MTA Public Relations examines $100,000 raffle
When it met at Jorgenson's Lounge in Helena May 5, The Public Relations Committee of the Montana Tavern Association learned the total money raised from association members to fund the good work of the Montana Meth Project was $11,500. Further, the committee studied an appeal from the Montana High School Business Challenge program, then decided to provide $1,500 funding over three years for this also worthy cause.
But the committee spent most of its time discussing a project meant to raise money so the MTA can continue to fund these kinds of requests, as well as continue to provide money to operate the problem gambling help call center and the problem gambling treatment programs provided by the Montana Council On Problem Gambling.
The group's main fund raiser is a raffle known informally as the "No Dinner/Dinner Raffle." The MTA members sell a maximum of 1,000 raffle tickets at $100 each, but then give away $50,000 in cash prizes ranging from $1,000 to $15,000.
While the raffle has been successful in previous years, never has MTA sold the full quantity of tickets available and sales have been down slightly in each succeeding year the raffle has been run. So the Public Relations Committee has set selling all 1,000 tickets as its objective this year.
The committee has worked with the Montana Tavern Times to have raffle coverage in the February, March and April editions, and also worked with the Times to insert and distribute to all licensees in the state 4,500 posters promoting the raffle—2,250 in March and another 2,250 in April.
The Times approached Thompson Distributing, the Anheuser-Busch distributor in Butte, to print the flyers and, with the assistance of its fellow AB distributors, Thompson did just that. On behalf of the committee, the Times reduced it's regular insert rate by half, then asked Town Pumps if it would cover the remaining part of the distribution cost, which it readily agreed to do. The Times also paid for folding the 11-inch by 17-inch poster to fit in the newspaper's tabloid format.
Tickets have been distributed to individual members and to local tavern association chapters as well. The committee has announced it will award the member who sells the most tickets $500, and the member who sells the ticket that ultimately wins the top $15,000 prize will also be awarded $500.
Committee members discussed innovative ways of selling the tickets and Cal McOmber told the group he has had success in selling tickets on a "co-op" or shared basis. He said four folks can kick in $25 each and split the winnings four ways, for example, or five at $20 each.
Another member has been selling the tickets via "sports pool" boards: 25 squares for $5 each where the pool winner gets $25 and a raffle ticket valued at $100.
The member reportedly sold 20 tickets using this method.
Another member said they had sold some tickets that were then in turn given to others as birthday gifts or gifts for other occasions. Another said all the vendors he does business with are asked to buy the tickets and most will generously do so.
And in order to spur early tickets sales, there is an "early bird" prize drawing in mid-August where the winner pockets $4,000, then has their ticket returned to the pool so is eligible to win one of the other prizes awarded during the MTA Convention banquet, this year Sept. 23 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Missoula.
One member said the winners in last year's raffle surely need to be approached to buy again and are good candidates to buy multiple tickets.
Bruce Enot of the Lido Bar in Great Falls sold over 300 tickets himself last year, members noted, so it only requires some hustle to get the job done.
When the group considered the request from the Montana High School Business Challenge, they decided to recommend to the full board later that day that $500 per year be donated to the program for three years, and that local associations also be asked to add to the donation. Kent Frampton, representing the Flathead County Tavern Association, said he thought MTA could count on the Flathead organization to match the MTA's initial $500 contribution.
The program operates in over 100 schools throughout Montana where teams of students compete in running eight-week simulated business enterprises, making all the decisions required in running real world businesses, then learning about the positive—or negative—consequences of those decisions. Last year 768 students participated.
Members said helping students learn about business and business operations was fundamentally a good thing that ought to be supported by their own business association.
Committee chairman Tanya Harper told the group that the January request from the Montana Meth Project netted that cause $11,500—$5,000 from the MTA and $2,500 from the Cascade County Tavern Association, $1,500 from Tri-County, $1,000 from Flathead, $500 from Hi-Line, $500 from Missoula and $500 from Toole.
Under new business, Harper told the group it had also been approached by the March of Dimes to run a campaign where bars would sell "cut-outs" to patrons and post them with sponsoring patrons' names throughout the premise with the sales revenues funnelled to the MOD.
Members noted they are already involved in so many similar campaigns—selling shamrocks and footballs and others—and that the things take a lot of time and energy to promote and organize.
"There just isn't room for another one of these," said one member who added, "We don't have to feel guilty about turning these down."
The group agreed to recommend to the full board that MTA forego this "selling cutouts for a good cause" campign.
Source: The Montana Tavern Times, May 2009, published monthly by Continental Communications, 125 W Granite, Suite 102, Butte, MT 59701.