A number of you have sent me PM's and comments about my response to the Chinese Engine Go Fund Me thread. In response to all of the PM's, I am going to start a small experiment to prove that what I have listed in my four bullet points are all true items. I would like to see all comments, positive and or negative and let's see if we can help others with more successful fund raising campaigns. Fair enough?

(My True Objective) How many of you would support this.....before you would support the Chinese deal and most important....WHY?
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Goal: Raise $3,500.00 for the installation of a water tower for Cheyenne Steamers.

Deadline: Install the tower no later than May 15, 2016 for Depot Days 2016 in Cheyenne, WY.

What: Cheyenne Steamers is a non-profit organization in partnership with Cheyenne Parks and Recreation. The goal of the organization is to provide youth ages 14-18 with summer jobs while providing wholesome family entertainment. The non-profit owns one 15 inch gauge Crown Locomotive, two passenger cars and one caboose. The train operates on nearly 2 acres of donated land from the City of Cheyenne. Over 15 local businesses participated in the construction of an engine shed, the laying of tracks and grading and ballasting of the right-of-way.

Past Performance: Cheyenne Steamers is operated by a Board of Directors that oversee the operation. The organization has been operating for two years. In the two year period the organization has raised well over $8,000.00 in cash and retains the bulk of that cash in an operating account that supports the daily operation of the train. No board members are paid and most of the labor (save the young people) is donated by Wasatch Railroad Contractors or volunteers from other local organizations. The water tower shown was built and donated by Wasatch Railroad Contractors and the tower and construction of the tower were approved by the City of Cheyenne. The organization has an operating business license and is fully insured. The organization has a business plan, is registered as a legal 501 c 3 and files income information as required annually. All documents including balance sheets are available for review upon formal written request.

Benefit to Donors: Individuals, organizations or businesses who wish to donate money for the installation of the water tower will be listed on a small plaque that will be installed on the tower at installation. Additionally, if one single organization wants to donate the entire portion of money, their respective name and logo will be painted on the tower or a period of two years in a historic fashion keeping in line with the display and operation.

Staff: Cheyenne Steamers is operated by industry professionals with backgrounds in the model and full size steam industry. Volunteers are welcome at any time.

Web page/Social Media: Learn more about Cheyenne Steamers by visiting our web page at http://www.cheyennesteamers.org or look us up on Facebook at cheyennesteamers. You can call or email us using the links provided on the pages.

The project: Here is the fully completed water tower with stand, ready to be installed. The $3,500.00 budget includes excavation of the holes for the legs, re-bar inserts, steel plate stands and concrete for the holes. The budget also includes enough money to install the tower on the new stands.

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Question: How many of you would support this before you would support the Go Fund Me campaign.....Why?

Is this a relevant topic? Yes, it is, it is preservation oriented. Our locomotives are all historic items, some of them going back as far as 1904.

Can you see why this project is so much different that the Go Fund Me Project? Why is it so different?

John,

The project you outlined is great. Lots of good jargon that gives me confidence in the organization.

Power2Give, a non-profit crowd funding for the arts and humanities, encourages clever titles and accompanying videos. Here is an example for a ballet company that needs to buy a new throne for their production of Nutcracker.

Clara Needs a New Throne

One group bought a new vacuum cleaner from a campaign "Our Vacuum Cleaner Sucks". The hypothetical project here could use a pun based on the water tank.

You've constructed a great example.

Wesley

Where's the donation link, John? What's the minimum donation to get your name engraved on the plaque?

Andy, when we do plaques like this we normally do a minimum of 10% of the total project, thus we would have no more than 10 names per plaque. We ask our donors or sponsors to contact us directly. PM me, I will send my direct address, or go to Contact Us on the web page or the Facebook page and the note will get to me.

Good questions.

Andy, why would you consider donating to this? What makes you feel like it is a worthy cause? Share your feelings.

Thanks,

I can answer that.

Because he's John E. Rimmasch

That means the project is-
#1 almost certainly well planned, serious, and relevant.
and maybe even more important-
#2 almost certain that it will be done on time and on budget.

Actually, if I would be so bold, there is only one monkey I can throw at your wrench. And that is that as far as you have went on this project, I suspect it will get done, regardless of any donations that do or do not arrive.

-Deleted Post-

THIS.

This is why you get someone with that well-mocked degree in English. This is why successful non-profits HIRE--i.e. pay good money to--grant-writing specialists. This is why some worthy projects and groups leap far ahead of equally worthy, or worthier, causes.

This is also why successful organizations hire "outsiders" who may or may not know the cause inside out (i.e. the hypothetical PRR museum director that can't really tell you the difference between a K4s and a M1a on his or her first day), but DOES know how to sell an idea, sway people to a cause, and get monies donated or appropriated.

