Outlaw Black and White Club launched to support sports

Outlaws athletic director Tim Roth is rolling out his first comprehensive fundraising program this week with the formation of the Outlaw Black and White Club (OBWC).

"The athletic department mission statement is to teach, compete with honor and dignity, serve community, and pursue excellence," said Roth. "The Outlaw Black and White Club is designed to help fulfill that mission."

The program is new, innovative and a work in progress. In many ways, OBWC represents a significant departure from how funds have been raised for sports programs in the past.

Basic membership in the Outlaw Black and White Club (OBWC) starts at $250 per year for a three-year commitment. The basic level includes a season pass for two to any Outlaw home sports events and a window sticker that states "I'm an Outlaw 2013."

The window sticker addresses the ongoing issue of "donor fatigue." If a local business displays the Outlaw 2013 sticker, sports fundraisers will know that that particular business has already made their sports contribution for the year, and they are not to be contacted for donations again.

There are also bronze, silver and gold levels of support for those that are willing and able to invest at a higher level. Each level builds on the previous level of perks with additional features, up to the gold level that includes banners at various stadiums, exposure marketing materials at 10 events, web presence on both the district and SPRD websites, and inclusion on a business-to-business "Most Favored Vendor" list.

A title sponsor designation remains available for a sponsor to step in as a primary contributor to the overall program.

Donations at the bronze through gold level will also give the sponsor the use of one team for three hours once a year to do community service, "Outlaw Outreach," on a project of the sponsor's choice.

The marketing materials will be developed by SHS marketing students in conjunction with the business involved and hopefully with time donations from local professional marketing groups, and possibly some input from the high-profile U of O Sports Marketing program.

Two other fundraising venues are also in the works: The traditional bingo night, and a new "Outlaw Card" program.

The first of four scheduled bingo nights was held on October 8. Each event will be run by an army of volunteers from at least four of the 22 school sport teams. Each team will have the opportunity to participate at least once. The proceeds from each of the four bingo nights will be pooled. The collected funds will be distributed evenly to the participating teams at the beginning of the following school year.

The Outlaw Card program sales will be kicked off in January with a major pep rally and marketing blitz. The $20 investment in an Outlaw Card will earn the bearer a variety of discounts and free offers at local businesses. Typical discounts include a $5 grocery credit once a month at Rays ($60 per year); a 10 percent discount on all purchases at Hoyt's Hardware (excluding lumber) for an entire year; a buy-one-get-one-free for five visits to Dutch Bros. coffee, a buy-one-get-one-free lunch at The Open Door once a month, and many others.

Distribution of the funds is a bit more complicated.

First, the OBWC umbrella currently covers 22 sport teams including 17 OSAA (Oregon School Activities Association) sanctioned teams and five club teams.

A club team is considered to be part of the OBWC group if they "...wear an Outlaw jersey during competition," said Roth. Club teams include the ski teams, the equestrian team, and the boys and girls lacrosse teams.

Some OSAA-sanctioned teams, like volleyball, evolve into a club team during the off season and they do not play as an Outlaws team during the off season, so their club activities are not included in the OBWC funding program.

The school district can only contribute funds to OSAA-sanctioned sports. It is estimated that the district contributed about $400,000 to OSAA sports this year.