Update on the MCSC Chairwoman of Fun--Thanks for your suggestions!
I attended my first Monroe County Saddle Club meeting as a member of the board last night. And it was a big night for me too--I had proposals for several events and a pasture fencing change. I was most concerned about the fencing, figuring most people would just shrug me off and tell me that the fence was fine. In order to combat that possible outcome, I typed up all the proposals and for the fence, I provided research, fencing options, pricing for most of the materials, and a plan to raise money for the materials. Amazingly, the "good ol' boys" were all ears.
Fundraisers
Sadly, they weren't crazy about my Horse Wash and Clip fundraiser. However, the entire meeting was a little disorganized and I'm going to try and revisit that one next month. I'll need a stronger attack plan and the backing of a few members, but I think I can get this to go through. I was originally hoping to do this in May as a good way to open the show season. But now I'm going to regroup and suggest that we do this heading into the county fair, as it would be a good service for all the 4-H kids.
But, the board *was* excited about the idea of fundraisers to raise money for specific repairs. I didn't have many more on hand to offer, but said I really wanted to do one in May. They jumped on it and said the easiest thing to do would be a bake sale. I took it and now we're organizing a bake sale that will run during our May 18 horse show. Hopefully that will bring in a good chunk of change.
Our club is apparently driven by food. I asked for other fundraiser suggestions and I got several different ones for food related fundraisers. Sounds good to me--they're easy and usual turn a high profit. But, we're also going to look for other options, like a Poker Ride (thank you windy_withers). Any other suggestions?
Fencing
They shocked me. They really did. I presented the proposal for new fencing, complete with my reasoning as to why we needed the new fence. They all took a minute to look through it all and then looked up and..."That sounds great." "Yeah, I like it." "This looks good, let's do it."
Wow. I didn't expect it to be that easy. Now, there's still a lot of research to do. Like, measuring off the pastures so we know exactly how much material we need and how much it will cost; deciding where to get our materials so as to have the best quality at the most cost-efficient price; deciding which T post topper to go with and whether or not we'll electrify the hot tape if we use it. But wow. They all thought it was a good idea. And the May fundraiser money can be earmarked for the fence! I plan to go out and measure the fence lines before the next meeting and get with a few of the more senior board members to ask where they think we should order the materials from, that way by June or July, we can get a start on this project. It's going to be a long one, because I doubt one fundraiser will raise enough money to buy all the fencing material we need, but you never know.
Clinics, Education, and Fun Shows
We didn't get all the way through this proposal, but everyone was excited anyway. This week, I'm supposed to work on filing paper work for educational grants that we can use to hire folks for educational clinics and talks. Next month, I'm supposed to present a survey to the general membership to get an idea of what they'd like to see and learn about. A trail clean up that can result in more grant money is going to be coordinated with a local boy scout troop and should happen very soon. And everyone was excited about the rest too. But, they also need to finish reading through the proposals. I think I'll email them out to our board and remind them that I want to revisit them at the next meeting.
Despite all the chaos and general lack of focus, I feel like I can actually accomplish a lot of these things. They are genuinely excited. I think perhaps they've lacked direction or been lazy. But I come along and suggest all this stuff, complete with a plan and research, and they're happy to jump on board. It's exciting and gives me hope.
Fundraisers
Sadly, they weren't crazy about my Horse Wash and Clip fundraiser. However, the entire meeting was a little disorganized and I'm going to try and revisit that one next month. I'll need a stronger attack plan and the backing of a few members, but I think I can get this to go through. I was originally hoping to do this in May as a good way to open the show season. But now I'm going to regroup and suggest that we do this heading into the county fair, as it would be a good service for all the 4-H kids.
But, the board *was* excited about the idea of fundraisers to raise money for specific repairs. I didn't have many more on hand to offer, but said I really wanted to do one in May. They jumped on it and said the easiest thing to do would be a bake sale. I took it and now we're organizing a bake sale that will run during our May 18 horse show. Hopefully that will bring in a good chunk of change.
Our club is apparently driven by food. I asked for other fundraiser suggestions and I got several different ones for food related fundraisers. Sounds good to me--they're easy and usual turn a high profit. But, we're also going to look for other options, like a Poker Ride (thank you windy_withers). Any other suggestions?
Fencing
They shocked me. They really did. I presented the proposal for new fencing, complete with my reasoning as to why we needed the new fence. They all took a minute to look through it all and then looked up and..."That sounds great." "Yeah, I like it." "This looks good, let's do it."
Wow. I didn't expect it to be that easy. Now, there's still a lot of research to do. Like, measuring off the pastures so we know exactly how much material we need and how much it will cost; deciding where to get our materials so as to have the best quality at the most cost-efficient price; deciding which T post topper to go with and whether or not we'll electrify the hot tape if we use it. But wow. They all thought it was a good idea. And the May fundraiser money can be earmarked for the fence! I plan to go out and measure the fence lines before the next meeting and get with a few of the more senior board members to ask where they think we should order the materials from, that way by June or July, we can get a start on this project. It's going to be a long one, because I doubt one fundraiser will raise enough money to buy all the fencing material we need, but you never know.
Clinics, Education, and Fun Shows
We didn't get all the way through this proposal, but everyone was excited anyway. This week, I'm supposed to work on filing paper work for educational grants that we can use to hire folks for educational clinics and talks. Next month, I'm supposed to present a survey to the general membership to get an idea of what they'd like to see and learn about. A trail clean up that can result in more grant money is going to be coordinated with a local boy scout troop and should happen very soon. And everyone was excited about the rest too. But, they also need to finish reading through the proposals. I think I'll email them out to our board and remind them that I want to revisit them at the next meeting.
Despite all the chaos and general lack of focus, I feel like I can actually accomplish a lot of these things. They are genuinely excited. I think perhaps they've lacked direction or been lazy. But I come along and suggest all this stuff, complete with a plan and research, and they're happy to jump on board. It's exciting and gives me hope.