Mount Bachelor management is canceling Free Ski Day, a popular annual charitable event that has been a tradition in Central Oregon for decades.
On Free Ski Day, skiers and snowboarders are allowed to ride for free in exchange for a donation of food or cash to NeighborImpact’s Food Bank. Thousands of people come from all over Central Oregon as well as Portland and the Valley to take advantage of the deal.
In the past NeighborImpact has collected as much as 25,000 pounds of food from the event. Last year it received almost 19,000 pounds.
NeighborImpact, a non-governmental, non-profit agency that serves Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson Counties, distributed more than 8,700 emergency food boxes this summer, providing food for nearly 29,000 people, according to its website.
Mount Bachelor spokesman Alex Kaufman confirmed that the resort is canceling Free Ski Day and said it had planned to officially announce the move toward the end of this week. He said the resort is switching to another system of charitable giving that will yield greater benefits to area organizations.
Instead of collecting “just one big pile of food” and giving it to the Food Bank, Kaufman said, the resort will give 6,500 vouchers to 10 area non-profits. The agencies will distribute the vouchers and recipients will be able to redeem them for a day of skiing at the mountain. Then $25 will be given back to the charities for each voucher turned in.
The first round of $25 charity vouchers can be redeemed midweek from Jan. 5 through 16, and the second round will be redeemable from April 6 through 17. Kaufman said a total of 6,500 vouchers will be distributed, half for the first period and half for the second. He said Mount Bachelor will be releasing more information about the program later this week, including when the first vouchers will be available.
“We’re doing that so there’s not 6,500 of them all on the market at the same time,” he said.
Why is Mount Bachelor making the change?
“Basically the charitable giving [program] just hasn’t been getting the job done in the last few years,” Kaufman said. “This will allow us to leverage more money for the non-profits. Each of these [agencies] is going to be gaining between $10,000 and $25,000.”
Kaufman acknowledged that abolishing Free Ski Day won’t be a popular move with skiers and snowboarders, but argued that the benefit for area charities outweighs the public relations cost. “We’re gonna see that on the charitable side this is a thousand times more effective,” he said.
NeighborImpact Executive Director Sharon Miller was quoted in a Mount Bachelor news release as saying: “We’re pleased to be part of Mt Bachelor’s new charitable giving campaign. We appreciate our ongoing partnership with Mt Bachelor which helps to feed many families across the region. As part of this new charitable initiative we will be distributing the tickets within a few weeks so we hope folks will go out and ski for a good cause.”
The Eye can understand why Mount Bachelor officials want to put a positive spin on their decision, and we wish them luck with their new system of charitable giving. But we have to admit that system sounds pretty cumbersome and unwieldy to us.
And with a major recession bearing down on Central Oregon the demand for food is likely to soar this year. Canceling Free Ski Day definitely will put a considerable crimp in NeighborImpact’s ability to provide it.
This article appears in Nov 6-12, 2008.
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Full Disclosure: I am married to Sharon Miller, the executive director of Neighbor Impact. However, I heard about the plan to cancel Free Ski Day “through the grapevine” from other local sources.
To continue full disclosure – here’s what was sent to Staff today by me.
All,
We had hoped to announce this later this week once it was 100% set, but word has started going around town that the Free Day charitable promotion is no longer going to occur. That is correct, and alone that would lead to some fast growing rumors. Hereรข โขs the bottom line – It is being replaced with a far more comprehensive charitable plan. We have chosen to make this program public a bit earlier than hoped so that folks can make an informed judgment. Please read on.
Alex
——–
Below are parts of the release that are slated to be ready for announcement later this week. We have been working on this program since September. As you can see, one of the charities is not final yet. They are simply waiting to get it in front of their board of directors. 9 out of the 10 are finalized. Mt Bachelors community support has been unfocused in the past, including the community benefit derived from free day.
The ending of the free day promotion is surely sad news for those concerned with personal freebies. However, it was a charitable promotion, which did not support our region in a very effective manner. Weรข โขre taking that similar amount of visits (6500) and making them really support the well being of central Oregon through our new charitable giving plan.
