Save Money for Forensic Programs

May 16, 1998
updated July 27, 2013

Prepared by Jim Hanson

This document seeks to provide suggestions, encourage research, and present concrete proposals to reduce financial barriers to participation in forensics. This document is in progress and we seek your suggestions for improving it. Please e-mail Jim Hanson at jim@wcdebate.com and provide additional ideas or revisions to the ideas contained in this document.

Questions or Comments? Send mail to Jim Hanson at jim@wcdebate.com

On this web page, there are suggestions for the following:

1. Ways to Lower Fees at Tournaments you Host

2. Ways to lower the cost of Research

3. Reduce Costs of Travel to Tournament

1. LOWER FEES AT TOURNAMENTS

TOURNAMENT DIRECTORS--LOWER THE COST OF TROPHIES

• Get bids for low cost trophies. Send out an RFP (Request for Proposals) itemizing the desired trophies and asking local vendors for binding bids. Choose the lowest bid.
• Use local art for trophies. Consider encouraging students in your school's art department to do projects to make trophies.
• Use ribbons, certificates, flowers, old trophies, typewriters for awards
• Use less expensive trophies like less wood and marble, more glassware, toy animals, pottery, and t-shirts

TOURNAMENT DIRECTORS-HELP NEW, POORLY FUNDED PROGRAMS

• Waive or reduce fees for new programs and programs with small budgets
• Include a statement in your invitation that explicitly requests poorly funded programs to contact you about fee waivers.

TOURNAMENT DIRECTORS-LOWER THE COST OF JUDGING

• Try to get volunteer judges; encourage local business leaders to judge and write letters for their efforts
• Require teaching assistants, including those not in the speech-debate program, to judge rounds for the program. Make it part of their job; it helps you and gives them something to put on their Vita.
• Encourage alumni judging as a "donation" to the program
• Make a requirement in an undergraduate class (basic public speaking; argumentation and debate class) to judge at your tournament (especially your high school tournament). You can also give extra credit for judging or establish an assignment in an undergraduate class to write critiques of public presentations and let the students do judging at the tournament to fulfill the requirements of the assignment.

TOURNAMENT DIRECTORS-GET SPONSORS FOR YOUR TOURNAMENT

• Look for sponsorships for the tournament; have them pay for trophies, ballots, etc.

TOURNAMENT DIRECTORS-LOWER TRAVEL COSTS FOR PARTICIPANTS

• Offer discounts for long-distance travelers
• Offer free lodging in residence hall rooms, student rooms, gyms, etc.
• Provide transportation from the tournament hotel to the tournament site and from the airport to and from the hotel. This reduces the need for expensive rental vans and cars. You can save programs hundreds of dollars by doing this.
• Design your schedule so that other people need to spend the least number of nights at a hotel. This can save programs hundreds of dollars in hotel and food costs and it means students and coaches spend more time at home. As you do this, maintain concern for safety for when people travel to and from the tournament. For example, start your tournament Friday evening and end mid-day Sunday.
• Arrange discount rates at hotels for your tournament, especially if you have a tournament hotel
• Work with other schools to offer swings to provide most the rounds for the buck. Consider hosting two tournaments at your school during one weekend. For example, maybe a short IE tournament on Friday before you begin your regular tournament on Friday evening.

TOURNAMENT DIRECTORS-IDEAS AT THE END OF YOUR TOURNAMENT

• Send portions of profits to groups supporting debate like the IMPACT coalition, the Soros foundation, the Urban Debate League, and Daniel Webster foundation.
• Send letters to the administrations of programs who participated at your tournament and laud the achievements of the students and coaches at the program. This builds up support for the program.

2. REDUCE TRAVEL COSTS TO TOURNAMENTS

COACHES-FIND LESS EXPENSIVE HOUSING/HOTELS

• Share hotel rooms. Be sure to check your school's regulations concerning this
• Get roll-aways for hotel rooms so you can fit 5 in a room
• Request discounts from hotel chains that you frequently visit. Super 8, for example, has a VIP program.
• Request discount rates, AAA discounts, corporate rates, special rates, government rates, etc.
• Stay at cheaper tournament motels and hotels like Motel 6's etc.
• Drive an RV on long trips. Watch movies on the way to nationals, eat without stopping, and sleep in a bed.
• Stay at homes of alumni, students, parents, etc.
• Stay in residence hall rooms, a gym, etc., at the tournament you attend.

COACHES-REDUCE THE COSTS OF FOOD

• Buy an ice chest and fill it with sandwiches and cold drinks.
• Pack lunches for the drive instead of fast food; it is healthier and cheaper.
• Buy groceries instead of eating out all the time
• Go to cheap food, fast food. Remember, as a coach, you may have more disposable income than students
• Students with food plans on their home campus can get meals packed to take along, at least for the first day.
• Request free food at tournament schools with meal plans from the same food service company.

COACHES-REDUCE TRAVEL COSTS

• Drive your own cars and have students drive their own cars to tournaments.
• Share vans or rent a bus to tournaments. Have one coach in the area work out the logistics and then other schools should cooperate.
• Note: Be careful about driving personal cars and sharing vans among schools Talk with your school about their rules for this.

COACHES-GENERAL TOURNAMENT COST REDUCTIONS

• Choose less expensive tournaments and tournaments with lower fees
• Go to tournaments that are closer.

· Questions or Comments? Send mail to Jim Hanson at jim@wcdebate.com