Originally Posted by
CHA-LEE
I don't want to sound like a dick (No worries, we all gotta say what we gotta say sooner or later), but why is the "financial burden" always on the event coordinator/organizer? (The financial burden is on me because this event was my brainchild for this school. The school can not "endorse" the event as a public school is funded through tax dollars, ya-da ya-da. I could make the event just a classroom lecture but it will not satisfy my desires to really get the kids behind the firearms and teach them about safety, history, etc with a hands on approach. We do not have a rifle team, JROTC, etc at this school that we could piggy back on. Even though I am on a very strict personal budget, I am ok with having to hold the burden of the financial aspect for this cause as I believe in it. I optioned to try and involve others in the donation process to help ease the burden and I thought you guys might get a kick in helping out some kids, etc. You are in no way obligated to donate anything Sir, and I do apologize if it sounded that way.) Don't get me wrong, I have probably donated over 1000 rounds of ammo to support different shooting disciplines through the years. But I think these groups need to start thinking about this stuff differently. Shooting has expenses (Guns, Gear, Ammo, Targets, etc) and if you can only gain participants by providing "free" stuff, then what kind of expectation are you really setting? (My expectation is to introduce young people who may not have the means (rural school district with low socio-economics) to try it on their own. This is not an event that happens monthly or weekly for the same people over and over. It is a once a year "thing" that is introducing NEW young people to the sport every time. If they enjoy it, at the end of the class they are given information on how to get connected with different groups.) Hobbies and other fun activities cost money to do that that expectation needs to be set up front. If they don't know what ammo or targets to bring, then they can bring some cash to pay for the ammo or targets they shoot up. (Again, I agree but some may not have the cash to participate so I try to help out.)
I could promote and host a USPSA match that provided all of the guns, gear, and ammo for free. It would probably pull in a shit ton of shooters ready and willing to burn up a bunch of ammo for free. But the retention of those "Mooches" would be pretty minimal when they have to actually open up their wallet and pay for the crap on their own. So how effective was that effort? Not very effective. (Again, I agree, but this is not about retention weekly to burn through ammo. This is an introduction and then they are on their own to further their interest.)
I understand that some people like bringing new shooters into the shooting sports and know that dangling the carrot of "Free Shooting" is a great marketing tool. But these people need to understand that their expensive marketing plan needs to be funded within their own budget. If they can't or are not willing to invest their own $$$ in to that type of marketing effort, then they should probably change their strategy instead of begging for ammo or money from others to fund the effort. (Duly noted. I do invest my own money, but since I'm just a lowly public school teacher in a title 1 area and made my own mistakes with college loans, etc... I am not rich. However, I am always looking for ways to better the program so I will try to avoid spreading the word next year and just contact those who are participating now (tongue in cheek).
Appleseed - Denver donation meet up.
