Fundraising is a very important factor for our team. It helps to defray the costs of running the team, acquiring necessary equipment, and helps to keep our monthly dues low. If someone should be in the position to make a monetary donation to the team, it would likely be tax deductible, thus helping both the team, and the individual.
Fundraising can also reach deeper into the community for support of the team. It teaches our swimmers to be ambassadors of our sport, and provides opportunities to go into the community and share their enthusiasm of swimming. Swimmers can also “compete” with fundraising efforts, which is a great introduction for them into the business world, along with the satisfaction of supporting their team.
Our swimmers will participate in many team-organized fundraising events where the team will seek pledges from friends, family, and neighbors. Parents are encouraged to participate in fundraising programs like the eScrip program and Swim-a-Thon® events; both of which will generate money for our team. (See below for more details on each of these programs.)
Local restaurants will be contacted for programs such as our past Straw Hat Pizza Fundraising Program, and dinners out at Chili’s, Red Robin, Chevy’s and others. Parents will also be encouraged to get their employers or utilize their own businesses (including relationships to local Morgan Hill businesses) to support our team as corporate sponsors. The idea is that we will rely on a broad base of support.
All of these fundraising efforts are going to be focused on specific and identifiable goals that are established by the board, along with input from the coaches; goals that will help develop our team and our whole program. Please feel free to talk to Mike Phefferlen with any ideas you may have with regard to fundraising for our team. Thank you!
eScrip is a private entity that is designed to assist non-profit organizations with fundraising. Essentially, parents, friends and extended family members can register their credit cards, debit cards and participating grocery story loyalty cards on the eScrip website—a process that takes just a few minutes. By doing so, a percentage of certain qualifying purchases will be donated back to the Morgan Hill Makos. It’s easy and really adds up! We can generate as much as $9,000 per year with eScrip alone—with no out-of-pocket cost to you. Please sign your cards up today. The goal is 100% participation!
Here’s how eScrip works:
1) Register all of your debit cards, credit cards and existing grocery store loyalty (including your Safeway Club Card), for use in the program. Simply click here. Make sure to select “Morgan Hill Swim Club” as your fundraising group. And remember, you can designate up to three groups to receive benefits from your purchases. If you want to go the extra mile, ask your friends, neighbors and extended family register their cards on eScrip too.
2) Participating merchants will make contributions to your chosen group, based on purchases made by you, just by using the cards you have registered. To search participating merchants, click here. It’s that simple.
3) Your purchases are tracked and available to you online, allowing you to see just how much you are earning on your child’s behalf!
The Swim-a-Thon® is a USA Swimming organized fundraising event, where swimmers from the team go out and obtain pledges from neighbors, family, and friends, then swim as many laps as they can (200 lengths maximum) during a 2-hour period to earn the money that was pledged to the team for their efforts. Take a look at the USA Swimming Swim-a-Thon® website for more information.