Not every change that Mt Bachelor makes in this time of change will be exactly what everyone wants to see. We took a look at Ski Free day and thought, are we doing everything we can with this for the community? We are still making $0 in ticket revenue through this new program, but now up to $162,500 will be raised for donation, instead of $0 raised through Free Day.
MT BACHELOR UNVEILS COMPREHENSIVE 2008-2009 CHARITABLE GIVING PLAN
Donations Program Aims to Support Local Organizations That Improve and Uphold Central Oregon Way of Life
(Bend, Ore.) รข “Mt Bachelor has announced a new plan to assist a wide range of charitable organizations throughout the ski season via two charity ski periods. Ten Central Oregon non รข “profit organizations will distribute Mt Bachelor lift vouchers in advance that will be redeemable for a $25 lift ticket during one of two charity ski periods. The Free Day promotion, which supported NeighborImpact, is being replaced by these two charity ski periods, offering $25 skiing and supporting 10 non-profit organizations including NeighborImpact. All ticket revenue generated through this giving plan will be donated directly to the organizations that distributed the ticket. Organizations will be presented a check for the amount of vouchers redeemed at the conclusion of each charity ski period.
The following organizations are participating in the Mt Bachelor charity ticket program this year: __________, Saving Grace, Sparrow Club, Tower Theatre, NeighborImpact, Boy and Girl Scouts, Volunteers in Medicine, MBSEF, and Oregon Adaptive Sports. Organizations will be distributing either 1000 or 500 vouchers depending on their size and scope. Through this new charitable giving plan Mt Bachelor will be giving away $377,000 worth of lift tickets to charity, which will raise up to $162,500 for central Oregon non-profits.
รข These organizations epitomize our beliefs and values as a company,รข ย said Mt Bachelor president and general manager Dave Rathbun. รข Many local non-profits have been forced to tighten their belts lately and we believe this program will be a boost at a time of need. Our past charitable efforts have lacked direction and not done enough for the community. While Free Day was popular because it was free, it did not accomplish our renewed goal of supporting local charities in a meaningful way. Weรข โขre proud to announce this program that will provide wide reaching support across our region, while extending the length of time that folks can get involved.รข ย
ctd..
ctd..
The $25 charity tickets can be redeemed midweek Jan 5-16, and midweek April 6-17. Organizations distributing tickets for the first charity period are NeighborImpact, MBSEF, Saving Grace, Sparrow Club, and Tower Theatre. Organizations distributing tickets for the second charity period are __________, Oregon Adaptive Sports, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Volunteers in Medicine. Locals looking to acquire a free voucher redeemable for the $25 lift ticket during the charity ski periods should contact the distributing organizations.
“We’re pleased to be part of Mt Bachelor’s new charitable giving campaign,” said Sharon Miller, NeighborImpact’s Executive Director. รข We appreciate our ongoing partnership with Mt Bachelor which helps to feed many families across the region. As part of this new charitable initiative we will be distributing the tickets within a few weeks so we hope folks will go out and ski for a good cause.รข ย
Mt Bachelor will be celebrating its 50th anniversary on Dec. 19 via a range of events and invites the public to donate food to NeighborImpact on that day. The resort is also sponsoring a รข Stuff the Busรข ย promotion that is currently generating food for donation.
รข Assisting local kids and families in need, supporting venues that host and nurture local artistic and cultural activities, providing winter recreational opportunities on Mt. Bachelor for kids and those physically challenged, and protection of our cherished natural environment are the pillars of Mt. Bachelor,รข ย said Rathbun.
Sounds like a benefit to more charities, rather than a net decrease. Yes, the food bank gets less food, but nine other charities get more. Not a bad deal.
Why not do both? Cash is good, but I’ve seen the piles of food in the parking lot on free ski day and it has to be beneficial. I’m not sure if the cash value Neighbor Impact will be receiving equates to the piles of food, but the real value is the food itself and the fact that they don’t have to shop for it has to be a bonus.
Like I said before, glad I do not ride here anymore. I am being amused by reading about how Mt. B. gets worse and worse. The resort I am at (and others I have heard) now thinks you are the laughing stock of the industry!!! Keep it up.
