Hello Tri 4 Schools Fans!
The blog updates are back! We had been busy planning and hosting the Waunakee Triathlon and our first ever Kids’ Mud Run. Less than a month ago, our Executive Director, Katie, and one of our student interns, Jennifer, attended the local Fundraising and Development Conference right here in Madison.
Why attend a conference like this? Well first, Tri 4 Schools’ Executive Director was asked to be a speaker for three different sessions held at the three-day conference. The organizers of the event recognized her skills and wanted her to share her success with other small shop organizations. Katie lead a discussion on various issues facing small or new nonprofit organizations and shared how she has been successful engaging the Tri 4 Schools’ community. The audience really loved Katie’s energy and learned a lot from the experiences she has had starting her own nonprofit organization.
Another reason to attend a conference like this is to learn about how to gain funds to reach the organizations goals. It is part of Tri 4 Schools’ mission to have the 100% of the registration fees donated back to the students’ schools. To help maintain this part of the mission, the funding for the operation costs of the events and the organization its self comes from the various donors you see mentioned through our blog, Facebook, Twitter, in the goodie bags, and at the events. Many of our sponsors even help fund the scholarships for many of our athletes. We learned how to create and maintain a positive relationship with corporations and individuals who believe in our mission. We also learned about many different ways to do fundraising that are low in cost and do not rely so heavily on donors. For nonprofits or for any financial aspects of life, it is good to not put all your eggs in one basic. We started to do this by the silent auction we held along with the Mud Run.
Finally, we learned about what steps needed to move Tri 4 Schools’ forward. We have been very successful in our events and have made great strides in helping the community fight childhood obesity. We do not want to stop at 5 events in Madison. In the next few months, with the tools we have learned from the Fundraising and Development Conference and the knowledge of our board of directors, we will create a strategic plan that will either create a wider impact by hosting other events in different cities, a deeper impact by being more engaged with the local schools, or maybe a little bit of both.
In a nut shell, from the knowledge gained at this conference and the people that we met, you can expect bigger and better things from Tri 4 Schools!
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