Behind the Line - Community

Hey everyone — Randall here.

I wanted to break down something I get asked about all the time: How do you fund a full high school trap program without constantly scrambling for money?

For us at Lake Noquebay Sportsman’s Club, it all starts with one simple rule:

Before you talk fundraising, you have to understand your costs...

Every offseason, we build our budget like this:

1. Figure out the true cost per student athlete

2. Multiply by the number of athletes we expect for the season

3. That total becomes our fundraising goal

With that number in place, we build out the year.Here’s exactly how we do it:

1. CORE FUNDING

This is our guaranteed baseline — the money we secure before Day 1.

Our goal is to cover the bare-minimum operations before the first kid ever steps on the line.

This includes: League fees / Practice targets / Team ammo / Awards / Registration & tournament fees / Supplies

We use three pillars to make this happen.

Pillar 1: Sponsorship Tiers (The Backbone)

We built a clean, professional sponsorship package with:

• Platinum – $1500

• Gold – $1000

• Silver – $500

• Bronze – $250

• Supporter – $100

Every tier gets: Banner displayed at LNSC / Website listing / Social media recognition

This alone brings in $12,000–$16,000 every single year. Local businesses love supporting youth shooting - they just need a clear system.

Pillar 2: Team Dues (with a Family Cap)

We keep it simple:

• $100 per athlete

• Family max of $200

Why dues matter:

1. They show commitment

2. They stabilize early cashflow

3. They reduce last-minute scrambling

And we’re firm on this:No family should ever struggle because of trapshooting.

Pillar 3: Club Partnership Agreement

This one is huge. We structured a win-win with LNSC.

The club gains: Increased target sales / More concessions / More memberships / More volunteers

We gain: Discounted targets / Dedicated practice nights / Storage space / Equipment access

This partnership saves us $3,000–$5,000 every season.

2. ACCELERATOR FUNDING

This is the money that moves a program from “surviving” to “thriving.”

These are our seasonal fundraisers — and we avoid the typical candy/popcorn stuff.

Here are the big ones:

1. Youth Trapshooting Raffle (DU T.R.A.P. Raffle)

Easy to organize, easy to run.

Every athlete sells tickets, with goals based on age/experience.

Revenue: $3,000–$5,000 per year.

2. Spring Shoot-A-Thon

Kids get pledges: Per bird / Or flat amounts

They shoot 50 or 100 birds in a special event or 250 for the season.

Why we love it: Simple / Affordable / Student-athlete driven / High energy / Becomes an annual tradition

Revenue: $15,000–$27,000 per year.

3. Meat Raffles at Local Establishments

We have three teams, so each runs one in its own community.We spread them throughout late fall and winter so we don’t overlap.

Local butcher shops and businesses often donate meat or gift cards, and it makes a huge difference.

Revenue:

• $5,000 per raffle

• $15,000 total

4. Whitetails Unlimited Banquet

Our older student athletes volunteer each September for the Crivitz/High Falls WTU Chapter.

12–15 volunteers × 5 hours = fundraising and community service.

Revenue: $4,500–$6,000

5. “Buy-A-Target” Board (New this Year)

We launched this winter.

How it works: Board has 200 clay targets / $5 per target / Buyer places a “Broken Target” sticker / Once full, we run a raffle with a $50 gift certificate / Gift card comes from the revenue

Each board brings in $800, and we have 10 boards out there.

Expected: $8,000

SO WHAT DOES THIS ADD UP TO?

For our 70-athlete program, an average year looks like:

$12–16k sponsorships / $5–7k team dues / $2–5k apparel / $4.5–6k WTU / $3–5k DU Raffle / $15–27k Shoot-A-Thon / $15k Meat Raffles / $8k Buy-A-Target Boards

Total: $37,000 – $60,000+

And the reason we never scrape and claw is simple:

We don’t rely on one fundraiser — we built a machine.

THE REAL SECRET: CONSISTENCY > CREATIVITY

Predictability beats novelty every time.

If anyone wants templates, sponsorship packets, or is curious how we structured our club partnership, I’m happy to share what’s worked for us.

— Randall