2 Newhouse
Posts: 2,447
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Post by tmc on Jun 10, 2015 23:47:25 GMT -5
The thing about "getting a membership with the ticket" is supposed to work by making that portion of the ticket cost (or a "discounted" amount) pass through directly to the Association. The remainder is what is used for expenses, any "profit" is then divided according to terms previously agreed upon. Generally speaking, that is. It's a good idea; although it has the appearance of "artificially swelling the ranks" two things are accomplished: The Association (NYSTA in the proposed case) gets the funds, and the ranks are - well, swelled. However they became members, those are the numbers when all is said and done. I think it's a good way to go.
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austinp
#3 Newhouse
the next fur season is never far from our minds :)
Posts: 3,008
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Post by austinp on Jun 11, 2015 6:32:11 GMT -5
gentlemen, I appreciate the excellent feedback, first and foremost Steven, I agree with all what you share. I have studied the local DU and NWTF banquets here for a few years now. They are well done, and probably raise solid five-figure profits from what I've been told by local organizers who are friends. However, the crowds here in our small towns run more towards the 150 - 200 person size. Now looking at the aspect of drawing a diverse and sizeable crowd, here's what I see = experience as the most popular venues... bbq banquet buffet & pig roast clam bake & banquet buffet live music, local band DJ music If one promotes a pig roast banquet or a clambake banquet, that has a lot more drawing power than some random plate dinner menu. People love those foods, don't get them often enough and prefer the idea of walking in and eating at their convenience rather than a sit-down time scheduled. Add music and you instantly draw all the girls from 8 to 80 years of age. With those women come all the men. It doesn't matter what kind of music, anything above banging pots & pans will work. Nothing draws a country crowd like buffet food and music. I don't know about serving beer and wine at such events, that would be a big draw but could lead to obvious problems. I know the local NWTF and DU banquets serve local wines sponsored by our local wineries here, and I believe they serve draft beer in plastic cups. I'm not much of a social drinker so I didn't pay enough attention to the alcohol factor. The raffle giveaways should include guns of course but also something women / couples related. Maybe a two-person hunting trip somewhere, two-person charter fishing trip, a weekend spa package locally. Things like that with appeal to both sexes. The silent auction needs to be equal mix of male / female items if not lean heavily towards items that appeal to women. ** imo there will always be more drawing power if NYSTA worked with local groups in support. For example, the local volunteer fire dept, ambulance service, school booster project, well-organized hunting club, etc. The people need a good reason to buy tickets to attend the event where lots of family & friends will also be present. I believe such events will mostly sell out if the cause includes supporting their local group interest. Even if that means a 50/50 split of net-profit revenue, that would be more money raised overall AND the expense of a venue would be absorbed by the local co-host, i.e. fire hall or bingo hall or big church, gun club facility for free rather than paying hundreds of dollars to rent. So in a nutshell, that's where I'm at with the framework concept. Make no mistake, a large-scale program with all these general ideas shared is possible to implement and succeed. It'd be one helluva lot of work year-round for the general organizer, done right this is literally a part-time job for time, travel and expense involved. But the results could be substantial, and most importantly could be duplicated all over the country. imo it's a matter of starting small, ironing out the process and ramping it up in time. Again, thank you for the valued input... ALL suggestions are most welcome!
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Post by steven49er on Jun 11, 2015 20:25:30 GMT -5
Austin, I'll give you a few examples of our banquet.
First my town has 250 people in a county of 4500.
We generally sell about 125 135 dinner tickets. I believe cost is 40 45 bucks. That ticket gets you supper, a chance on a gun and a membership to DU.
We usually give away about 20 25 guns sometimes as high as 30. We'll have about another 90 prizes with a value of 30 to 50 bucks each. Silent auction on about 20 items and a few other contest.
Our net after expenses will run in the 15 17k range. As long as I have been on the committee(since 93) its been over 10 net.
I couldn't guess what it takes ot bankroll I'm sure its 20 plus to start. That is the scary part and I agree that probably its best to start small.
Like I said we have held a banquet(MTA) the last 4 5 years or so. Its done pretty well. I'd like to see it branch out to 4 5 in the state but it takes volunteers and time.
I believe that we as a group need to start fund raising outside our ranks than a once a year raffle. The other groups do it.
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austinp
#3 Newhouse
the next fur season is never far from our minds :)
Posts: 3,008
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Post by austinp on Jun 12, 2015 7:47:07 GMT -5
Our net after expenses will run in the 15 17k range. As long as I have been on the committee(since 93) its been over 10 net. I couldn't guess what it takes ot bankroll I'm sure its 20 plus to start. That is the scary part and I agree that probably its best to start small. Like I said we have held a banquet(MTA) the last 4 5 years or so. Its done pretty well. I'd like to see it branch out to 4 5 in the state but it takes volunteers and time. I believe that we as a group need to start fund raising outside our ranks than a once a year raffle. The other groups do it. close friends of mine have been part of DU and NWTF dinners here... they ball-parked very similar numbers as yours. While the bottom line is awesome, it'd be unrealistic to ask a state assoc to ratify those upfront costs to start. I'm thinking if we built towards that type of event in more modest fashion, those big events couple times per year would be feasible. as for the need to draw revenue from outside the trapping world to inside, there is no other choice. If all trapping organizations don't adapt to that, they will go bankrupt and implode. That is an absolute mathematical fact. Operational costs will continue to rise, licensed trapper ranks will continue to dwindle. Those are mathematical facts. If the concept of trappers supporting organizations still worked, state and national organizations would be flush with cash today instead of strapped or worse. raffle tickets accomplish that same thing but they are very limited in scale. various event banquets are much more scalable and potentially bigger profits.
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Post by davie6 on Jun 21, 2015 7:56:28 GMT -5
I was elected chapter president for the NWTF chapter in Chenango County this year. For our banquet, I did it all from finding the venue, caterer, getting donations and raffle prizes. We even ran our first annual Wounded Veteran Turkey Hunt. One of my house-mates from Cobleskill is the Regional Director for eastern NY so I know almost everything you need to do in order to get things rolling and how to maximize the money you make. Feel free to shoot me a PM if you want to
Eric
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austinp
#3 Newhouse
the next fur season is never far from our minds :)
Posts: 3,008
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Post by austinp on Jun 22, 2015 7:00:54 GMT -5
Eric, I'd love to have a lengthy phone conversation with you sometime this week at your convenience. If you'd please PM me an evening & timeframe that works for you, I'll clear my schedule for that. The experience you have to share is exactly what I need to know!
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austinp
#3 Newhouse
the next fur season is never far from our minds :)
Posts: 3,008
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Post by austinp on Jun 24, 2015 4:48:10 GMT -5
TTT for Eric... can you please reply to PM sent or get ahold of me here? anxiously awaiting your response
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