It may seem cumbersome, but I think this is a great way for Bachelor to help generate cash for organizations that are going to need it this winter–much more so than those cans of green beans and garbonzos that were cleared out of the cupboard by people who wanted that free ticket. I also hope it forces people to come in contact with the non-profits and really appreciate and understand what it is they do and what it is they face–I know, probably too much to hope for.
Bachelor is continuing to give–do the math. Over 6000 tickets. This represents a third of a million dollars in income to the ski area–$162,599 for the non-profits that they can use to fill the needs they have beyond just food.
I’ll buy my tickets from the non-profits. Enjoy the savings–hopefully enjoy the snow, and absolutely help out the less fortunate. I don’t have to go on the one or two days that the event normally occurred. It’s a good deal for me and probably many others.
I’m no fan of Pwder, but they did a good thing here.
Thanks AK, the posts you made are very informative.
Everyone need to remember that Free Ski Day was meant to help local charities – not just a free for all day on the hill. While no charity is going to turn down canned food monetary donations will go much further… And be honest we all search our pantries for canned food we are never going to eat and make it our donation.
The new program sounds like it will help worthy organizations (more than previous years) and we can actually get our choice of days to ski – instead of a single day where everyone comes out of the woodwork crowds the hill. Though I do like making fun of all the people who show up in jeans and carhardts!
6,500 x $25 would indeed be a very generous contribution by Bachelor — $162,500 — but the question is how many of those 6,500 vouchers actually will get distributed by the charities and how many will actually be used? The contribution could end up being somewhere considerably south of $162,000.
I guess “time will tell,” to use a hackneyed phrase.
#1, Non-profits will be competing against each other to distribute tickets.
#2, Mt. Bachelor has shifted the costs of marketing to non-profits.
#3, The proceeds of Mt. Bachelor’s giving program are dependent upon redemption. It is one thing to get a free voucher, but another to find the time and money to redeme it.
#3,Although the justification for this move from Mt. Bachelor was to spread the wealth amoung non-profits and the community, I wondered how much good will was generated.
#4, Although it probably sounded like a great idea at the time, its execution is probably just another check mark again Power Corporation, I would seriouly question the person that came up with the brainstorm.
#5, I love the fact that people who have been interviewed about the change respond with sound bits from the Mt. Bachlor press release.
#6, 60 pounds of food is the average weight in a food box for a family of four, 26,000 pounds of food feeds 1,7333 people for a week.
#7, What is needed in this economic downturn is more charity, Mt. Bachelor could have bought themselves even more community support if they had left free ski day and implemented their new giving program, winning hearts and minds.
#8, If I could advise Mt. Bachlor anything it would be hold the person who’s idea this was accountable.
Stephen Cramer: “I’ll buy my tickets from the non-profits.”
But that isn’t how it will work. Alex Kaufman is quoted on KTVZ’s website as saying: “Central Oregon non profits will be distributing the vouchers for free and folks will simply take them to the ticket windows, pay $25, ski that day, and that $25 will go right back to that charity.”
For a non-profit to get any money it has to give the vouchers away to people and hope they go to the mountain (during one of the two limited midweek windows of opportunity), present the voucher and pay $25.
If Bachelor really wanted to give the non-profits all that money, why not either let them sell the tickets themselves for $25 each OR simply give them the cash?
Sorry to seem cynical, but to me this appears to be a gimmick to make it look like Bachelor is being very generous when it really isn’t. I will be surprised if more than a third of those vouchers are actually distributed and used.
Of course I will be happy to be proven wrong.
HB
If that’s the way they are doing it, then it’s all bullshit. If the intent was to get money in the hands of the non-profits, then the best way would have been to give them salable vouchers and let them collect the funds up front.
I ran a very successful ski area in Southern California for thirteen years. We used vouchers like this to get publicity and coverage at minimal cost–the actual return of the vouchers at the ticket windows was fractional. It changed completely when we allowed the third party to collect the revenues instead of just sending the vouchers. Redemption of the tickets that were sold by others was almost 100%–people interested in skiing and value were the ones who bought the discounted tickets. Vouchers handled the way Bachelor handled this one sometimes were redeemed at a single digit rate.