[Disclaimer: I have a degree in English.]

I clearly do not have a degree in English and I know that often what I right (ha ha) has a lot of really petty mistakes included. Too often I pound it out and let others fix it. This is demonstrated in the note above. Yes, we often hire a third party to review our advertising, our business plans, our proposals and other material. On RYPN you get to see the raw JohnE. I am just a normal person doing the best I can. Point is; above said note is valid. Your plan is only as good as the final presentation and when you present to a well educated English Degree holding CEO (which happens) your plan ends up in the round file cause you written sounds like ur speakin and neither of dem is berry good, ya'll. We get so many plans where the grammar and use of words is worse than what I do! No go.

Where to donate. I have a two track mind on this. If I inspired you enough to reach out to me and donate then I inspired you to find a way to want to be part of the project and contact me. Track 2. If you have to ask for a donation link chances are, you won't donate anyway, you were just looking for an out to not have to do anything. Track 3 (I guess I have a three track yard on this) Yes, a few notes higher one person said that most likely I do not even need the money to finish it and could it with donations or not. Correct. I am actually looking for some bigger money because we want to put in a turntable and a roundhouse. The water tower is a bait hook to see if I can find a person who wants a bigger project. Find a person with a bigger passion. Find a person that found what he wanted in a small project. We hooked him, brought him in and HE designed and built and hung his name on the roundhouse door. See, it works like that.

Shark Tank: " I am out because you have the talent, you have the customer base, you have the skills, you just need more time and having me gives away equity that you don't need to give away." When you have it, you have it. When you don't.....you don't!

Mistakes and all!

If I were closer to Cheyenne, I'd consider donating, as I feel it's a project and an organization that I would enjoy being a part of and would be enjoyable for my children. That said, I have a hard time donating to a project I will likely never see or personally enjoy. But there are those who do donate to such projects.

Additionally, this is a small, manageable project. $3500 is pocket change in a preservation world where seven-figure projects are not uncommon. So many undertakings are huge and the risk of failure is also great. No one wants to see their money go for nothing. (That said, where would large projects like 611 be if it weren't for the big dreamers?)

I believe the writing is the real key here. There is a business-like directness with an apparent transparency that invites trust. Obviously, a serious investor would do his/her due diligence to ensure that what is advertised matches reality.

The use of quality photographs is important. Few things annoy me more than poorly-made photographs on a donation page. Put out your best image for potential donors to see. Here, you have a pretty tank next to a steam boiler (instantly recognizable to anyone involved with steam) in front of a clean building with a nice logo. It makes the organization at least appear professional and permanent. Small details like that go a long way in the subconscious, I believe.

Having an active, well-designed website is key to attracting donors. It shows the organization cares to invest in quality production (it helps when you have a good web-designer in the organization--something for any organization to consider when recruiting). Your site is still pretty simple and feels underdeveloped, but is well-built and follows current norms for web design, and could be easily expanded with additional content. The photography is well-done and the browsing experience has a polished feel.

Finally, there are no glaring typographical errors. [There's that English degree bit again.] There is no excuse for spelling or mechanical errors in a fundraising document. It shows carelessness and lack of professionalism.

I've written several successful grants for my organization, and I've been told by the review boards that we were awarded the funds mostly on the quality of the grant writing, the quality of the proposed project, and the way it matched the donor's goals. This proposal seems to do all of the above.


This is a good model for other organizations seeking funds, either locally or nationally.

Risk of failure.

Powerful. Too many people will walk away, give less, give nothing or do nothing if they have even a sniff of the potential of failure. Disneyland is an awesome example. Do you feel safe? Is it clean? Is the cost worth the end experience? Now.....go do work for Disney. Often what is viewed as being worth a million dollars really only cost $100.00. It is how it was presented and handled that made you feel like it may have cost a million dollars. Perception is reality. How much will the T1 REALLY cost? How much was the T1 REALLY worth to anybody who donated? Finding the balance between the two is the trick. Could a new build 2-8-0 be more successful than the T1 and could it serve more people and could it cost 1/8 the amount? When you have a "hand out" you have to balance what you think is cool with the potential donors view of "is it really worth it and what is the risk factor?"

My water tower. Is it worth it? Yes. Risk factor. Low. Donate.

JohnE.

ADM brings up an interesting point and something I have some first hand knowledge of. The assumption made here is that an organization must HIRE someone who can write. I don’t believe that HAS to be the case. Its really a case where people with such skills, who would be happy to volunteer their time, tend to be driven off by those who do not possess those skills. I will leave it at that, but the key is that today’s boards/groups should be more accepting of those with such skills.

