Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Derek R. on March 28, 2011 at 10:41pm

Greenman,
Not just a golf tourney, but how about a baseball and bowling tourney as well. Make up a fun trophy as a prize that can be handed over to next year's winner. Have small medals for most balls lost or longest shot, or who spent the most time in the hazards.
Silly, fun little things.

You can always book the greens as long as you give them some notice. So first, send out letters to different departments detailing your intentions, and see what kind of response you get. From there you can decide if it's worth booking your place of interest.
Have a BBQ to feed the hearty sportsmen, along with beverages of course.
As long as it is always fun and not an "actual tournament", the turnout should increase each year, as long as you have enough interest for the first one. As long as golfers are golfing, or players are playing, your fundraiser should almost run itself once you get started.

Not sure if this was the info you were looking for, I just felt like I would try to help out somehow.

best of luck

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Permalink Reply by Franklin on March 29, 2011 at 7:53am

Sounds like the perfect time to write a grant to me. We wrote a AFG grant to replace our old military brush truck, and it has worked out great. Just write what you have written here minus PD and Parks and Trees comments and you'll be well on your way. Grants have really helped us out.

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Permalink Reply by Greenman on March 29, 2011 at 8:10am

Thanks, Derek.

that's part of what I was looking for and I do appreciate it, and will incorporate your ideas as we go forward.

Greenman

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Permalink Reply by Greenman on March 29, 2011 at 8:13am

Franklin,

I would love to use a grant to buy this, but we're a small department with a (how do I put this...?) "old school" chief who does not like to use grants.

Maybe we can convince him otherwise this time.

Thanks!

Greenman

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Permalink Reply by Franklin on March 29, 2011 at 10:08pm

Although it is hard for me to imagine someone not liking free money, the best advice I can give you is to show the chief how easy it is to apply for grants and what great benefits they offer. If fund raising is an option, then the grant should be viewed as an extension of that. Try and convince him to let you apply, a few hours labor could prove well worth it. The best part is it cost the department nothing, only if you get the grant to you have to provide money for matching funds. From what you have said I would guess your match to be at 5%. Pretty good return on investment I would say, and it looks really good to a spend-thrift public. Show him the pros and go from there.

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Permalink Reply by Greenman on March 30, 2011 at 6:58am

Okay, thanks.

As he gets closer to retirement, he's handing much of his fiscal responsibilities off to our Captain, who is the de facto Asst Chief, who loves the idea of a new brush truck, so I'll see where we can go from there. But who can beat a 5 or 10 % cost share? Especially considering the large wildfires we ha din our neck of the woods last week!

Greenman

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Permalink Reply by Franklin on March 30, 2011 at 8:00am

Another option for you is to check with your state forestry commission. Many of these organizations will provide vehicles on loan for your department to use. While it would not be a new truck, it may provide you with a temporary upgrade. State Forestry commissions may also offer grants, but these are a little harder to come by now. The best option is a federal grant, but explore what other avenues you may have available locally as well. Hope some of this has helped, and Good Luck.

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Permalink Reply by Lyndsey Johnson on March 30, 2011 at 10:18am

Our town is one square mile so we have a hard time with money also. We hold an annual fish fry, trivia nights (in which teams pay to play), photo opps (where public can get pics w us and rigs), poker runs, and run fire truck rides during our annual picnic. All of these things pull in quite a bit of money as long as we advertise far enough in advance. Surrounding towns will even show up. We're always amazed at our turnouts!!

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Permalink Reply by Greenman on March 30, 2011 at 10:22am

I like the idea of a Poker Run.

Thanks!

Greenman

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Permalink Reply by Jack/dt on March 30, 2011 at 10:45am

Is your department funded ONLY by fund raising on your department's efforts, or is it partially funded or fully funded by the town? Your town's budget is public information, start there and see what the annual revenue and revenue streams are and total expenditures.

