Financial impact data needed

[dennismc115]

As has been discussed here before, many clubs are experiencing resistance and at times, downright hostility to what we do, i.e. dog training and testing. This resistance may come from anti-gun groups, anti-hunting groups, or simply groups that feel as if they are in competition for the public grounds we use.

I believe that the financial data that some clubs have attempted to gather could form the basis of a very cogent and persuasive argument to be made to the authorities that control these grounds. What elected official or employee of a commission reliant upon tax dollars can ignore the positive economic impact that dog clubs have upon a local economy, meals, beverages. Included in these numbers must be $$$ spent on fuel, lodging, meals, beverages, veterinarian services, local attractions, etc.

I would greatly appreciate any data that a club has been able to gather to use in our issues with the local government agency that regulate the land we use. Furthermore, all suggestions and contacts are appreciated.

I am the president of an AKC retriever club and have been working with 2 other AKC retriever clubs, 2 NAVHDA clubs, and a NAHRA club.

Please help us by sending whatever information or anecdotal evidence you can supply.

We have had meetings with local political figures and they seem to be impressed by number$$$$$$

Thank you,
Dennis McConnell
President
Westchester Retriever Club, Inc.

[Buzz]

That doesn't seem too tough to estimate.

2 nights in a hotel at $75/night - $150
2 days meals - $50-60
a tank of gas - $65

Say $250/participant.

Now you just need to figure out how many handlers will show up...

[TerRun]

A tactic I know that a local horse club uses is to hand out business cards to all participants for them to use at the local businesses they patronize. The cards should say something like "I patronized your business while I was in the area running an AKC Field Trial hosted by the Black River Retriever Club. Thanks for supporting the clubs intersts!" Or whatever sounds good.

[DoubleHaul]

Back in grad school I was an assistant for a professor who did lots of economic impact studies for various things. We used various data but the biggest chunk of it came from survey data. You could post up a surveymonkey survey and get various folks to answer it. I suspect pros have very good information since they charge the expenses back to owners. Once you get a good handle on the average spend per person, you apply a multiplier to get the impact of the fact that the money taken in is re-spent. This varies by the size of the geographic area you are talking about and the specific area. Estimating this is the big number crunching part--the whole input output model and leakage varies by geography, sector, etc. However, it always seemed for a local study it used to come out at around 2x-2.5x.

Things have changed since then--with consolidation and globalization, I would imagine the leakage would be higher than back then, but it probably isn't much. You could probably use google to get good enough for government work numbers.

[david gibson]

dont forget money paying bird boys, buying birds, other club equipment, portacans, it all adds up and the list goes on....

[TN_LAB]

Invite the local news folks. They might send a reporter and give you and interview and some air time.

There are lots of dog lovers out there and I've yet to meet a person that didn't admire a well-trained retriever. Next time you attend a retriever event chat it up with the bird boys and you'll probably hear words like "awesome" and "so cool."

I know our club dropped a couple C notes at the nearby convenience store during our hunt test (no telling what the attendees spent over there) and in the typical small towns that host these retriever events (I don't think I've ever seen one held inside the city limits ) a couple hundred bucks in ice and snack sales is nothing to sneeze at.

[dennismc115]

I appreciate the responses received so far and am collecting them for consideration by the clubs I am working with.

Curious about contacting local press though. They have shown themselves to not be friends up to this point. Additionally, there is concern about raising our profile and exposing ourselves to even greater problems. Does anyone have personal experience with this?

[Jason Glavich]

I appreciate the responses received so far and am collecting them for consideration by the clubs I am working with.

Curious about contacting local press though. They have shown themselves to not be friends up to this point. Additionally, there is concern about raising our profile and exposing ourselves to even greater problems. Does anyone have personal experience with this?

Host a puppy stake during your event or a youth handler type thing and get them there to show how the kids get involved and stay out of trouble by doing so. If your also an UKC club you can point out the Youth Retreiver program or the AKC youth handler program and get them to bite on that then make your points about the finacial things the club does for the area. Bring them there on false pretenses then use them as you see fit. Nice thing about puppy or youth events you dont have to use birds so no one will be offended. Just my .02.

[Byron Musick]

dont forget money paying bird boys, buying birds, other club equipment, portacans, it all adds up and the list goes on....

They PAY Bird Boy's????? No wonder my camo don't match, I've been doing ti for FREE!!!!

[Eric Johnson]

The AKC can state the economic impact of a dog show. Perhaps they can use those numbers to estimate the impact of other events.

Eric