I'm a member of Club Redline, www.clubredline.net and I'm dealing with trying to come up with some ways for the club to get some extra money right now. We have a working budget of about $800 right now, but for the goals that we have, we kind of need some more.

I'm just wondering if anybody has any experience with getting sponsorships or grants from anywhere for this sort of thing.

Club Redline is a registered tax-exempt, non-profit organization, but I am having trouble locating any grants for car clubs.

The beginning of January we had 76 members, and the club represented 22 cities in Northern Minnesota.

Any guidance and help with this would be appreciated!


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Nelson Autos
Click the Link to see my Fieros!
Bottle-Fed Silver 1986 Custom GT
Blue 1984 2m4

2005 Osage Beach CFOGi Car Show Video

[This message has been edited by Oslo (edited 01-18-2007).]

The way the club I am part of does it is simple, The get local businesses to sponsor them, they have meets every Monday and always have 500+ member so businesses that aren't even car related are happy to sponsor.

[This message has been edited by jmbishop (edited 01-18-2007).]

The only cash I ever got was from simply asking the owner of the company I work for. I got something like $100 or $150, and I used it to buy checkered-flag pennant strings and wood that I used to make posts. Used them several times and still have 'em.

If all your club members ask their employers, several of them might actually get a few bucks. No harm in asking.

Grants for all charities are hard to come by right now, I know I'm the Vice President of a charity. Competition is tough and the money is tight. If the club mostly has antique or historical vehicles call your local historical society to see if they can help.

Business sponsorship is the way to go. Also you might consider getting club members to do a car wash, the wives to do a bake sale, etc.

Good luck.

FOCOA had great success raising money by selling magazine subscriptions that they never delivered.
Not something I recommend, though.

club dues, rounding up cost of events, car washes, working together with club members for "garage sales"

also - if your members have some cash, you can do an "investment" club, where members can join, add some cash to an investment pool. this is kinda tricky tho - have a member who is an accountant work out each individual members "slice" of the pie - because noone will be a member forever, and there will be new members. and people will always be wary of embezlement.

quote Originally posted by Formula88: FOCOA had great success raising money by selling magazine subscriptions that they never delivered. Not something I recommend, though.

HAHAHA! Thanks for the advice!

Best idea I've seen for a car club to raise cash is where the members get together and build a car from extra parts and then raffle it off. It's a great time, everyone gets to contribute whether it's parts or labor, new folks learn the how to do DYI, folks with parts laying around they aren't using get some free space and someone ends up with a (hopefully) driveable car that becomes a new member to the club.
Plus, the club generates income from the raffle ticket sales.

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Ron
Land of the Free because of the Brave. Most gave some, some gave all.
My imagination is the only limiting factor to my Fiero. Well, there is that money issue.

quote Originally posted by blackrams: Best idea I've seen for a car club to raise cash is where the members get together and build a car from extra parts and then raffle it off. It's a great time, everyone gets to contribute whether it's parts or labor, new folks learn the how to do DYI, folks with parts laying around they aren't using get some free space and someone ends up with a (hopefully) driveable car that becomes a new member to the club. Plus, the club generates income from the raffle ticket sales.

This is similar to how MFF raised money in the past, with the exception that there can be detailed legal issues with running a raffle. We would buy a cheap Fiero, then members would "donate" time, parts, or support to fix up the car - then we'd sell it for a profit, and that money would go into the club's general treasury. Worked well enough that we did it twice.

The downside to this project, was that there wasn't nearly as much "club" participation as we'd expected... so much of the work fell on a smaller number of participants.

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Looking for Fiero posters?

www.fierofocus.com and check out their store. It takes money to make money. You invest in inventory of specialty items to sell or create a valuable reference book. (lots of time and effort went into its creation).

quote Originally posted by MinnGreenGT: This is similar to how MFF raised money in the past, with the exception that there can be detailed legal issues with running a raffle. We would buy a cheap Fiero, then members would "donate" time, parts, or support to fix up the car - then we'd sell it for a profit, and that money would go into the club's general treasury. Worked well enough that we did it twice. The downside to this project, was that there wasn't nearly as much "club" participation as we'd expected... so much of the work fell on a smaller number of participants.

