endowment Archives - SSSF - Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation

Tag: endowment

USA Shooting Seeks Applications for Athlete Endowment Grants

Written by SSSF Staff on January 15, 2018. Posted in SCTP Blog, SPP Blog, SSSF News and Information, Uncategorized.

USA Shooting and the Bunker Club established the Colonel D.D. Behrens Athlete Endowment Fund to create a reliable and predictable cash flow to fund developing athletes to ensure that United States teams remain strong in the face of increasing competition from other countries. 2018 Athlete Endowment Deadline - January 30, 2018 In 2005 the Athlete Endowment Fund was established by Colonel D.D. Behrens with the intention of awarding grants to shooting sport athletes to help offset the cost of competitions, equipment, ammunition, travel and training in hopes of maintaining USA Shooting’s competitive excellence well into the future. The goal of the endowment is to build a strong foundation of USA Shooting athletes by assisting with development of their shooting skills needed to become high-level competitors and Olympians. In 2015, eighteen athletes were the first grant recipients from the endowment. Since then the number of athletes receiving grants have doubled. As the endowment continues to grow with the help of generous donors, the number of athletes impacted will continue to rise. The goals of the Athlete Endowment are already being realized with several success stories from awardees, including 2016 Olympic champion Ginny Thrasher and Junior Olympic Champion Will Shaner. Recognizing the need for USA Shooting to build its own base of financial support, Col. D.D.Behrens started fundraising within a small inner-circle of hunting buddies which has now blossomed into a very loyal and dedicated group. The Bunker Club was established at a time when USAS was in a tight financial position. There was an immediate need to replace bunker trap machines at the International Shotgun Range in Colorado Springs. The Bunker Club members successfully raised $200,000 to complete the project. After the initial fundraising task was completed, Bunker Club members then decided to make a long-term commitment to USA Shooting athletes. They set forth to establish an endowment of $3 million in which, to date, have successfully raised $1.7 million. Their continued support of athletes is amazing, and we are forever grateful. To build on this level of achievement, USA Shooting must create a strong base of financial support to ensure that our athletes can not only compete successfully in the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, but also to build an athlete base and opportunity for young shooters to achieve success into the future. The Athlete Endowment will award athletes with grants to help cover training, competition expenses, equipment, ammunition, and travel. Payments will be made for eligible expenses on a reimbursement by receipt basis during same calendar year as awarded grant. Application criteria are as follows:

Applicants must have a current USA Shooting event classification;
Demonstrated potential in both skill and commitment are required;
Applicant must be a USA Shooting member, click here for membership.
Members of the National Team, Development Team or National Junior Team (past or present) are not eligible for Endowment grants.
Members of the Junior Olympic Squad (Rifle, Pistol, Shotgun) may apply for grants.
Members of the USA Shooting Team who are already receiving financial assistance are not eligible for endowment grants.

Instructions

A grant application must be received at USA Shooting no later than January 30, 2018. Download the application form here.
Please include an athlete headshot with your application.
Applications can be mailed to the below address or emailed to resourcedevelopment@usashooting.org.

USA Shooting Attn: Patsy Woods 1 Olympic Plaza Colorado Springs, CO 80909 For more information or if you have any questions or comments please contact: resourcedevelopment@usashooting.org or call 719-866-4883.

Over $400,000 to SCTP & SASP Teams Through Vision 20/20

Written by SSSF Staff on January 4, 2018. Posted in SCTP Blog, SPP Blog, SSSF News and Information, Uncategorized.

The 2017 Vision 20/20 campaign is in the books and has raised the bar for Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) and Scholastic Action Shooting Program (SASP) local team fundraising efforts. Participating teams raised a total of $134,706 from October through December for the 2017 campaign. Through these fundraising efforts, participating teams receive a total of $59,241 in cash grants from the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation and a MidwayUSA Foundation team endowment account benefit of $353,697! Total SCTP and SASP team benefit for the 2017 campaign is $412,938! "Our teams worked hard and were creative on this campaign to generate donations and at the same time promote awareness about the positive benefits of youth shooting sports in their community," said Ben Berka, President and Executive Director of the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation. "One team sent in $10,000 generated from a simple tip-jar at their host gun club! Another small-town team solicited only local businesses and received over $7,500 in donations with the average donation being $345! Others did email solicitation campaigns and social media efforts to reach team supporters near and far." Vision 20/20 provides local SCTP and SASP teams with a way to raise funds locally and provides cash needs for today through an SSSF cash grant in January 2018 and funding needs for perpetuity via donations to SCTP and SASP team endowment accounts at the MidwayUSA Foundation. For every ten dollars received by the team, the team receives a cash grant of $5 and up to $25 to their team endowment account through generous match funding. The donations and matching funds from SSSF to MidwayUSA Foundation Team Endowment Accounts established to benefit SCTP and SASP member-teams are made possible, in part, by grants to the SSSF from the Tulsa Community Foundation Youth Shooting Fund established and funded by the generosity of Larry and Brenda Potterfield. "The generous match funding and the perpetuity of an endowed account was a real driver for local team success in this campaign," Berka said. "There are not very many community sports teams who can knock on a potential donor's door and offer match funding for their donation AND guarantee that their donation will be used to support the team FOREVER via an endowed account. Our partnership with the MidwayUSA Foundation helps our SCTP and SASP teams do just that!" The Team Endowment Program at the MidwayUSA Foundation gives a community the ability to financially support a competitive youth shooting sports program at the high school and college level. The team can then request a grant of up to 5% of their endowment account balance once each year, in either June or December, to pay for team expenses. There are no fees associated with a MidwayUSA Foundation Team Endowment. About Vision 20/20 The SSSF's Vision 20/20 campaign is a multi-year fundraising effort started in 2016 with the goal to grow national youth participation in the Scholastic Clay Target Program and Scholastic Action Shooting Program to over 20,000 student athletes annually by the year 2020. In partnership with industry partners, civic organizations, member teams and donors the SSSF will provide the opportunity and funding for more students to join existing shooting teams and create new teams where none exist today. Please watch www.sssfonline.org/vision2020 for more information on the upcoming 2018 campaign.