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(meteorobs) Shirts off our backs...!
Lew, Mark et al -
Lew wrote:
>Mark, have we considered printing up some "Meteor observers do it at 70 km/s"
NAMN tee-shirts for fund-raising? ;>
- Lew, always handy with helpful suggestions
I just cracked up when I read this!!! Thanks for the laugh, Lew. I have been
getting <cabin fever> up here in Canada. It is dark and foggy out here, with a
heavy rain warning, coupled with the threat of freezing rain, and then to be
mixed with snow tomorrow...
Actually, though, guys, it is a super idea!! A little background here.... Years
ago, back in the early 1970's, several of us from Canada made up t-shirts with
the Stellafane symbol on them (hand-painted them in my kitchen!), and wore them
to Stellafane. I lost track of the number of people who tried to buy the shirt
off my back.... impractical at the time, of course, as I was wearing it ;) I
had one older gentleman in a truck stop me, and ask me where I had gotten the
shirt - being the cheerful, naive kid I am, I told him I made it.... upon which
he showed me his cufflinks.... with the Stellafane symbol... and told me that he
was the person who had designed it! I suggested that if the Stellafane
organizers would make up some shirts, that they could raise a fair amount of
funds to help support Stellafane! He said, oh no, that they didn't believe in
commercialism..... Well, they have now realized that fund-raising is <not> a bad
thing... took them long enough :)
I then went on to do t-shirts to help raise money for moving our RASC Ottawa
observatory, and then, more recently, set up a national program for the RASC to
sell promotional items - shirts, mugs, keychains, stickers, etc. I have since
turned that program over to Kim Hay, who is also on this meteor list ;) Over
the years, I have also designed and painted custom one-of-a-kind t-shirts for
friends.
I think t-shirts are a <great> idea!!! Something with a nice meteor portrayed,
a catchy phrase or two, and in smaller print near the bottom.... the name of the
meteor group, and an address (or web page address) on who to contact for more
info ;) They could be sold at star parties, conventions, public displays,
etc..as well as to members of various meteor groups... and would really help
raise public awareness...!!! By the way, t-shirts are also one of the easiest
fund-raising ideas - in that your profit margin is reasonable, and they are one
of the easiest items to package, and mail....
On a more serious note, there are other ideas for raising funds, everything
from:
... charging a nominal amount for info booklets mailed out - to cover cost of
photocopying, packaging, and mailing...
to more organized methods such as
... getting your group set up as a registered charity, such that donations to
that group would give the recipient a tax break (don't know your U.S. rules on
this, perhaps the AMS already has that status??)
Anyway, just a couple comments from someone who's been there before....
- Cathy
Great White North