**Fundraising: The Traveling Segway

[JVN]

Originally posted by Amanda Morrison
They say that approximately four percent of the world's population owns an automobile.

Even with the amount of time that cars have been around, there are people all around the world that have not ridden in a vehicle, or even seen one.

Yes... but 100% of Americans have. (or probably like 99.999%)
Soon... it will be the same with Segways.
At that point... it will be difficult to make money "selling rides".

Just imagine the look you'd give someone if they wanted $20 to let you drive their truck around a little.

It doesn't matter if it's a fad or not.
In a few years, the novelty will have worn off, and it'll just be another piece of modern technology we all take for granted.

[generalbrando]

I also would say it's not a fad, but it's certainly not catching on as quickly as everyone had hoped/expected. It'll get there.

Anyway, Brookstone has a store just down the street. I'm going to go check it out and see if maybe this will turn out to be a different situation where they sponsor us by loaning us the demo Segway. While it may be tough to get people to pay when they offer rides, we wouldn't be spending money this way.

Of course, I'm also crossing my fingers for to win the raffle. Do you have your ticket yet? Numbers are limited, buy yours today! (No, I'm not being paid)

[Aignam]

I think, from reading the past few posts, that if you can easily get your hands on a Segway free of charge, or at a ridiculously discounted price, by all means you should try the fundraiser out. If doing the fundraiser entails purchasing a new segway, however, it probably isn't worth the risk. $4500 can be invested more wisely in other ways.

[Dan Richardson]

Originally posted by generalbrando
Stud Man Dan: You make good points. However, for many teams this would not be a risky investment. This doesn't apply to all teams, of course. However, if a group of teams spent $500 each, that would be just 50 rides in your $10 scenario (again, I would charge $20 because honestly, it seems like $20 means nothing around here). Also, for some teams this sort of thing will be a fitting fundraiser where other types such as a dinner aren't possible (1020, for instance, doesn't have the man power, time, or customer for most fundraisers). This probably won't be a main source of income for any team, but $200 a weekend (as Hammond has been doing) multiplied by let's say 10 weekends in the pre-season is $1500 after cost. $1500 was half of 1020's budget (not including the registration donated by NASA).

well dinner was just one example ( ps dinners don't take much to put on.. all you have to do is cut a deal w/ a restaraunt and they will often allow you to hold a fund raisers in parts of their place and you could get a cut of the money and they just upcharge the meals.. or put a set price on the dinner tho this option is often harder to explore )

When I wrote this however I was considering the option of a carwash. Carwash's take about 8 people, which usually every team can scrounge up. For supplies it costs mayb 40 dollars ( waterbill has never been counted, because we've never been asked by anyplace we've hosted one to compensate ). I know every time I've been involved with a carwash our group has got around $400-$1300 .. ( $1300 was a high.. 400 was a low ; we average around $700 ) these figures are not made up. That at the low end is around a 1000% return on your investment. You wouldn't have to do much to make back your investment, other than on the segway where you'd need 25-50 people to ride depending on $ amt. This can be done on every saturday, or every other saturday.

I wasn't saying that the Segway was a bad idea, I was just saying there are better ideas. People will always need cars washed, or need to eat, or be willing to attend a nice fund raiser dinner. The intrigue in riding in a segway might not always be there. Liablity is a lot less, and if your investment brakes... your in trouble, because who's responsible? The team who had it at the time, or every team that paid for it? If your team had it while it broke, you could be in big trouble.

Also, in your example you have 9 teams dividing the cost up. Even cost means Even use I'm asuming which would mean each team has the segway for 5-6 weeks. This is for the entire year, this is assuming that you don't cut out any time for competition weekends, or even build weekends.

That leaves every team with $500-700 ( depending on which team you are )after cost. Granted $500 is good, but thats assuming you make $200 every weekend, which is most likely not a stretch. But $500 after 5-6 weekends of work ? A person could make that off minimum wage working 10 hours a day on saturday and sunday in that amount of time.