I would further suggest that you put together a presentation on your department needs: what equipment you need and why, with stats on call volume, call types and annual man hours; break down the budgets for Parks and the PD and compare their budgetary needs and expenditures to your department and present it to your local government with the request that they fund your purchase. I'd make this less of a request and more along the lines of a necessity.

I don't have any links but I know that there are sites you can visit that can give you a calculator to show how much money you save the taxpayers annually with a volunteer fire department. It's unreasonable today to expect that a volunteer fire department should exist solely on fund raising.

To continue to operate by fund raising you leave the town no incentive to even partially fund your department. And 'being broke' is never a really valid excuse to not fund something when other departments don't go wanting. Police and Fire are Public Safety services and shouldn't have to take a back seat to Parks and Trees. Sometimes you have take the bull by the horns.

One final thought: This should NOT be about protecting private (VFD) turf and independence. Your department exists to provide a necessary Public Safety service, not as a social club that occasionally puts out fires. Department egos need to be put aside for the sake of the community.

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Permalink Reply by Rob on March 30, 2011 at 11:42am

Definitely pursue the grant options from FEMA. It is an excellent way to make a new vehicle purchase. My department was just awarded a $750,000 grant for a new ladder tower. All it took was a month or two and a good grant writer. There are grant writers out there who specialize in emergency services and they are well worth their fees.
http://www.firegrantsupport.com/content/html/afg/Awards10.aspx
There are thousands of departments winning grants. There is absolutely no reason why yours should let this funding source slip by.

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Permalink Reply by Greenman on March 30, 2011 at 7:51pm

Thanks, Jack.

We're a combination Department with six paid, on-shift Firefighters (two per shift), a Chief, an Inspector with the rank of Captain who is the day-to-day Operations Officer and de facto Assistant Chief, and an Assistant Inspector/Instructor. We also have about eight active volunteers. We have an automatic Mutual Aid Agreement with The County which has one paid Firefighter on per shift, four Medics on per shift, an Asst Chief M-F 0800-1700, and about 30 Volunteers, including the Division Chief.

We're funded exclusively through tax dollars, and all fundraising will be done as a private, non-profit organization who will donate the vehicle to the department. The department can accept a donated vehicle, but donated money will either go into the City's General Fund, or will be argued about almost in perpetuity.

As long as our current Chief is here ("two more years, Boys, and I can draw my pension), it is what it is. This is South Georgia.

The city made some poor financial decisions over the last couple of years, and is now just bumping along at the bottom of the black, avoiding the red, and the city council is big on appearances, so even when we have a big fire ("it was an old building anyway, and they'll rebuild because it made money"), the FD plays second fiddle to the PD, OMI and P&T. Did I mention that we got a sign in front of our Fire Station last year only because it was built by a Boy Scout as part of his Eagle Scout Project?

Here's an insight: Our Station 1 (at the main intersection in town) has been a "backup barn" for our reserve engines for ten years, and we operate out of Station 2 on the other side of town. Half of Station 1 was sold to a local church and there's a partition wall keeping church goers out of the Engine Bays. the old offices are full of cat poop and you need a dust mask to enter. "They" are supposed to build a new Station 1 "one of these days," but the city built an expensive new restaurant/meeting facility and went into the red, and now the facility which was supposed to make the city money is being, and is already built, it being hotly contested by local business since it is competing against them. Station 1 is always just around the corner...

Very complicated. But I was told by our Captain (de facto Asst. Chief) that donating a vehicle would be okay. As a result we're forming a private, non-profit organization to purchase the Brush unit and then donate it to the Fire Department. There's more control that way, which prevents the vehicle from being a working Brush unit to another 30-year old, $800 used pick 'em up truck with the same home-made skid unit with a wooden plug as a gas cap on the gas tank of the water pump and 3/4" garden hose on a real as a Grass Line, and $25k in the City General Fund.

Hate to sound down-beat, but that's how it is. 75-80% of the city residents are here because of the Army, so they are mostly a transient population and do not get involved in city politics, so despite the residents being fairly progressive in nature, city hall is still old-skool Jo-Ja.

Greenman

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