Probably one of Wawona's biggest obstacles to getting public interest and
raising more funds is lack of a good website. Without one, Wawona will always
be
of limited interest and get minimal attention outside it's immediate locale.

BB


The e-commerce model. Only works with sufficient energy expended to
(constantly) inform people about the website. And I have yet to see a website
"close" anybody on a major expense or complex idea. :-)

To raise $2mm, particularly in economically emaciated Seattle these days, you
need a full time fundraiser, a $10k a month fundraising budget, a website, and
a little bit of luck.

Boaters in WA have had the chance to add a little extra to the annual
registration fee, to create a fund tho help preserve and restore ships like
this. Most don't.

Public and private money, and countless volunteer hours, recently restored the
Virginian V steam ferry. There was a lot more emotional support for the V5. She
was used to haul thousands upon thousands of kids from Seattle to various
summer camps in the 50's, 60's, and 70's.
Many of those summer campers retained
idyllic memories of cruising on the boat. They are now well into their peak
earning years or retired and feeling slightly more charitable. The V5 was in
active use as a charter boat until just a few yers ago when the CG pulled her
cert (due to rotting keel, if I recall correctly). She was a fixture in the
annual lighted boat parades in December. It wasn't an easy task, but the money
and community support to restore that boat ultimately materialized.

Raising money for a boat like Wawona is tougher. She hasn't been actively
sailing local waters within the living memory of most Washingtonians, and
instead of ferrying 7 million rowdy summer campers, she has hauled 7 million
salted codfish to market. The group that has her now is doing an admirable job
with limited resources. Entire sections of the hull have been reframed, and
quite a bit of the outer planking has been replaced on the starboard side. (Not
long ago, she was turned at the wharf to allow work to proceed on the port
side.) She has had new rigging installed.

There is much more to do. Entire sections of the superstructure (from the
codfishing configuration) are gone, the foc'sle is an empty void. The deck is
having a race with the ravages of time and the winner remains unclear.

The fundraising environment is really tough right now throughout the country.
My daughter just landed a job with a major non-profit org in NYC. She is fresh
out of grad school-again- and was surprised she was the chosen candidate. When
this particular organization has an opening, they typically receive 10-20
resume's from qualified applicants. With the economy where it's at these days,
private philanthropy is way, way down and non profit organizations are cutting
payrolls like crazy. My daughter competed with several dozen experienced
applicants for her position.

Sort of debunks the "faith-based charity funded by huge tax cuts" approach to
social services. Whatever the recipients of
the tax cuts are doing with the money, it isn't showing up in any sort of
increased contribution to non-profit and charitable organizations. One of the
reasons charitable contributions are down is that
with lower tax rates in place for the folks with the most discretionary income,
the
tax deduction for charitable donations is less attractive than before. Tough as
it may be to imagine, some people donate
less money when there's less difference between the pre-tax and afer-tax
numbers.

NW Seaport's guesstimate that $2million would finish the restoration is only
realistic because there are enough skilled shipwrights around who are willing
to volunteer some time to perform the labor.

Once one of these old ships arrives at the point where it can be considered
"restored", the expenses continue. Anybody owning a boat can attest that the
money doesn't stop flowing into the hull when the most recent repair is
finished or the ink is dry on the bill of sale. "-)

One useful technique is to turn the restored vessel into a money maker,
(hosting wedding receptions, etc etc etc)
but that type of effort will seldom generate all the money it takes to keep an
old boat viable. Other options are less attractive.
(Painting the boat red and white with an enormous Coca-Cola logo on the hull
would be an example!)

Restoring and maintaining Wawona has required, and will continue to require, a
lot of money. Is the community willing to shake the private piggy bank hard
enough to dislodge the funds? There are certainly many who feel that if the
community isn't willing to rescue a historic resource with private funds, it
should be allowed to disintegrate. We can be thankful that previous generations
didn't have that same attitude- there'd be nothing left in the United States
over 50 years old unless it had a specific, profitable, economic purpose.