I've had a similar situation come up in the past. I usually point out
that the registration fee helps support the cause and is greatly needed
-- if he/she will allow us to keep the, we'd appreciate it. We've
already incurred expenses for this event, paid for your meal, etc. etc.
If he still holds firm, give him a refund.
Linda McAllister, CFRE
Curator of Advancement
Florida Air Museum
Office: 863-644-2431 ext. 142
[log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Erin Gerrity
Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2006 1:41 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Refund on Fundraiser?
I have a situation that I'm not sure how to deal with so I'm putting it
out there in case some of you have been in the same boat...
Our Museum scheduled a first time 5K race and festival as a fundraiser
for last Saturday, a rain or shine event. Runners paid a registration
fee of $18
(earlybird) or $25 in advance which bought them entrance to the race,
free admission to the festival, a t-shirt and a beer. Of course as our
luck would have it we had the worst rain in nine years the day before
and day of the event. We decided to cancel at the last minute because
roads were closed, basements were flooded, part of the race course was
flooded and more dangerous storms and rain predicted to pour down during
the exact 4 hours of the event. Heartbroken, our committee tried to
reschedule the race but learned that it was a logistical nightmare of
permits and barricades and new licenses that would put us in a financial
hole. A local store that sells running gear and specializes in
sanctioned races advised us not to reschedule and stated that most
runners know when entering a race that they are making a donation to a
cause and that races are almost never rescheduled. Our solution is to
have a party for the registrants in the hopes of turning them into our
friends and repeat participants (as we'd like this to be an annual
event), give them free food/drink, their t-shirts and offer that they
run the course for fun but not as a sanctioned race with closed streets,
etc. However, I've had a few requests for refunds. Has anyone ever dealt
with this problem? Did you refund the money? We want everyone to like
us. If we have to refund money and go in the hole on this fundraiser,
does anyone have advice on how to avoid this problem in the future?
Thanks for your help!
Erin Gerrity
Visitors Services
Portland Museum
2308 Portland Avenue
Louisville, KY 40212
502 776-7678
=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:
The Museum-L FAQ file is located at
http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed
information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail
message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should
read "help" (without the quotes).
If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message
to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read
"Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).
=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:
The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).
If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).
|
