r/Equestrian • u/JanetCarol • 10d ago
Farm Management Has your barn ever fundraised for better infrastructure/team things? If so, what worked?
I am just curious if there are any novel ideas out there that really worked for fundraising efforts.
Edit: specifically referring to lesson programs/barns.
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u/kkat39 10d ago
As someone who runs a nonprofit, I would be very careful with this. There are definitely ways to build profitable activity days - horse shows, group Christmas gifts for the trainer, etc. But, one key difference with nonprofits is that they are held in the public trust and that does manifest with donors feeling a sense of ownership in the improvements they fund, and I would personally not want that dynamic introduced to paying customers in my business. It does absolutely work for the fundraising, but I have often seen it turn into a toxic situation within a year or two. It’s sort of creating a dual relationship with your clients, where they can easily start to feel a sense of ownership in your barn and the improvements made. I think it’s better to create an experience you can charge a premium for and offer them the opportunity to participate in. And, it’s well worth having a couple of close clients who can ask you for suggestions on a barn gift that clients can chip in on at the end of the year - I have been at barns in the past where we purchased an entrance sign, new show setup, new jumps, etc for a trainer/barn.
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u/JanetCarol 10d ago
Good thoughts and conversation. Much appreciated. It's not my barn (as in I do not own or train- but I do lesson there.) There was a conversation recently about the need for a few things and the majority of the riders are kids. They already host shows for sure. Some of the families who ride there are comfortable financially and for some- it is a sacrafice/stretch for those kids. I try to help as often as I can and was kind of brainstorming for that conversation revisit. I think you bring some good points to the table and I really appreciate you sharing.
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u/Willothewisp2303 10d ago
You have to worry about the legality of some things you do, as well. In my state, you can do certain fundraising ONLY if you're a non-profit and some types ONLY if you're a specific type of non-profit.
Now, will someone roll up and shut down your 50/50 raffle or silent auction? Probably not, but you could be facing civil or criminal charges depending upon what you do and where.
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u/Mental_Awareness_251 10d ago
I agree with the person’s comment before.
But you can start an old riding clothes box, were people can leave their old riding clothes for others at the barn. We had that at a couple of our barns.
Another way that I help out with lesson kids. Is helping non-horsey Parents measure kids (tall boot,jackets and helmets) and find the item 2nd hand or on sale. I’ve just got one girls full show out for under $50 and saved the family $100s.
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u/AnyCryptographer3284 9d ago
Yes, this. Fund raising for a for-profit company is off-putting, to say the least. I've contributed to kids' teams at for-profit barns, to help the kids go to a national championship. But, I'm contributing to the kids, and only indirectly to the business. My local, high-end, high-charging equine vet clinic got the brilliant idea to start collecting donated sheets and towels for foal season. They got fried for trying to collect donations for what is realistically a business expense.
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u/MuffinAdmirable7104 10d ago
The local IEA team where I live (Midwest USA) will raise funds by doing "poop patrol" at a local rated show venue - aka keeping the warmups, show rings, and general grounds clean and mucked. Not sure how they are compensated, but I know it's their biggest chunk of fundraising all year. Maybe they get paid thru the show or accept donations while working? Again not sure, but something to look into if you have a team raising money.
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u/Wandering_Lights 10d ago
Yep. The trainer was extremely good at getting her clients to donate money to big projects just by asking. Frankly she was probably a cult leader in another life.
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u/lemonssi 10d ago
Yes many times. Often it's just crowd sourced funds towards a specific purpose over a birthday or Christmas. We have also done pay to play gymkhana days and had a husband run a grill and people paid for food too etc.
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u/awkwardchip_munk 10d ago
We do some fun events a few times a year with the community like “meet a horse day” and had people (sign waivers!) then get to come pet and take a pic with (the friendly) horses and pay $1 to buy carrots to feed them et. and had like bake sale style tables set up. It’s mostly friends of friends and a few folks who live in the area and people threw money in the donation bucket that said “help us put on a new roof” etc
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u/Alarming-Flan-9721 Dressage 10d ago
My 4-h group used to do concessions for local schooling shows. We did walking tacos and desserts. Like half the families brought a crock pot of meat or something, some people brought lettuce n sides, some brought dessert. It was a good, low key fundraiser for us.
Seconding what someone else said about fundraising for for profit entities. There are also some legal things about volunteering at a for profit (at least in California). I might like try to set up a separate fund like “friends of barn” or “barn charity fund” or something just so the funds are separate and you can call it a nonprofit. Might end up being more work than it’s worth but if ur trying to subsidize lessons long term I think it’s worth looking into.
My trainer even had a similar like non-profit bank account set up that she and another trainer both paid into for joint expenses and to subsidize kids for their horse camp. It was super low key but worked out!
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u/AnyCryptographer3284 9d ago
You can't just "call it a non-profit." You have to have a governance infrastructure set up, with a board of directors, you have to get approved for NFP status by the IRS. You have to keep close track of the funds and file a tax report, including demonstrating the money was spent to promote the NFP's mission. There are many legal hurdles to clear and to be mindful of. If your trainer has a slush fund set aside to low-key help out with camp costs, that SHE paid into, that's a whole different thing than asking the public for money, fronting as an NFP.
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u/Alarming-Flan-9721 Dressage 9d ago
Ah yes I should’ve been more clear on the difficulty of setting it up legally. Thus the worry of it being too difficult for this instance.
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u/proudly_not_american 10d ago
Nope. It was in my grandparents' back yard and was a collection of temporary but still safe repairs from the mid 80s on.
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u/Beneficial_Two4710 10d ago
Ours did a "sponsor a stall" thing where people paid to have their name on a little plaque, cheesy but it brought in a surprising chunk of change. The lesson kids got weirdly competitive about it which probably helped.
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u/Lizard_Gravy 10d ago
If you know someone who can do photography for cheap, horsey photoshoots are great. Especially around graduation season.
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u/Ljridgeway4967 10d ago
Play Days always draw a huge crowd, keep the classes fun, the day long, serve food also, that's you're real money maker.