Thank you Para for allowing me to post this. I'm actually a little embarrassed to post this after some of the other fund raisers for more worthy causes that have been posted here, but I didn't know where else to turn.

I am the current president of the Clinton County Farmers' and Sportsmen's Association (CCFSA). We are a not for profit organization established in 1952 that provides conservation work and maintains shooting ranges for Rifle, Shotgun, and Pistol. We provide our facilities free of charge to city and state government organizations, as well as other non-profit groups, so they can certify, train and educate their members on firearms use. We also hold public paid events for competition, training and general practice. In addition, our members pay regular dues to use the facilities, which also include archery (3D and field), a clubhouse/classroom, hiking trails, and two ponds for catch and release fishing. Our members are mostly from the local community and membership is available to any responsible adult. We have always strived to keep our membership dues low, so that more people can afford to enjoy what our organization has to offer, as well as help support everyone’s Second Amendment rights.

Recently, 69 acres of adjoining farm land was put up for sale. As we know, shooting facilities across America are often threatened by new development that springs up around them. Purchasing this land gives CCFSA a unique opportunity to secure the future of our organization, ensuring we are not eventually surrounded by housing developments or other neighbors that would want to close our ranges. We can also use the new property to expand our facilities, offering additional capabilities (including room for a 500 yard rifle range) to those we serve.

We plan to raise membership dues to pay for a mortgage on this land, but the problem is that the bank needs $125,000 down by July 1st and we do not have that kind of cash available.

We have started a GoFundMe to hopefully raise the additional down-payment.

Please help us grow our club so we can better serve our purpose of promoting conservation and the shooting sports, and protecting the Second Amendment.

If we are unable to complete the purchase, the donations will be refunded.

Here is the GoFundMe link:
https://www.gofundme.com/ccfsa-property-purchase

Here is our club website:
http://www.ccfsa.com

Rich - one thing our local range did was offer members the opportunity to loan money to the club (secured by the land that was being purchased), although we did it to purchase the land outright with cash vs just the downpayment.

Rhino,

Thanks for the idea. Unfortunately, that won't work for us.

Many of our members are on a fixed income (retired) and don't have a lot of extra cash. We sent out a survey to see if we could get enough donations or life memberships (12.5 year break even) from the members to purchase it outright and didn't even come close. Almost everyone was ok with raising the annual dues to make the loan payments over time, but where we are struggling is in raising the down payment.

Since we can't purchase it outright, the bank will be holding the land as collateral, so we can't use it as collateral on a second loan. Even if we could, I think there are rules about borrowing money to make a down payment.

We tried to get the sellers to go with a land contract, but they are an older couple with some health issues who need the cash now.