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In this week’s article by Court Sports 4 Life (CS4L), capital campaign chair Becky Lamb provides an update on the campaign’s progress and asks you to get involved – by attending a presentation, spreading the word, volunteering, and/or making a pledge. As always, we want to hear your questions and comments so please continue to send them to info@courtsports4life.org.
• How much has been raised so far? Typically, a capital campaign starts with a “quiet” phase where key individuals are asked for their support. In fact, a campaign doesn’t usually enter a “public” phase until at least 50% of the goal has been reached. Steamboat, though, is a small enough town that there is no such thing as a “quiet” phase … word gets around! We began cultivating major donors quietly last Fall and general donors more publicly in July, and with special gratitude to our “Legacy Leaders” who have committed $10,000 or more, we already have $787,605 in commitments with 11 Legacy Leaders and a total of 33 donors!
• What are your short-term fundraising goals? Our short term goal is to reach $1,000,000 by September 30th. More importantly, initial feedback from foundations has been that we need to reach at least $2,000,000 or even $3,000,000 before they’ll consider grant applications from us. That’s why we’ve ramped up our individual and corporate solicitations so that we can start submitting grant applications in early 2021 to the 15+ foundations a fundraising consultant has identified as good prospects for our project.
“How can I help you reach those goals,” you ask?
• Be an ambassador … spread the word! Whether you’re a tennis or pickleball player or both, building a Pickleball Center is in your best interest as it’s essential to the long-term health of the Tennis & Pickleball Center. And whether or not you’re personally interested in donating to one or all of the capital campaign initiatives, you can help move this project forward simply by spreading the word, helping to inform others, or by introducing us to folks who may have an affinity for this project. If you or someone you know would like to attend a small Happy Hour presentation (held outdoors in the pavilion and appropriately socially-distanced), please contact us.
• Volunteer with us As our fundraising efforts ramp up, we are looking for volunteers and/or possibly part-time staff (within our non-profit budget constraints) in these areas –
Publicity and social media – e.g., writing articles for the Pilot, press releases for industry media, posts for social media
Fundraising – e.g., setting up new programs like United Way and crowdfunding
• Pledge financial support or donate in-kind goods and services Whether you’re able to donate at the $100, $1,000, $10,000 or $100,000 level, we need your support! The more we have in pledges and number of donors, the sooner and more appealing a case we can make to foundations and corporations. Lots of information about the campaign is available at courtsports4life.org/donate, including commemorative opportunities. Again, if you’d like to attend a presentation before making a pledge, please contact us for an invitation to our Happy Hours. If you already know you’d like to pledge or donate, here’s how –
Unrestricted donations or ones restricted to either the Pickleball Center or the Tennis Center – Please return a Pledge Form to us or submit one online. Please note that we will not be asking for pledge payments until we reach the halfway point of $3 million, i.e., are certain that this project will proceed. Plus, donations may be spread over multiple years.
Tennis & Pickleball Maintenance Endowment – This 3-year old fund is held at the Yampa Valley Community Foundation and currently stands at about $145,000. Immediate donations are being gratefully accepted through their online form or by sending a check to YVCF (memo “Tennis & Pickleball Maintenance Fund”).
Thank you for your interest and support – together, we’ll make this dream of a indoor/outdoor Tennis & Pickleball Complex come true!
Sincerely,
Becky Lamb
Court Sports 4 Life Capital Campaign Chair