TapKat Success Story: How the Sprint Car Hall of Fame Raised $723,750

Did you know that nonprofits who use TapKat sweepstakes as a tool in their annual fundraising strategy make more money each consecutive year they run a contest?

We sat down with Bob Baker at The Sprint Car Hall of Fame, where they just launched a sweepstakes fundraiser for a Limited Edition IMSA GTLM Championship Corvette C8.R. This is the fourth year the Sprint Car Hall of Fame is running a TapKat sweepstakes, and each year they raise more money for their nonprofit museum. In 2021, they raised $723,750 with a Z51 Corvette as the prize.

In this article, Bob shares some key takeaways that his organization has learned over the years. 

Key takeaways:

• Bob talks about how they chose a prize they knew their donor base would adore, which helped them excite their current donor base and attract new donors.

• The Sprint Car Hall of Fame pulled out all the stops when it came to marketing, leveraging email, partnerships, social media and live events. Bob shares his approach to managing their successful marketing campaign.

• Toward the end of the article, Bob makes some practical suggestions for nonprofits who are considering doing a TapKat sweepstakes. 

With a prize this special (Corvette only makes a special edition vehicle every ten years and the Sprint Car Hall of Fame is giving one away), Bob is feeling especially enthusiastic about his 2022 sweepstakes for a new Corvette . Read on for some insight into his approach to the contest, and how your nonprofit can share in the success. 

TapKat: How did you select the right sweepstakes prize for your nonprofit?

Bob Baker:  We always give away a car. It makes sense for our organization, the Sprint Car Hall of Fame — the only museum in the world solely dedicated to Sprint Cars. We’re located at turn 2 at the Knoxville Race Track. On top of the museum, we have suites where people can come and watch the races; that helps support the museum. This past Saturday night we had 462 people come to our suites. 

In terms of selecting the prize, it makes a lot of sense for us to give away a car. Our donor base is head over heels for cars. The TapKat team taught me the steps to take for how to select and source a car; really our success is due to their assistance. The whole team has been so helpful. 

This year we have a limited edition IMSA GTLM Championship Corvette C8.R, a really unique car. Chevrolet is only making 1,000 of these cars and we’re really excited about it. We expect that it’s going to do very well.

TapKat: Can you tell us a little bit about your approach to marketing the sweepstakes?

Bob Baker: We market in a variety of places where we know we’ll reach sports car enthusiasts, people who would pay $25 or $2,000 for the chance to win the car of their dreams. Our job is to find those marketing outlets, develop our relationship with them, and create enticing marketing materials to draw in new donors.

We market in a variety of places where we know we’ll reach sports car enthusiasts, people who would pay $25 or $2,000 for the chance to win the car of their dreams.

We also leverage our live events as much as possible. Knoxville is known for Sprint Car racing, and every year we hold the Knoxville Nationals in August. It’s a huge event: something like 27,000 people attend the race track. This year was the 60th anniversary, and nearly every seat in the grandstands was sold out. 

The race track has a big screen TV that plays videos throughout the race, and we created a 30-second video that showcased the sweepstakes car, and directed viewers to the website to enter. All 27,000 people saw our message a few times throughout the event, and it did really well! 

In addition to that, we keep the prize car in the front window of the museum with signage directing them to our sweepstakes page, so everyone who passes gets a chance to see it and enter.

TapKat: Do you set goals for the sweepstakes each year? 

Bob Baker: We would like to see the donations increase every year for our organization. The sweepstakes is one of the major funding sources that helps us keep the museum open year-round.

In 2021, we raised $723,750 with a 2021 Z51 Corvette. In 2020, we raised $592,600 with a 2020 Z51 Corvette and in 2019 we raised $245,000 giving away a Z06.

At this point, we feel very confident that we will continue to grow.

TapKat: Has your donor base grown as a result of running the sweepstakes?

Bob Baker: Yes. Most of the donors came from outside of our previously established museum donor base. Promotional materials for the sweepstakes exposed our museum to a whole new community of racing and motorsports enthusiasts.

One day, during our second drawing, I noticed two Corvettes parked out in the lot on a weekday. I went down to check out the cars, and they were owned by two guys who said they learned about the museum from the sweepstakes. They had a little extra time on their lunch break and thought they’d stop by to visit. They loved walking through the museum. 

Promotional materials for the sweepstakes exposed our museum to a whole new community of racing and motorsports enthusiasts.

Normally, they wouldn’t have known about us, but after reading about the museum on the sweepstakes page, they wanted to come by. The sweepstakes has been a great way to expose our museum to people who are interested in motorsports and high performance vehicles. It is working really well for us.

TapKat: What would you say to a nonprofit considering running a TapKat sweepstakes? 

Bob Baker: The sweepstakes have really helped our museum, financially. We operate on donations, and we only charge people $5 to walk through the museum. That doesn’t cover the cost of electricity! But the sweepstakes has helped us fund operations so we can keep the doors open seven days a week, year-round. 

A TapKat sweepstakes is an excellent fundraiser, but you have to work it. You don’t just flip the switch and it goes. You’ve got to nurture the sweepstakes, stay with it, and work it. 

By that, I mean that it can take a little time to put the pieces together: finding a nice prize, creating photos and videos to promote the prize, developing a promotional schedule, and fostering marketing relationships. 

I really enjoy monitoring our email marketing campaigns. When an e-blast goes out, I like to look at how much that particular promotion did the year before on the same day and the same week, and compare it to how we’re doing now. That way, I can see: are we doing the right thing? Are we ahead of schedule? Behind? 

If something’s not working right, say, a link, I can correct it right away if I’m actively monitoring the promotions. It’s a little bit of effort but when you look at the bottom line at the end of the day, it’s completely worth it. 

The whole thing is enjoyable. The TapKat team has developed a really great program for nonprofits to raise funds, and if you have a question, the TapKat team is there to help.

The TapKat team has developed a really great program for nonprofits to raise funds and if you have a question, the TapKat team is there to help.

In sum, if you’re thinking about running a sweepstakes, I recommend doing a little homework. Check out some of TapKat’s previous sweepstakes to get an idea of what is possible. When you do, you’ll understand that it’s a viable fundraiser for your organization, and it can make a big difference! 

TapKat: Thanks so much for your time, Bob! Here’s to the Sprint Car Hall of Fame’s continued success!

Ready to raise some serious money for your nonprofit using a TapKat sweepstakes? Reach out to our team today to see just how impactful a sweepstakes can be to motivate your donor base, inspire action and raise more money.