The Dressage Foundation - Lessons in Fund Raising

During the 2011 season in Florida Robert Dover pointed me in the direction of The Dressage Foundation as a partial answer to the question of sponsorship. Sponsorship can become a prominent issue for aspiring equestrian athletes in dressage as well as every other discipline.

The Dressage Foundation is Non-profit organization that gives grants of different types and sizes to Jr./Young Riders, Adult Amateurs, GMOs, Professionals and High Performance Dressage Riders. There are some already established Grants that are paid into every year and the rest of the funds are raised annually.

Beginning this year The Dressage Foundation has also begun teaching an online fund raising course. Many riders know that they will need to fundraise at some point in their careers but there is always the technical question of how and where to start. This course is designed to help riders with the first step. It covers many of the more technical sides of fundraising including; communication skills, grant writing, identifying prospective donors and sponsors, tax basics, sponsorship opportunities, event planning and maximizing your support.

One of the more interesting things to remember is that there a lot if different ways to fund raise and lots of different ways to donate. I was recently on the Facebook page of one of our Olympic hopefuls, Heather Blitz. Heather is somewhat of a unique star in the dressage world right now because she does not have a major sponsor the way that many of the other team contenders do. As a result of this she has partnered with many companies who are all helping to support her in smaller ways. One company has produced a beautiful Heather Blitz and Paragon calendar from the Pan American games which can be purchased for $30 in the support of Heather's quest for the Olympics. Another company is sponsoring her helmets and another her everyday riding wear. All of these contributions add up to a much larger goal yet the end goal.

Through out my fundraising class with The Dressage Foundation I'll be using this blog as way to discuss fundraising and sponsorship. Raising awareness for programs and foundations such as The Dressage Foundation is key. If riders don't know what support is available to them then they won't be able to ask for help when they need it.

For more information on The Dressage Foundation http://www.dressagefoundation.org/home_1.htm

For more information Heather Blitz and helping support her quest for