There is also a lot more to it than just writing the proposal. Business practices are key as well, again though many board members will thumb their noses at such concepts, again driving off the volunteer writer.

For the record, I consider myself a frustrated English Major, make a living writing proposals for government contracts (wins total a few billion with a B), and have a good record as a grant writer which I did as a volunteer. I have to admit though that Christopher Reeve Foundation frustrated me as a grant writer! 0 for 3 with The Reeves. Damn.

As to cash donations, it is rare that I donate anymore having been burned by a couple of organizations in the past. Lately I have gone ahead and helped out one (Rick Rowland’s organization) and may help out one another group. Both are solid organizations.

On the professional front, I have made significant donations to Fisher House which supports wounded and injured soldiers. In truth, I have donated far more cash to Fisher House than to any rail preservation organization and the reason for that gets right back to the first post here. They have their sh*t together and its a good cause.

J.R. May

I have personally witnessed this syndrome in action at a rail-preservation group. Though, to be fair, this volunteer's ambition and drive also sort of "got away from" him, and he was proceeding on a few too many prospects without BOD authorization.

It is quite true that one does not HAVE to "hire" (i.e. pay) such a person. You can find someone who needs intern credits, or someone in your group that has the skills if you are lucky. I have frequently recounted the tale of a retired, somewhat disabled former teacher who used to pitch the railroad and its other preservation projects (a mill, etc.) to school systems for outings; I was told, off the record, that one year that volunteer was responsible for about 20% of the line's revenue....

For one (non-rail) group, I found a volunteer who absolutely excelled in written communication, even though he was diagnosed as autistic and ADHD. Writing on a subject of interest to him perfectly focused his attention, and he was competent and intelligent. But in person, the guy looked and sounded mentally disabled and at times only semi-coherent. I recommended him to be a moderator, writer, and online overseer for the group's substantial online presence, but the decision-makers, who never saw how well he handled himself in online forums, couldn't see beyond a dorky, seemingly "retarded" guy, and they never approved it. It was the chance to give a guy with several strikes against him a "leg up" in society, and they rebuffed it. I left the group myself not long after.

John mentioned in his other message on the other thread "skin in the game".

There is an individual I know (I think maybe you do, too) who is finally realizing one of his dreams in world of 7.5" gauge live steam at the northern-end of Utah County. It took a lot of persistence and exploring different options available, phone calls, emails, talking face-to-face with people, etc., until he found the right people in the right place, and even better they had a mutual need. He needed a place to build his dream, and they needed someone who could enhance their themed-concept.



As the resident web designer, thank you for the compliment. Yes, the web page is still lacking content, but our full-time work that paying customers are expecting us to do usually drives our work day, then when things quiet down, we focus some time and energy on promoting our little city park venue. We also did some experiments this year with social media (Facebook), in that all of our advertising for the little park train this summer was strictly by Facebook, except for a batch of rack cards we had printed up and distributed in the Spring. We certainly had some weekends that were a bust, but we also had some weekends that were very busy for us as well. In some ways we neglect updating and maintaining the web page because we already know that we can reach our online audience quicker (and maybe more effectively) by going to social media.



I don't have an English degree, but I do a lot of proof-reading as part of my job. Not only for grammar and spelling, but we have our own in-house style guide so that everything is consistent from page to page. I am basically always asking myself, "Does this communicate the message we want it to communicate, and is it organized?" Also, sometimes it is not a matter of style, spelling, or grammar, but simply wording the concept the right way to leave no question about what is being said. (This happens when the CEOs brain thinks faster than his fingers type... ) ;-)

John, it is very easy these days to crowdfund projects over the interwebs with a small $5 or $10 donation. I have participated in several over the past few years in different fields and it is nice to be able to help someone meet their goals without a lot of hassle. If we are not your target audience, I understand. Your appeal is well written and a supportable cause. I have a soft spot for Cagneys having operated one on the Crystal River and Tincup Railroad, which had a very similar water tank. Good luck with your fundraising efforts, I look forward to visiting the park the next time I pass through.

As this topic evolves, it's interesting to see how so-called "Web 2.0" interaction is replacing traditional web work. Mike points out the effectiveness of Facebook advertising. This is huge for those who use social media and cannot be ignored. I think the same standards of writing and design apply to an organization's FBTwittter/Instagram presence as in traditional web design.

Social media is a great place to reach out to the younger generations especially to get them involved in these kinds of projects. I'm part of a FB group moderated by a 16 year old and frequented by many adults double his age (or much more).

That said, how do we keep in touch with the "off-line" community, like grandparents that may want to bring kids to a venue like this (and may have deeper pockets to donate to projects like yours)?