Our club has been doing that, but with cars that people have given our club. We've sold two already, and have a GT for sale. So far, we've gotten decent running cars. It's raised a couple thousand dollars.

The other thing we do is "pass the hat" at meetings. We ask folks to put in a couple of bucks, and average around $50/month. This covers the web site and any postage for occasional mailings.

[This message has been edited by fierobear (edited 01-18-2007).]

good idea Fierobear...

quote Originally posted by fierobear: Our club has been doing that, but with cars that people have given our club. We've sold two already, and have a GT for sale. So far, we've gotten decent running cars. It's raised a couple thousand dollars. The other thing we do is "pass the hat" at meetings. We ask folks to put in a couple of bucks, and average around $50/month. This covers the web site and any postage for occasional mailings.

We've sold THREE so far and still have that nice '87 GT to sell. We've also received some cash donations and other support; more than enough to operate the club and do some nice things for others.

The real "trick" to this is to run a good club. If what you're doing is "socially worthy" then you'll find support coming from unexpected directions.

Edit to add: To get people to donate Fieros to your club, simply become known as an organization that will preserve these cars and find good homes for them. There's a lot of old Fieros sitting in garages that the owners no longer want - but they won't send it to a junkyard. If they have an option where their car gets restored and driven by someone who will love it, some will take advantage.

[This message has been edited by Whuffo (edited 01-19-2007).]

quote Originally posted by Whuffo: We've sold THREE so far and still have that nice '87 GT to sell. We've also received some cash donations and other support; more than enough to operate the club and do some nice things for others.

Oops. I could only remember two. Let's see...

1. Formula
2. 86SE
ah! 3 = the GT I never saw, went to Oregon?

quote Originally posted by fierobear: Our club has been doing that, but with cars that people have given our club. We've sold two already, and have a GT for sale. So far, we've gotten decent running cars. It's raised a couple thousand dollars. The other thing we do is "pass the hat" at meetings. We ask folks to put in a couple of bucks, and average around $50/month. This covers the web site and any postage for occasional mailings.

quote Originally posted by fierobear: Oops. I could only remember two. Let's see... 1. Formula 2. 86SE ah! 3 = the GT I never saw, went to Oregon?

quote Originally posted by tutnkmn: Also you might consider getting club members to do a car wash, the wives to do a bake sale, etc. Good luck.

Getting the Wives to do the car wash would likely bring even MORE money

If you are also looking for ways to save the club money, try to get your car shows as part of a larger car show or club. This can save you money in trophies and insurance. For example: Attending a POCI show as a club will save time, money and organizational headaches, plus you get to see other Pontiac vehicles. Some POCI events even have Fiero classes so you don't have to worry about competing against other Pontiac models.
You didn't mention if your club collects dues from the membership. This is the way most clubs generate money to run events or print their club magazines. If you contact many of the automotive product retailers (like Meguiers, Stoner, etc.) they might contribute their products. This is free advertising for them and you can use these as prizes in raffles for your car show to raise money.

[This message has been edited by avengador1 (edited 07-16-2007).]

quote Originally posted by tutnkmn: Business sponsorship is the way to go. Also you might consider getting club members to do a bake sale, the wives to do a car wash, etc. Good luck.

i fixed your line

When you sponser a show and sell T shirts etc, there can be a slight markup in costs vs sale price. However the cost to make the shirts is usually an up front cost to get the shirts produced. Sort of like buying inventory, then selling it to make a "profit". The door prize raffles using donated prizes can make money for the club.

quote Originally posted by Formula88:

enough.

quote Originally posted by Toddster: enough.

I guess they think that bothers me, or I give a crap (no, and no).

quote Originally posted by tutnkmn: Grants for all charities are hard to come by right now, I know I'm the Vice President of a charity. Competition is tough and the money is tight. If the club mostly has antique or historical vehicles call your local historical society to see if they can help. Business sponsorship is the way to go. Also you might consider getting club members to do a car wash, the wives to do a bake sale, etc. Good luck.

Women that are in direct sale companies such as Cookie Lee, Tastefully Simple and Pampered Chef (just to name a few) love doing fundraisers for clubs and schools. It gives them a chance to expose their business to new people and possibly get some party bookings out of it or better yet even a recruit. Contact some of these people and they will jump on it.