How do I become a Snow Athlete?

You need to be eligible.  Athletes formally named to a National Team Program (including NextGen) are eligible. Athletes formally named to a Provincial and Territorial Sport Organizations Team Program are eligible.
Complete eligibility criteria can be reviewed  here. 

What is the Application process to become a Snow Athlete? 

  1. Eligible athletes complete the athlete registration form attached page and submit to john@snowathletes.ca along with required supporting documentation Athlete Application Form
  2. Once SAC receives a complete registration athletes can expect to receive confirmation and access to their SAC Page in 3-5 business days. Athletes can then access their personal page to add photos, video and update all aspects of the page including social media links.  The page works much like a GoFundMe page but unlike that platform, all donations to the athlete through SAC receive an official tax-deductible donation receipt that donors can use to reduce their income tax.
  3. Once your page is complete you can begin sharing and raise funds to support your athletic career. 
  4. SAC will host virtual monthly seminars that, among other things will teach you the most successful fundraising strategies that have worked for over 15 years for the windathletes sailors.  

As a Snow Athlete how do I access the funds I have raised?

All funds raised are accessible by way of an expense claim.  SAC does not simply send you money until you have submitted and expense claim with receipts.  You need to use the SAC Expense Claim form which is an excel document available here: Expense Claim Form   

The first step in any expense claim is to contact Lana@snowathletes.ca to find out precisely how much you have  available. This is a calculated amount because every donation has some fees deducted by Pay Pal  and/or SAC.

How to Make and Expense Claim

What sort of expenses can I claim?

Any expense that is directly related to your sport is usually eligible. Things like Team Fees, flights, trains, car rental, hotels, coaching, food, physio therapy, gym memberships, sport club memberships, sport related clothing and most equipment, training camps, etc..  Things that are not claimable are capital items like cars, houses, etc. - generally the big ticket items.  If you are not sure ask us before submitting a claim.  Some sport organizations bill you for a variety of expenses when you attend events or training camps.  You can submit that invoice as part of your expense claim.  This makes it easier for everyone beacuse there are fewer receipts to look at.  ** IMPORTANT TIP**  If you submit an expense claim that is larger that the amount available, you lose teh ability to use the unused portion of receipts submitted, so try to tailor the claim to the amount available, and always makes sure the total claimed does not exceed the amount available even if the total value of receipts is over that amount.  Remember, when you are training or at cometiotion you can claimn $65/ day without any receipts.  You just need to be able to prove you were training or at an event.

I have a donor who does not want to donate online.  What can she do?

SAC does accept cheques mailed to us along with a manually completed donation receipt.  We prefer not to do this unless the amount is over $2000 because there is a lot of time and effort required to process a cheque which involves the deposit, issuing of a manual donation receipt and then putting it in the mail.  Our online donation process issues the donation receipts automatically and deposits the money in our bank account and keeps track of who the donation was intended to support. The donation form is downloadable from your athlete webpage.

How do I know who has donated so I can thank them?

In the world of fundraising the most important thing is the simplest.  Always thank your donors ASAP!.  If you want to know how much money you have raised, who your donors are and their email address, just contact us and will will give you an update in the form of a spreadsheet. There are too many athletes to send out an update every time there is a donation, which collectively for all the hundreds of snow athletes on the site will amouint to many thousands of donations each year, so you will need to ask:)  For online donations you should get an automatically generated email indicating who donated to you and how much, but donations by cheque do not generate this email, so you need to ask. You can also follow along on your web page to see the last 5 donations received but this is not a complete list and requires frequent checking. Contact for requesting updates is john@snowathletes.ca or Lana@snowathletes.ca

How do I know how much money I have raised?

If you want to know how much money you have raised, who your donors are and their email address, just contact us and we will will give you an update in the form of a spreadsheet.  There are too many athletes to send out an update every time there is a donation so you will need to ask.  For online donations you should get an automatically generated email indicating who donated to you and how much, but donations by cheque do not generate this email, so you need to ask us. You can also follow along on your web page to see the last 5 donations received but this is not a complete list and requires frequent checking. Contact for requesting usdates is john@snowathletes.ca

Do all donations to Snow Athletes Canada get a Donation Receipt?

Yes, unless the donor checks the box indicating that they are not arms-length.  Mothers, fathers sisters, brothers, grandparents and spouses are usually not considered arms-length.  Aunts and uncles do usually qualify.   The definition of armslength under Canadian tax law can be found here https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/charities-giving/charities/charities-giving-glossary.html

What if some of the money I raise never gets claimed because I retire?

This almost never happens.  In 15 years of running Wind Athletes Canada, the only time an amount of over $100 was not claimed, we asked the athlete for a recommendation of which current athlete would be most deserving and the Board of Directors approved the recommendation.  Generally, if money sits in an account for more than 2 years without being used, we will contact the athlete to find out what is going on and the Board of Directors will decide how to repurpose those funds.

What is the best way to use my page to raise money?

We will be hostimg monthly Webinars on this very topic.  Watch your inbox for an invitation from me 

If you have a question without an answer above write to john@snowathletes.ca with your questions.

Fundraising for High Performance Sports 101 - Secrets and Insights

Learn more about how to use your webpage from John Curtis, President of Snow Athletes Canada.

This video contains nuts and bolts level fundraising tips like:

  • how to do an effective newsletter or video newsletter
  • face to face fundraiser best practices
  • key elements of athlete messaging - what donors really care about
  • using video on your page 
  • who is likely to donate and why
  • how to drive traffic to your page
  • and more 

The Important Differences Between Sponsorships vs. Donations - what you need to know!

Life Lessons form Sport and Fundraising Tips from Canadian Olympic Sailor Ali tenHove