If they are serious about raising some money for the charities, maybe a major distribution of this kind of voucher through The Source, perhaps, which would surely provide positive PR, a decent amount of funds for the non-profits, and an actual return during those periods approximating the 6,500 advertised in this marketing mess. Besides, revenues from food and beverage, rentals, et al, would probably pick up.
AK@MTB–you did a good job spinning this. Two axioms to remember: 1)If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. 2) No good deed goes unpunished.
Live and learn. Thanks for the info, HB.
Good question Bruce.
We talked long and hard with the charities on that topic. Most preferred not having to worry about collecting the money, keeping the records and handling that extra workload. We decided on this system along with the charities in the interest of simplicity and fairness to large and small charities.
We’re working with the charities on the best ways to distribute to maximize useage. Like getting emails from people who want them, then reminding folks leading up to the weeks to use them or give them to someone who will. That will also grow the charities awareness and databases. Just one way to do it. Also working on others.
“We talked long and hard with the charities on that topic. Most preferred not having to worry about collecting the money, keeping the records and handling that extra workload.”
Sorry, Alex, I don’t see how it would be that burdensome. The charity gets the voucher, they sell the voucher for $25, they enter it in their books. Not really any more complicated than a bake sale.
Ok. However, it was seen clearly in the meetings. We did meet, and we did talk, at length with all of the charities. Handling and processing hundreds of small cash transactions was going to be doable for some, and not doable for others. Resources being what they are.
I humbly disagree that safely selling 500 or 1000 vouchers individually over a month and a half would be the same as a bake sale. It was fairness and simplicity – we will of course be watching closely to see where it can be improved.
If Mt. Bachelor wanted the charity to get the money they would have given them the vouchers. Charities get donations all the time and are perfectly capable of receiving money. I would speculate that Mt. Bachelor did this to keep better track of the funds for tax purposes. Stephen Crammer is right on, it is like putting lipstick on a pig, to coin an over used metaphor. Don’t you think it is interested that the Bulletin didn’t pick up the story, that is the real story.
Alex
Speaking from experience, an unintended consequence will be the creation of an entirely new class of skiing entrepreneurs: voucher vendors. Enterprising individuals will request and obtain as many of these vouchers as they are able and during the periods in question will set up roadside stops with handmade signs advertising the discount vouchers for $5 or $10 dollars to skiers your marketing program has already attracted to the area, or casually approaching skiers in the parking lot and offering the same before they get to the ticket window.
Not likely, you say. Hey, you underestimate the business acumen of the people who ski and the ‘get the man’ mentality that Bachelor has fostered in this town. Don’t worry, though, this will only increase the donations to the local charities, and that is the purpose of the giveaway anyway, isn’t it?
Oops, did I give someone ideas? S-o-r-r-y-!!
Ha, the irresistable sabotage of charity just doesn’t stop eh. It’s not perfect, but we hope it to be effective with proper prep. Of course we have talked about that at length. Thanks for your assistance in promoting ways to scam. We are working with the charities to minimize.
There are ways to take advantage of many programs in our world (taxes, laws, stealing, etc). If you must post more, I can’t stop you, but I can humbly request that you not make a habit of posting as many as you can think of. Thanks
I suspect selling the tickets at the MT Bach windows will eliminate the ebay/aftermarket/entrepruneral potential. No local charity is going to risk having the golden eggs (discounted lift tickets) from the golden goose (Mt Bach) compromised.
The toxic image of Bachelor is not one that I generated and it doesn’t appear that your ‘efforts’ at making an improvement to the charity are anything more than a transparent attempt to get maximum mileage from minimal effort.
The ‘Free Ski Day’ was a tradition at the area that was high profile, productive and worthwhile. Management has fixed that. If you already discussed what I posted, obviously it isn’t anything new so you have made plans to deal with it. I’m not advocating taking advantage of the charity–higher usage will only achieve your goal: $160,000 for charities that need the money.
Why not look at the inevitable entrepreneurs as partners in the effort to get to that goal?
