SOLID Stream Revenue A of Not To Overlook

Fundraisers Done Right Have Earning Power

hat doesn’t depend on the weather, is far less expensive and labor intensive than many other activities, and requires little promotion? If you answered fundraisers, mark yourself down for a strike!

Rainbow Family Fun Center in Clayton, NC, and Mount Airy Lanes, west of Baltimore, MD, are two centers owned by families who connect with their communities by hosting fundraisers. Both see community engagement as essential to their longterm success. And best of all, many organizations and groups seeking to conduct fundraisers now contact the centers for help.

“I don’t have to go searching for things,” said Melanie Campbell, who co-owns Rainbow with parents Eddie and Pondra Byrd. Their center, located about 15 minutes southeast of Raleigh, features 45,000 square feet, including 32 lanes, a large game room, a billiards room, and a large concourse. “I have a list of PTAs and other groups to work in. Word of mouth has helped; we’ll have someone in the [organization] talk about it.”

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“It depends on the needs of the customer,” said Alyson Rineer, whose parents Joe and Kay, have owned Mount Airy Lanes with 12 duckpin lanes since 1976. “People tell us they want a fundraiser, and we base the package on their needs. Most of the time, it’s a Rock and Bowl format.” Mount Airy charges a single facility price for some events or discounts their Rock and Bowl fees per person as part of the offer.

Both centers work with various religious, civic, and non-profit organizations, charging a negotiated lineage fee, plus shoe rental, and sometimes including a food package. The organizations set their own prices for attendees, earning what is left after paying the center.

Rainbow also schedules spirit nights for school and sports groups. The center donates $1.50 for each ticket purchased on their Himalaya ride, a small, carnival-type ride. “The community is great at providing donations,” Campbell said. “We’ll throw in some gift certificates. We’ll do a raffle and tell the organization to seek things to raffle off – gift certificates or meals through 50-50 raffles – half to the winner, half to the organization.”

Both centers employ variable pricing depending on the day and time of the week and the number of people attending. They often assign specific months to specific organizations. For example, in November, Rainbow’s charity was Her Haven of Life which helps abused women. Last July, a raffle raised nearly $3,000 celebrating the 25th anniversary of Harbor House, a shelter that takes in women in abusive relationships.

Mount Airy supports Strike Out Cancer in league play. If a league bowler throws three straight strikes – which is very tough to do in duckpins – the center donates $25 to the designated organization at the end of the month. It also donates a percentage of a featured alcoholic beverage during the time of the event.

Earlier this year, Rainbow hosted a political fundraiser for the Republican Women’s Group. “Political groups are great to have in your back pocket,” Campbell said. “It’s a success for them. They sold sponsored lanes.” Rainbow’s most successful fundraisers are Stop Soldier Suicide, which raised $6,000 last year, and Clayton Bowl for the Cure, supporting breast cancer research.

Last year at Thanksgiving, Mount Airy had an online dinner sale of prepurchased Thanksgiving meals made and packaged at the center and delivered to local needy families and first responders. “We had so many dinners purchased — a couple hundred — that we had a challenge distributing them,” Rineer said.

There are times when Campbell finds it challenging to find spots for groups wanting to engage in bowling as their fundraising activity. So, she schedules them during slower times when leagues are not in session, especially on Monday nights. With leagues taking up the lanes most weeknights, including double shifts on Mondays and Wednesdays, Mount Airy fits in school groups after school and others on weekends.

Word of mouth and social media marketing have resulted in more than 20 fundraisers annually at Rainbow and close to a dozen at Mount Airy. The centers provide the venue and let the groups run the event. “We try to guide them as much as we can. For most of these, we don’t run them ourselves,” Campbell said. “We give them the tools for whatever they need to make it successful.”

Fundraisers often spur additional business by helping their communities, including birthday and corporate parties. If fundraisers are not something your center actively promotes, why are you waiting?•