SALTS asks for boats
November 6, 1995; Canadian FundRaiser
Ever thought about making your piece of the funding pie bigger? Here is how one organization did it. The Sail and Life Training Society (SALTS) has encouraged young people from diverse backgrounds to participate in sail training for the past 25 years. Every year 1,000 young men and women brave waters from the Canadian, U.S. and Central American coasts to the North and South Pacific Oceans and Caribbean Sea. Offering a combination of challenges, friendship, and discipline that promotes balanced personal growth in the unique atmosphere of shipboard life is a costly proposition. So in the face of escalating program, boat construction, vessel restoration and other costs, SALTS looked beyond their traditional funding sources such as foundations, corporations, employees and individuals, and got creative.
Embarking on a media campaign, the Society placed a number of visually appealing ads in national newspapers, trade magazines and special interest publications asking readers to think about donating their older, unused or estate boats as opposed to selling them. With 12-15 inquiries each week and 30 boats donated so far this year, it would seem that the ad campaign is working exceedingly well. Although a few are kept for training program use, most end up being repaired, auctioned or sold. SALTS will make arrangements to pick up any vessel in the Victoria area with a minimum value of $1,000. To accept a boat anywhere else, values must be at least $10,000 to keep the program financially viable. According to Martyn Clark, Executive Director, the average value of a donated boat is $5,000. "While our donors receive an income tax receipt for fair market value, on the whole we usually receive roughly half of that value when the boat goes to auction or is sold," he said. People's responses have already translated into $100,000 in boat sales.
Clark attributes the program's success to having in place all the important factors necessary to support the ads. With a relatively new shipyard base located in downtown Victoria, BC., the Society now has the facility to moor, store or display its boats as well as the work space for their 17 full time staff and 100 volunteers to restore and reconfigure the boats prior to sale. Overall, SALTS is committed to raising some $2 million over the next three years.
For more information, call (604) 383-6811.
