two ideas for the club...

[Jandree22]

Yeah... all very good points Steve. A bowfront might be nice in a smaller tank? An Oceanic 46g bow is only $124.

Something else to consider, is the possibility of TFP donating all sorts of stuff, maybe even an entire system, if we somehow indicate it was sponsored by them.

Long story short, after beating down a flamer on the TFP forum on RC a few months ago, I spoke directly to and got brownie points from the retail manager at TFP. Maybe I could leverage that?

I'm really liking the idea of Ronnies since it seems to be an environment more conducive to families using it as a way to put their mind at ease in a difficult time.

 

[NCNBilly]

I don't think you'll have much problem getting sponsor support for a project like this, so I'm not sure I'd worry about putting in a huge investment for the club.

In order to make this really work, we'd probably need to be incorporated as a non-profit group - especially to accept donations from other businesses. It costs about $150 to get the ball rolling.

 

[Jandree22]

Hmm, okay thanks Bill.

Well before we’d put a cent on the table, we should probably first gauge interest from the recipient (ie Ronnies), and perhaps also potential donors. That is of course, without rushing things… rather just as a first step before we place a commitment of possibly our own money into something like incorporation. I personally have no familiarity with it, so hopefully Bill or others do. Obviously I was hoping that this would just be a very non-formal type of thing, but the IRS is always watching I guess.

 

[aushepherd]

This might be a long shot, but how about selling 50-50 tickets? I have a roll if needed. Seeing that we all live apart from each other, it probably wouldn't be hard to sell them. Besides winning the drawing for money, and also to help sell the tickets, state to the buyers that if they win, their name will also be included on a plaque at the tank site. Hershey is a pretty good drive for me so, if needed, I'll help get money donations of that sort.
Everybody needs to come up with a place for this thing. This is the only way I can post a letter at work to sell tickets. I can usually sell about $100 worth of tickets. We can draw the winning numbers at one of our meetings.

 

[aushepherd]

Forgot to ask, when is the Behind the Scenes tour?

 

[2turtles]

Not to be a "stick in the mud" but I really don't have enough time to maintain my own tank let alone help to maintain another one. I will have to opt out on this one, besides I think I need to power wash my house that day anyway.

 

[Jandree22]

Thanks for that idea aushepard. We could look into that option if we don’t get donations from LFS’s in the area. I also think everyone understands that some of us live a lot closer to Hershey than others do, concerning the donation of physical time.

I guess something else to consider if whether we could negotiate TFP to also donate ongoing maintenance related products such as salt and bulbs. Hmmm...

...no sweat 2turtles! That may very well turn out to be an underlying concern to everyone, which now would be the time to bring that up and be honest about it so we don't have any regrets about committing. We all have lives to live and plenty on our agenda already.

Again, this is also something we can just put on the backburner and revisit in a few months/years if we'd like to become a more solid group with more members first.

...which is also a completely different topic all together. Should we be engaging in active recruiting for others to join our 'club'? I notice other members of RC with locations in the area who haven't been involved with us. But on the other hand, we've got a good size going now for meets in each others' houses, so maybe we should just stick with what works

I know I've been a loose cannon the past two days with all my bright ideas, you all can just tell me to shut my trap, too!

 

[NCNBilly]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15090429#post15090429 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Jandree22

I know I've been a loose cannon the past two days with all my bright ideas, you all can just tell me to shut my trap, too! [/B]

You're heading for a demerit.

 

[Jandree22]

That would be the 2nd of the day, I do believe.

 

[Elysia]

Just so you know, our DockDogs group needed to get a permit of some kind to do a raffle, and who you get those permits from depends on the county you're organization is based in. And the permit depends on the amount of the prize, and you are limited to how many raffles you can do each year. Yeah, I know, its stupid, but its true.

Glad I didn't have to turn you in, Patrick!

My mother's company did some charity work for the Ronald McDonald house a few years ago, right before their major upgrade. It is a very worthwhile cause, and I would have to think, what with all of the studies done on the benefits of having a fish tank/pet health wise on the human keepers, it would be a benefit to the people staying there.

However, I'm not sure the extent to which people are permitted to just come in and "service" things in the house -- as it is suppose to be just like the family's home while their child is in the hospital. If servicing wouldn't be a problem, than I think it is an idea worth proposing to all parties -- including the Ronald McDonald House and That Fish Place.

If you are talking about just a small tank -- under 55 gallons -- I wouldn't think that getting the supplies that are necessary donated would be that difficult. A few "out and about" peaceful fish and some coral frags (softs, large polyp stonys) and you'd be good to go.

If the Ronald McDonald House didn't work out, don't go looking for a library to set up a tank. A) no one is funding libraries worth poop (stupid RC and its G-rated language police) and B) the majority of librarians aren't that bright.

 

[aushepherd]

Hey, my wife works at a library, part time though. Her full time job is a forklift operator. Anyway, there are a lot of "strange" people that go to a library. Some go there to sleep and the rest go to take a bath. With that said, the library, imo, is a bad place. People will be putting their hands and what ever else into the tank. If you were to put it in full view of the other employees, that might work out.
My wife works at the library in Hanover, so she could tend it six days out of the week. Just a suggestion. She was actually talking about it for awhile.
As for donations for the library, you're right. There are far and few givings to the library system. They are not very good at managing money, either. They actually paid a landscaper $1500 to plant a small bush and ten flowers, plus the mulch. My wife suggested them getting the flowers and letting her plant them, on her time. They said they wanted it done right. Go figure!

 

[Jandree22]

okay, library was a bad example

 

[Elysia]

There is a "strange people" beacon that goes off over libraries. The stories I could tell...