 | Fundraising
The Seattle Skate Park Master Plan saves a lot of your work by providing you with a location for your skatepark, but the most important part of the process - fundraising - is still up to you. Nothing gets built without financial resources to pay for design, labor, materials, and all the other things that go into building a skatepark.
There are many ways to raise money for your skatepark. This page outlines the steps that have worked for many skatepark advocates and supporters that have come before you. However, your ability to succeed will rely heavily on your creativity. Short of breaking the law, there really is no hard and fast rule for fundraising. Read through these steps and let them inspire you to create new methods that work best for your special skatepark. Let's get started!
Determine the budget for your skatepark
Before you can start building funding support for your skatepark, you need to know how much money will be needed to build it. You don't need exact numbers, a solid estimate will do. Here is a simple formula for calculating a basic budget based on the size of skatepark planned for your location:
- Look at the skatepark plan for Seattle and determine which tier of skatepark is planned for your location, a regional, neighborhood, skatespot, or skatedot. Each tier has a range of square footage assigned to it. To be safe, work with the highest number.
- For purposes of budgeting, assume your park will follow the city recommended 60/40 split between street and transition elements. (A quick way to figure this out is to divide the total square footage by 10 for a base number. Now multiply that base amount by 6 to get the total for street terrain and multiply the base number by 4 to get the total amount of transition terrain.)
- Multiply the street terrain square footage by $25, and the street terrain square footage by $35. Add these together and this is a basic estimate for construction costs.
- Finally, add an extra 35% to the total construction cost to get an estimate for the cost of the design work.
- Add the basic construction estimate and your design estimate together and you have your total budget estimate!
Providing tax-deductibility for donations
An organization that is trying to raise money from individuals and organizations can offer them an incentive to contribute by making donations are tax-deductible. Those donations are only tax-deductible if the organization has IRS 501(c)(3) status or operates under the umbrella of a fiscal sponsor with 501(c)(3) status.
Getting 501(c)(3) status from the IRS is a generally a difficult and lengthy process. Operating under the umbrella of a 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor, on the other hand, is not.
Finding a fiscal sponsor
In order to raise money, you need someone with non-profit status who can keep track of the contributions and make sure that you don't have to pay taxes on the money you raise. This is called a fiscal sponsor. There are a few non-profit organizations (NPO's) who focus on public projects that encourage healthy physical activity, community development, and public park projects. They will ask for a small percentage in exchange for keeping track of your money and sheltering it in a safe account for your use later.
These entities can be tricky to find, but here is a list of a few prominent NPO's in Seattle. If they can't help you, chances are they will be able to refer you to someone who can.
If you're really ambitious you can start up an NPO specifically for your skatepark project. This could be especially useful if there are a number of sites designated in your area and you want to build a foundation for future projects. Starting an NPO takes work and a small amount of money. More information on forming your own NPO can be found here, here and here.
Set your fundraising goals
The first thing that popped into your mind when you did the budget estimate exercise, is "Wow! That's a lot of money!". Don't worry, it won't be up to you to raise all of it. But what is very true is that the more you raise, the more people will want to contribute because the project starts to seem more "real" and successful to them.
It's really important to set small and attainable goals for yourself when fundraising for your skatepark. Not only will this help you to prioritize your efforts, but it will also make it easier to delegate some goals to others who have special interest or talents in those areas. Some grants only apply to certain types of projects, for instance, there are "Small and Simple" grants that are specifically designated for coming up with an initial design. There are several phases of a skatepark creation process that you can base your goal structure off of, but feel free to create as many goals as you want.
The three basic phases of a skatepark creation process that will need funding are:
Site designation and evaluation (done!)
Thanks to some industrious skateboarders and citizens, a very talented Architectural Planning firm, the 2006 Seattle City Council, and the Parks Department, this phase has been done for you. In 2006 the City Council spent over $80,000 on public meetings and a design process that mapped out locations for skateparks throughout the city. Count yourself lucky as of right now only one other city in the United States has done this!