Again I think its a cool idea.. I think that if you could get one to use and get like a booth at a fair or something and let people ride it a bit, charge however much you wish, you could prob. make a fair amount of money because you didn't have any cost to begin w/.

But to split cost w/ other teams to buy a segway for fundraising purposes. I don't believe that is very cost effective, and it might be better to save your money and use it other ways. ( more than just what I mentioned )

Dan

[Amanda Morrison]

Originally posted by JVN
Yes... but 100% of Americans have. (or probably like 99.999%)
Soon... it will be the same with Segways.
At that point... it will be difficult to make money "selling rides".

Just imagine the look you'd give someone if they wanted $20 to let you drive their truck around a little.

It doesn't matter if it's a fad or not.
In a few years, the novelty will have worn off, and it'll just be another piece of modern technology we all take for granted.

While you can't get a driver's license until you are sixteen, even small children can drive a Segway (I watched an eight year old do better on one than myself).

Senior citizens that aren't completely immobile can use Segway to get around more efficiently than a car, especially in rural areas where the post office or store might only be a small way away.

After rethinking, I'm seeing that a small team that might not have a lot of resources might consider this a bad idea. But what about teams that are supplied by Segway suppliers? For instance, I know Delphi is a supplier of circuit boards for Segways. How many teams are funded by Delphi? What if the Delphi teams could pass around a Segway or two between them for a ride? Or BAE Systems... I believe they supply gyros for the machines. One to pass around?

You have to understand, teams like Hammond aren't just offering a quick ride. They're including training, a long ride, and some recreation time. My entire family went to Hammond's fundraiser to be trained.

My emphasis is that there are a thousand possibilities with this. Don't shut them out with the assumption that this is just a fad.

By not having money for the machine, or if you think that you are in an area where this might not benefit your team, by all means, do what is best. However, I might suggest that you don't overlook this. While some fundraisers don't work for all teams, one team seems to be making some money from this.

[Aignam]

Originally posted by Amanda Morrison
While you can't get a driver's license until you are sixteen, even small children can drive a Segway (I watched an eight year old do better on one than myself).

Certain states have age restrictions for vehicles like the Segway. In NJ, any person over the age of 16 with a helmet can ride a Segway legally.

Originally posted by Amanda Morrison
After rethinking, I'm seeing that a small team that might not have a lot of resources might consider this a bad idea. But what about teams that are supplied by Segway suppliers? For instance, I know Delphi is a supplier of circuit boards for Segways. How many teams are funded by Delphi? What if the Delphi teams could pass around a Segway or two between them for a ride? Or BAE Systems... I believe they supply gyros for the machines. One to pass around?

The idea of sharing Segways amongst teams that have a common sponsor is intriguing.

[Bduggan04]

Originally posted by JVN
It doesn't matter if it's a fad or not.
In a few years, the novelty will have worn off, and it'll just be another piece of modern technology we all take for granted.

Or it will be another piece of modern technology we forget about entirely. This thread has largely ignored the risk of the segway market. They haven't caught on, and the risk of lawsuits and other ridiculus claims by lawyers are not making it easier for people to have them for personal use. Buying one with the intent of making back the investment at a .4% ($20/$4500) rate seems kind of slow for a single team or a group of teams. Yes you're splitting the costs, but your also splitting the profit.

You don't have to spend any money for a bottle drive. The overhead is much lower on most pizza kit type fundraisers. Long term investments are no good for a team who needs money in the short term. I can't see it being feasible as a reliable fundraiser.

I like the idea of a mutual fundraiser, but I can't see the segway being the best way to raise money. There has to be something else we can offer at a lower cost to ourselves without the legal liability.

[Bduggan04]

Originally posted by Amanda Morrison
But what about teams that are supplied by Segway suppliers? For instance, I know Delphi is a supplier of circuit boards for Segways. How many teams are funded by Delphi? What if the Delphi teams could pass around a Segway or two between them for a ride? Or BAE Systems... I believe they supply gyros for the machines. One to pass around?

