More curling clubs than ever before are using the BC Amateur Sport Fund – available because of membership with Curl BC – to help them raise funds.

The fund, administered by Sport BC, allows clubs to offer tax receipts to members who make donations.

And while many clubs have started using it because their members have donated unused fees – due to clubs shutting down because of Covid-19 restrictions – Curl BC is using this opportunity to remind club managers and curlers of its value beyond this season.

One club, Parksville Curling Club, was successful in using the fund to raise nearly $50,000 for their new chiller.

Curl BC wanted to highlight Parksville’s successful project – as it is an example of using the BCASF for a specific goal.

Here is the club’s fundraising success story from 2018-2019.

Penny Shantz, the president of the club, spearheaded the campaign.

She said they were unable to get support to purchase a new chiller from the municipal or regional governments so they knew that they needed to fundraise in the community.

“We put together a budget so we knew we were in need of $50,000 that we had to raise,” she said.

After talking with Scott Braley at Curl BC, who told her about the fund, Shantz decided to pursue setting up a BCASF project for Parksville. “It made sense that we would be able to offer receipts,” she said.

She said the club also felt that they had to create another incentive to donate.

“We wanted to provide the club members with something for donating their money on top of the tax receipt.

“So we talked about a recognition board at the club but what we ended up doing was putting people’s names on rock handles.

“It was quite a bit to get your name on the rock. Most clubs are about $200. We said $500 for half a rock. That worked too.”

In addition to the roughly $47,000 in donations that the club got through the project they set up through the BCASF, generous Parksville curlers who did not require receipts also gave $12,000.

The club’s capital savings topped up the rest and with $140,000  they were able to have the chiller purchased and installed.

Shantz said the project application form was easy. But because of the large amount in their budget, they were required to file a few extra documents. “That was a bit more complicated, but if the project is smaller, you won’t need to submit those.”

One of the most important things that made the project successful was that all members knew about it.

“We sent multiple emails about the rock program. I also had a big huge display with two big pictures of rocks reminding people you could buy your handle on the rock,” said Shantz.

So how can your club set up a project?

In short, the fund makes your project a “charitable” project allowing for tax receipts to be issued. All donors need to sign a form saying they authorize the donation. The club would send Sport BC a cheque for the full amount of donations and then Sport BC would issue the receipts. Your club would then get back 95% of the total donated (because of the fees involved in administering the projects) in the form of a cheque.

Visit Curl BC’s BC Amateur Sport Fund (BCASF) project page  for more information.