Conceptual design
It's difficult to raise funds for something that hasn't been designed yet, which is where the conceptual design comes in handy. When people see your conceptual design they will be much more compelled to contribute time or money to it. A skatepark usually goes through two design phases. The first phase is a conceptual design phase where an artist will create a rendition of the park that shows it in the space it will occupy and tries to capture the general essence of a potential design.
It's very possible that this design could be donated or created by someone without much expertise in skatepark design, but remember that this document will be what you use to get people interested. You need the best looking and most professional conceptual design you can get!
Schematic design
This phase is where you take your conceptual design and turn it into something that can actually be built. This phase requires a professional skatepark designer and some public process, so it can often cost up to 35% of the overall skatepark construction budget. If everything goes smoothly, you should emerge from this phase with a final design document that shows the park in its exact location, drawn to scale with an accurate topography, and a really close estimate on construction costs. Most designers can also produce construction documents during this phase, which the builder will need in order to create the park as designed.
Because of the expense of the design some of the grants listed above are not available for this phase, but some are. It all depends on the size of your park. You may need to pay for this phase using funds designated for the overall park budget.
Construction
This is the bulk of your skatepark's budget, and will be where most of your goal setting and work will be needed. One great way to set goals within the construction phase is to find ways to sell underwriting for different aspects of the skatepark to different groups who you think will contribute. Underwriting means that the group pays for the feature and in exchange they receive acknowledgement, usually in the form of a plaque or sign on that feature.
There are literally no limits to how many funding opportunities you can create using this method, but here are some ideas:
- Spectator seating: ask a local senior center to sponsor a bench on the perimeter of the park for spectators to sit and enjoy the action.
- Ceramic "supporter" tiles: offer small ceramic tiles with an inscribed logo or message to anyone who contributes a certain amount of money. Build the tiles into the park as a permanent thanks to your supporters.
- Emergency phone: have a local Fire Department or neighborhood safety group sponsor an emergency phone for immediate access to help should there be an injury.
- Lighting/Roofing: Find a local lighting or roofing company to sponsor lights for the park.
Larger features such as bathrooms are great for bigger corporate donors. Ask a shoe company to sponsor the bathrooms, or a software giant to pitch in for some bleachers!
Grants
There are some small development grants that exist solely for the purpose of people like yourself who have a dream and need a design to help get more support and funding.
Most of the money that you will need will come from grants. Grant applications are time-consuming, but if done correctly will get you the money that you need. If possible, begin the grant application 2 to 6 months before it is due - this will give you the time to line up all of the information that you need to complete it correctly. Ask someone from the grant organization to review your application before you submit it. Be sure to circulate a draft to members of your organization 1 to 2 weeks before it is due - extra pairs of eyes can often spot errors in the budget!
General fundraising
Fundraising events can be a lot of fun but are also a lot of work and require a team of people to execute. All of these general fundraising methods also serve another very important purpose: they promote your effort, build community, and help recruit supporters and volunteers. In addition, if you need to have volunteer hours for Department of Neighborhood Matching Grants (Small & Simple or Large Projects Fund), this is a great opportunity to get volunteer hours. Getting the word out increases your support network, so make sure to always have your petition ready at events and at places of business that support the skatepark.
Music performances: Effective skatepark fundraisers have been held at music clubs with bands donating all of the proceeds to the skatepark effort. Make sure to have both all ages and 21+ events.
Movies: Another great way to raise money is to have a skate video premiere or an exhibition of skate movies made by local skaters. This can even be done outside at the new skatepark location using a sheet and a borrowed projector, or at a public library.
Raffles: At every event you should have a raffle for prizes that will be donated by skate shops and manufacturers. Most manufacturers will be happy to send you a box of prizes to give away because it's good publicity for them to be involved with your effort. This is also a good time to refer to your business support network and ask each of them for a gift certificate to raffle away.
T-shirts: Who doesn't need another T-shirt right? T-shirts are cheap to produce and usually have a high profit margin. You can place these in local shops and sell them at events or on a website created for your skatepark effort.
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