It has been my experience suppliers have a hard time obtaining components other than those they produce. Working for Collins & Aikman, I found out how even though we had to design around a gauge pack our customer (chyrsler) had chosen, they were still hard to come by. It seems unlikely that Delphi would be given a $4500 device for free, especially if they intend to make money off of it. At best, Delphi could probably get it at a discount which could put the cost anywhere from the base cost to a small 5% savings.

[Dan Richardson]

Originally posted by Bduggan04
It has been my experience suppliers have a hard time obtaining components other than those they produce. Working for Collins & Aikman, I found out how even though we had to design around a gauge pack our customer (chyrsler) had chosen, they were still hard to come by. It seems unlikely that Delphi would be given a $4500 device for free, especially if they intend to make money off of it. At best, Delphi could probably get it at a discount which could put the cost anywhere from the base cost to a small 5% savings.

depends on the industries and depends on how high the mark-up is for segways. Delphi might be able to obtain one for half price, or from general b-stock if they wanted to.

They also might be able to get one on loan, but prob. not to make money off of. Especially if they thought they might cause an uproar from the FIRST community, showing favoritism towards those teams.

Amanada is right tho, this is an option for certain teams, and certainly not others, Just be careful with your teams money, It has hard to come by, and losing money on a fund raiser would be a terrible thing to see happen to any team.

Dan

[generalbrando]

Amanda, thanks for putting into words what I was trying to say: this isn't for everyone. As an example we tried that "pizza kit" idea. Luckily the costs were absorbed into the fact that I printed advertisements from the school's printers. However, if we had printed it with out own paper, we would have just about broke even - we printed a ream of paper - that's about $5. We sold one kit (to a group of team members I might add) for a total donation of $5 from Dominoes. It's a great idea, don't get me wrong - but we had bad luck and 1020 will probably never do that again (don't let that discourage you from trying it!). I just wanted to emphasize the fact that I realize this isn't for every team.

Yes, the projection for the returns look a little grim. I admit I'm hoping that the cost could be averted somehow. However, I still think it's feasible for teams to do this. Every team works a little differently and this should work for some of them.

[Joe Matt]

I've been chewing on the idea for a while now, and frankly, VERY rarely can it turn a proofit. The amount of time, money, and energy to set it up, plus the fact you need over 200 people for it to turn a prooft, well, that's insane.

The capital outlay isn't there for many teams to shell out $5000 (remeber good 'ole S&H?) for a Segway that *might* make money. Plus, who gets it durring the off season? The school to sit there? A mentor? Student?

[Dan Richardson]

Originally posted by JosephM
[B
The capital outlay isn't there for many teams to shell out $5000 (remeber good 'ole S&H?) for a Segway that *might* make money. Plus, who gets it durring the off season? The school to sit there? A mentor? Student? [/b]

Well I imagine thats when they would do most of the fund raising, for a lot of teams, there really is no " off season " the off season is when we raise our funds for the next year. and in a distribution thats when I imagine each individual team would have to do the promo's.

[Ricky Q.]

Originally posted by patrickrd
I suspect this fundraiser may work (and work well) for another year or so... But be prepared that soon, a good percentage of the population who would be interested in riding one will have already done so. If you look on Segway's site, you can see that Segways are now available at retail stores (Brookstone thus far). They are available to view, demo, and buy.

Again I think the fundraiser will still work for some time to come, but take this into consideration before making an investment.

- Patrick

You make people pay for rides, and include a raffle ticket with the ride on it, maybe up the price to $25. And then maybe it'd work.

[Stephanie]

there was a booth at calgames with three segways. the rides were free, given we had signed release forms (also signed by parents)
perhaps get a hold of ken leung (he organized calgames), he might have more information.

[BandChick]

they were giving out rides and LESSONS in Miami this past Wednesday. It was a small fee and a waiver, but all in all i think this is a great way to a) promote one of many Dean Kamen inventions and b) good PR because a LOT of people don't know much about the Segway. c) a learning experience for your team members AND the general public. and hey d) a great and fun fundraiser