A Guide to Fundraising with a Dragon Boat Race Day

Dragon Boat Events Ltd has 20 years' experience of delivering profitable and cost effective events for charities. We have delivered a programme of events that has raised more than £10million!
The concept is simple - teams are charged an entry fee which covers the cost to you of running the event. Additional money can be raised
from team and corporate sponsorship contributions and ancillary activities such as branding, craft stalls, bars, catering, parking, etc

Organising Your Event....

The recommended target for a race day is from 15 teams upwards. In recognition of the difficult economic times we have put together a package which enables smaller events commencing with 10 teams to be staged cost effectively subject to geographical location.

The income can be spectacular, imagine a 35-team event where each 17 person crew raises sponsorship of £1,000 (£60 per team member): that's powerful fundraising for your charity or club of £35,000 before any extras. Our smallest event in 2010 raised over £9,000 whilst our largest raised over £165,000.

The method is simple:

Market your event to local clubs,companies and other groups etc. and encourage them to enter teams in your event.
Each team pays you an entry fee, which covers the running costs of your event.
Each member of each team raises sponsorship, which all goes to your charity.
We have dragon boats which hold between 8 and 17 people, depending upon the size of your event. We encourage teams to have reserves on the day, up to a maximum of 20 people. Imagine the impact on your fundraising when each individual raises the minimum £60 sponsorship.
In our experience, the average sums raised range from £50- £100 per person, giving you a potential income of between £1,000 - £2,000 per team.

Additional fund raising can be achieved by:

recruiting teams from companies which enter a representative team,who may, as a further gesture of support, match the sums raised by their teams.
raising funds from companies who wish to be identified within the event through our Boat Branding opportunity.
Charging teams additional fees for marquees to use as a base during the event. These can also be used to host friends, family or clients. Dragon Boat Events is an approved supplier and can supply marquees in a range of sizes.
The racing providing the focal point for other attractions: fairgrounds, bars, catering, market stalls etc. You can raise significant extra funds by charging these stallholders for their pitches while broadening the scope of the event
offering prizes for the team and/or individuals who raise the most money for the event.

How to Organise a Dragon Boat Race Event

Dragon Boat Events key personnel will work with you from start to finish in planning and setting up your event – we have done so for hundreds of charities over the years. We will provide you with all the tools you need to set up your event. You will be appointed a personal manager who will assist you with the logistics and include a site visit to establish a risk assessment and safety plan as part of the planning process. Key considerations are listed below.

Your first event can seem daunting and hard work to set up. Our aim is to work with you to create an annual event which historically will build and become easier to manage. You will be joining DBE's long tradition and superb track record for raising much needed charitable funds. Our role is to make the process both enjoyable and profitable for you and make staging your subsequent events a breeze!

Venue: This can be a lake, reservoir, river, canal, or sheltered tidal waters in harbours or marinas. If your chosen venue already has a water sports centre such as a sailing club or rowing club, this will make things easier as facilities like toilets and showers and provision for hot and or cold food and drinks will already be in place. Local Councils and controlling agencies will often allow free use of their water for bona fide charities, but expect to pay a facilities fee for the use of a club’s facilities or large water sports venue. We can give you useful ideas and experience on how to reduce this fee.

Viewing: A good view of the event for everyone present makes for a more enjoyable day, with repeat booking more likely the following year. Additionally, increased spectator involvement not only improves awareness of your organisation's role in the community, but provides further opportunities for income generation.

Family Fun: If your venue has adjacent and available land, then it is worth organising family oriented activities and side shows. Established Dragon Boat Events attract large crowds of people, so the more family oriented activities you have at your event, the better the atmosphere – and the better your income as you can charge a pitch fee for every stall holder! Families will regard it as a good day out.

Race Control: The race control point will be placed in a prominent position. It will act as a focal point for the crowds of people to gather round and compare their race times.

Safety Briefing Area: This needs to be an open area sufficient in size for the appropriate number of teams required for briefing at any one time.

Power: If local mains power is available it is preferable as it gives a more stable supply, but if not we supply our own generator.

Dragon Boats: The dragon boats are up to 40’ long. Secure space will need to be available on shore or on the water to store them when not in use.

Access: We will require a slipway or similar suitable access point to launch the boats. The site should also permit access for vehicles and trailers (depending on the size of the event) up to the size of an articulated lorry and trailer! Sometimes the nearest slipway is some distance away but we can usually tow the boats with our safety boat subject to available time.

Secure Overnight lock-up. The event teams and boats will usually need to be onsite by 06:30 and normally the team travels up the day before. Ideally, secure overnight storage needs to be available for the control vehicle and dragon boat trailer (70’ long vehicle) and other equipment.

Team Boat Loading: access for race teams can be off a pontoon, a bank side or (if we can safely beach the dragon boats) from the shore. For bank side loading, steps down into the boats must be sufficiently small and wide enough so participants can load safely without risking falling.

Toilets: It may be necessary to organise portaloos for your event if no toilets are available on site. In such cases, remember to order in sufficient disabled toilets as well as regular ones. If you don’t have your own contacts, Dragon Boat Events have special rates with a number of suppliers.

Catering: Most organisers charge 10% of turnover as a pitch fee for catering units. Remember to get copies of both Food Safety & Hygiene and Public Liability Insurance, which any reputable caterer will provide. Please note if DBE is contracted to supply your additional services, then peace of mind is assured, and all activities we provide will be insured by us. Our contract with you does not include insurance for anything not within our direct control. (See contract for details).

Parking: If there is not sufficient parking on site, then take an idea from our Chester event and engage the local Park & Ride to transport competitors and spectators to and from the venue. You might choose to provide this facility yourself and charge a fee which may further enhance your income.

First Aid: All water-based Dragon Boat Events staff are first aid trained. A number of our staff are trained to a high level which includes the use of Defibrillation equipment. Subject to availability and booking we will undertake to cover your first aid function for a fixed rate of £100.00 plus VAT.

For a free and informal consultation, please contact us - enquiries@dragonboatevents.com

What’s included in the Dragon Boat Events race day fee….

All equipment, transport & delivery charges.
Trained event staff, including safety boat and qualified operators and a Health & Safety Officer.
First Aid Cover (if contracted)
Risk Assessment & Safety Plan (including upgraded dynamic assessment on the day)
Lifejackets (EU approved personal flotation devices)
High visibility safety wristbands
Control base, with dedicated event manager and broadcast commentary
Computerised results service with up to date score leader board
£5 million public liability and £10 million employees’ liability
Venue selection and assessment
Procurement by DBE of all licenses and permits requiring technical qualifications

Additional fundraising opportunities for your charity…

Marquees
DBE is an affiliated and approved commercial operator (Performance Textiles Association and MUTA marque supplier) Team marquees will compliment your event as they add a professional look to the day, should help ensure repeat bookings in subsequent years and will provide a useful additional income stream for you.

Our 3m x 3m team marquees make an ideal base for each team and provide shelter from the elements, whether rain or shine.
Need a larger marquee? We can also supply larger marquees to any size for use as a bar, refreshment area, for craft stallholders etc., as well as tables, benches and chairs that you might need to support your event.

Boat Branding
Our boats provide a unique advertising opportunity for your clients. Each dragon boat provides a high visibility marketing platform throughout the day. Companies choosing to parade their company logo or message can potentially reach thousands of people. It offers a fabulous and very high profile way to get their name noticed!