I'm involved right now with the design of what will be a great course in Pinconning, Michigan. Pinconning is, to put it mildly, not in the economically most robust part of Michigan, which is itself, not exactly economically robust right now. But the lady raising money for the course, Lorie Szyperski, has taken in more than $4,000, so far. (There's even a disc golf course fundraising 'thermometer' on the front page of the local newspaper.) Any disc golfer heading North on I-75 will have to schedule time to drive 4-5 miles east off the freeway and visit this new Blizzard Hills Disc Golf Course.

When Lorie began fundraising, she kept running into the same problem that a lot of local folks around the country do: Businesses and larger donors wanted to be able to contribute to a 501(c)(3) charitable organization in order for their contribution to be tax deductible. She could, as most do, I think, have given up on those large donations. But I put her in touch with J. Gary Dropcho and the Disc Golf Foundation. Using the Foundation, Lorie has been able to get those larger, charitable contributions. Here's how.<ul> Your large contributors write checks to the Disc Golf Foundation, a true 501(c)(3);
The Foundation stores your money, after taking a 10 percent cut (for disc golf development purposes);
The Foundation sends your contributors the receipts they need for tax deductions; then
The Foundation makes your large purchases for you by writing checks to, for example, a basket manufacturer.[/list]On Thursday of last week, Sheila picked up the first nine baskets for Blizzard Hills from Discraft. Sunday I delivered them to Pinconning, when I went up to see how the course clearing is going. The DGF is purchasing them with money Lorie raised in Pinconning, and her contributors are getting official receipts for charitable donations. Sounds good, eh? It is. More people need to know about this great course development resource.

The Disc Golf Foundation also accepts general contributions for its work promoting the development of disc golf.

Brilliant!

A win-win prospect.

J Gary and co. do good work.

Joe

I for one would like to see more specifics about this foundation. Especially how or who they will make checks payable to. One of our biggest concerns is taking on course maintenance ourselves. We need to purchase some mowers and other equipment. Will they give me a hard time writing out a check to Home Depot, or even Joe's Hardware down the street for me when I need some concrete, hardware, or spare parts or something?

All in all it's a great idea. It sure would secure some more sponsors for us, and also help get "matching contributions". I've had to abandon some sponsor hopes due to not being 501c3 organized. I will definitely look into it more. Currently, since I founded the club, I simply applied for a Tax ID Number (TIN), and opened a business checking account as the club, under that TIN. We handle all incoming and outgoing transactions through that account. But I did not, and could not based on size, go through the 501c3 hassle.

Here is a link to the Disc Golf Foundation's website (http://www.discgolffoundation.net/). I suggest you ask your questions of the folks there.

There is no staff, just a handful of volunteer board members. If there is any hassle at all, it is likely to be their finding the time to help with a lot of smaller, detailed requests. They're been very helpful with Blizzard Hills.

Maybe if enough people use them, they can afford to hire a staff person.