Every year we receive questions about why Region 187 asks for financial contributions through our fundraising programs. The events are not always popular and are thought of as an additional cost to the registration fees.
We could, of course, charge very high registration fees, enough to cover all of our expenses, and avoid altogether the need for fundraising. However, when we set registration fees each year, our objective is to keep them as low as possible so that more families, and families with multiple children in the program, can afford to participate in our programs. Therefore, in order to keep registration fees low, Region 187 engages in a number of fundraising activities.
The following information may help you understand our financial circumstances and the need for everyone to help in whatever way possible:
In addition to the costs that might seem obvious to you, such as the purchase of player uniforms and providing pictures of each child and their team, there are many, perhaps, less obvious expenses. For example, the biggest expense we have is for lighting at Community Park for teams to practice every week night (~$2,500/month). We also pay for the usage of Mountain View Middle School during game days (~$500/day) and there are considerable costs associated with providing coach and referee training, equipment and uniforms. We have to purchase and maintain all of our goals and nets. Plus, we must also pay a fee for each player to the National AYSO organization and to Area R. So, the player registration fees ONLY provide a portion of the funds required to run Region 187 to provide the soccer programs for the children of our community.
This is how we try to raise the additional funds to run our programs:
Fundraising
We have tried several methods from mandating the teams to sell chocolates, popcorns and community cards in raising funds. These efforts take a LOT of time to coordinate, implement and track sales. We also know this type of fundraising is not very popular. So, we are now trying a different approach by having the Regional Board doing a voluntary fundraising program by attempting to sell tickets families for various events. Although it has not yet been very successful for the amount of time the staff has put in, we will try one more season with the voluntary activity before we make a decision to return to the mandatory program or increase the fees.
Team Sponsorships
Our goal is to have each team get one sponsor during the Fall Program. Sponsors are often our local commercial businesses, professionals, individuals and sometimes a group of parents of the team members. Sponsorships require a donation to the region and in return, sponsors receive our sincere gratitude, their name on the team's banner to be displayed at every game, a plaque with the team picture on it for display at the end of the season and the name of their business on our web page.
Tournament
A recent addition to our effort has been the Thunderbird Classic Tournament, held on Memorial weekend for the lower age divisions and in mid-June for the higher age divisions. Several teams from many cities from Southern California attend this tournament annually, which has grown popular since its inception 4 years ago.