Nonprofits reel in support from outdoor enthusiasts

Many local entities have found the water to be a perfect tool in raising money or awareness, while at the same time getting people outdoors for relaxation and fun.

With Bass Pro Shops’ headquarters in Springfield, it’s no secret that fishing is a popular pastime for local residents. Ronald McDonald House of the Ozarks, with its annual Buddy Bass Tournament, has found a way to raise money through an organized fishing event.

“It really has been a successful fund-raiser for us. This is the 10th year that we have been involved in this particular tournament. Depending on weather … we usually get anywhere from 115 to 220 boats,” said Bonnie Keller, president and CEO of Ronald McDonald House. The event is coordinated through a partnership with The Missouri Lakes Bass Club. The tournament takes place the first Saturday of every May – May 7 this year – and launches from the Highway 13 boat dock at What’s Up Dock Marina on Table Rock Lake.

An entry fee of $100 per boat generates a significant amount of the proceeds from the event. However, to maximize tournament profits, Ronald McDonald House couples the event with its Share a Heart campaign at area McDonald’s restaurants.

“With every heart that a person purchases they receive a free entry form to win a Polarcraft boat and trailer donated by Sportboats USA. It’s all just one event, so if you put that whole package together we make anywhere from $40,000 to $50,000 annually, which is 10 percent of our operating budget. It has been very important to us,” Keller added.

As an added incentive to anglers, Sportboats USA donates a 115-horsepower Yamaha boat motor to be raffled to one of the fishermen involved in the tournament. “They really love that because their odds of winning are so high,” Keller said.

Dr. John Williams, co-owner of Sportboats USA and a regular participant in Ronald McDonald House’s annual Buddy Bass Tournament, said that his company has donated to Ronald McDonald House’s tournament for the last 10 years because Ronald McDonald House touches the lives of many people in southwest Missouri and northwest Arkansas.

“The tournament has become important for me because my brother lives in Nebraska, so we have made it a family affair. He comes down and we pre-fish for a few days and then we fish in the tournament,” Williams said.

Not just for money

Not all organizations look to fishing tournaments as a way to contribute to the budget.

The Home Builders Association of Greater Springfield, for example, uses its bass tournaments in the spring and the fall as opportunities for relationship building.

“We’ve just kind of made it an event for our members. It’s a networking opportunity. We provide a variety of other activities to try to cater to what our members like doing,” said HBA Executive Officer Matt Morrow. “In this case, it happens to be something that we don’t also use as a fund-raiser.”

Morrow added that HBA’s spring

tournament will be April 20 from the Mill Creek dock area on Table Rock Lake. Morrow said a date has not yet been selected for the fall tournament.

Morrow said that the tournaments have no impact on the HBA’s budget, as entry fees are used to pay for tournament prizes. The organization’s benefit is in membership recruitment.

“We allow and encourage our members to bring prospective new members to these events with them, so hopefully gaining new members is something we accomplish through that,” Morrow said.

Participating members appreciate the camaraderie of the events.

“It gives us the opportunity for fellowship,” said HBA President Russel Caldwell. “Its popularity is less than, say, our golf tournament, but we have a consistent group of fishermen that enter into our tournaments. It’s a good time.”

A moonlit cruise

Court Appointed Special Advocates’ annual Moonlight Cruise to Benefit Kids, to be held June 11, is now in its fifth year.

“The event is designed to give employees a way to say thank you to their staff while doing something positive for the community. It’s something different than the traditional company picnic,” said Executive Director Judy Doverspike.

For $100 per person, companies can send their employees out for an evening cruise on Table Rock Lake in a luxury houseboat. The event starts with entertainment and a barbecue dinner followed by a two-hour cruise.

Participants are guests of the boat owners who donate their boats – and their time for piloting – for the evening. Doverspike said annual attendance averages 250 to 300 people.

However, she added that because interest has been waning in recent years, CASA is considering whether the event will continue.

“I think some of the downsides for people are that it does involve travel, but the pluses are that I think it appeals to a younger group of people who, in their own lifestyles and income level, would not have access to ride a luxury houseboat,” she said. “Last year we made in the ballpark of $20,000.”

The agency’s overall budget is $479,000, she said, but the cruise event is still significant in that CASA has $80,000 budgeted as annual income from two events, and the cruise is one of them. The other is “Mi Casa Su Casa,” a Latina-themed, by-invitation-only evening in the home of Tim and Brooke O’Reilly. “Mi Casa Su Casa” will be held Aug. 26.

“For the years that we have done (the moonlight cruise), it has been a successful fund-raiser for us, but events, like anything else, need to change from time to time,” Doverspike said.

However, she noted, the cruise isn’t the only time of year CASA benefits from area lakes.

“We also use the lakes as the setting for our strategic planning events and our staff planning events and use the lakes as a built-in recreational opportunity,” she said.