The reason the program was changed had to do with cost and capacity–spread the demand for the charity over slow periods where it won’t impact your bottom line as much. I would love to see the minutes of the meeting where the staff member rose to their feet and said that Bachelor wasn’t doing enough to raise money for charity–the resort had to do more.
Sorry, Alex, but I don’t think anyone believes that happened regardless of claims to the contrary.
I have to agree with those who post that when less costs more, when uncertainty lowers expectations, when alternatives are available, people will vote with their pocketbooks. I enjoy Bachelor–but I see it from the ‘insider’ POV that makes me appreciate every success and understand the failures. When successes are fewer and failures increase your customers let you know they are unhappy–first by their complaints, and following their continued frustration, by taking their hard-earned discretionary dollars elsewhere.
The days when a service provider could pretend that there was another customer to replace every one that poor service cost them are over. Living up to expectations isn’t easy–exceeding them and getting a loyal customer is even harder. It’s a bitch, isn’t it?
I won’t explain how it works–the actual mechanics are relatively simple. Never underestimate the ingenuity of the skiing public. And, quite frankly, how are the non-profits supposed to know who got a ticket elsewhere–how many they got that week, etc? The logistics of giveaways are a bitch.
“Ha, the irresistable sabotage of charity just doesn’t stop eh.”
Now the critics of Mt. Bachelor’s management decision are being accused of trying to “sabotage charity”??? Come on, Alex, give us a break.
Not so much Bruce. Just the gentleman publicly promoting ways to scam. Of course we all know we can scam everything in life. Promoting it is another matter.
We knew Free Day going away was not going to popular of course. That being said, I am surprised about such a backlash against MTB doing a big new charity program – from many of the same folks who have called for such a thing. I guess if we do what folks ask, the next logical thing to howl at is how we do it.
Just shows how much work we have in front of us long term. We need to do a lot of good things and be ready to stomach years of negative feedback from some. It’s quite sobering – but worth doing.
For the folks who do everything in their power to throw a charitable program (that will benefit everyone but MTB) into flux maybe their agenda is getting in front of their heart. If that’s the situation, then it’s our job to operate as best we can within it. Wish us luck! ๐
“Wish you luck” – god, that is how that place seems to wanted the public to see how they run – on luck not managerial prowness and brains. You need all the luck you can get! Ha – luck, now that is an intresting choice of words from a marketing so called expert! Ha.
AK, for those of us that have skied here since 1958, and gone through all the changes the past few years: wouldn’t you be a little skeptical? This is the same company that told employees that they would make 25% more under their new program, But made 33% less.
I want the charity program to succeed, but the past five years of Powdr Corp history might suggest other wise.
I do believe that MAYBE Powdr Corp is on the correct path. However it takes time to heal the wounds of the past five years.
me and my family of 3 come up from S.Oregon for free ski day and give many cans of food..now at $75, we will be staying home and skiing at our local mountain…not much charity in that….
Hamcam, absolutely. We are realistic that we have work to do and that we need to prove a lot of things. We are also realistic that some will be open to a better Bachelor, while others are currently opposed.
Kris, it was clear in my post that “luck” was not in reference to our physical operation, but our challenge of making strides while a subset of folks who prefer we fail do everything they can to rip it. In that area I will take luck if it is available.
Gotcha – in that cse you will need alot of luck! How are those physical operations going? The ones I mentioned above?
AK – sorry if the question posed (maybe you didn’t know it was direct to you) was perhaps abit difficult to answer. But it would be nice to know in the end, after all the rumors etc, to hear directly what has been done besides (a) lift maintenance (b) paint (3) menu changes (4) heated sidewalk. What else? New terrain parks? Anything new?
Don’t you people have better things to do? Like ski? Take a powder pill, it works wonders.
I always try to ski on the free day. It gets me to Bend to spend my money and I bring a box of cans that I gather from people at work.
Now I will go when I want and not bother with the vouchers…
It is a good try, but Mt Bach. got caught cutting down it’s actually charity.
Mt Hood is open.
The family really wanted to go this year. Sorry it will not be happening.
too bad. It was the one day I could afford to take all 5 kids and go skiiing. We usually spent close to $150 in the Lodge on food, not to mention the rental of skis and boots.