Fundraising: Raise Funds With a GeoCaching Tournament

Dick Moss, Editor, Physical Education Update.com

Geocaching is an activity in which participants follow GPS coordinate instructions in order to find "caches" -- hidden containers holding small prizes (see "Geocaching Makes Walking Fun for Physical Education Classes").

It's a fun activity that has become popular as the price of GPS units has become more affordable. In fact, some cell phones now have GPS units built-in.

This popularity has created a new fundraising opportunity -- geocaching tournaments!

How to Organize
Individuals or teams enter the tournament for a fee. For example, $20 for individuals or $70 for teams.

They are given GPS coordinates to a number of caches, with each cache holding a playing card. After a pre-determined amount of time, the participants return to home base with the cards they have discovered. The best poker hand wins the prize, or gets first pick of one of several prizes (donated by local businesses, of course).

Example
The "Geocache Hide and Seek" is an annual fundraising event for Sudbury, Ontario's Rainbow Routes trail association. They use the above concept, but follow the initial prize with a bonus round in which prizes are located within the actual caches.

Reference: Dick Moss, PE Update.com, June 2008.

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