Haslett, Mich. - The members of the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association, Arctic Cat, BRP, Polaris, and Yamaha, announced at the International Snowmobile Congress held in Iowa in June, 2010, that the ISMA Grant Program for excellence will continue.
The objective of the program is to provide money grants to state, provincial and territorial snowmobile organizations that are members of the American Council of Snowmobile Associations (ACSA) or the Canadian Council of Snowmobile Organizations (CCSO) for specific program activities.
The ISMA Grant Program awards grants for the following categories of work:
The promotion of a successful Go Snowmobiling Campaign. The promotion can consist of TV, Radio and/or internet promotion of snowmobiling directed at non-snowmobilers or influentials who can have impact on snowmobiling. The effort can also entail taking individuals for organized snowmobile rides supported by media coverage for the event. Events and activities supporting the Go Snowmobiling theme are numerous and encourage thoughtful creativity.
Snowmobile Safe Rider-related projects qualify for the competitive grants. The effort must support the concepts of the Safe Riders! You Make Snowmobiling Safe safety campaign. ISMA has video footage and photos available to be used in creating print or broadcast materials for the project. The Safe Riders! logo and the Safe Riders! messages must be included in the safety grant request.
The ISMA Grant Program will again support actions that improve or maintain land access for snowmobilers. This includes, but is not limited to: participation in lawsuits or public consultations protecting land access and educational efforts emphasizing smart riding behavior so that snowmobiling will be able to expand or continue in specific riding areas.
The manufacturers grant program historically has supported the updating of economic impact studies and will continue to do so. Economic impact studies showing how snowmobilers impact the economy in a positive way by generating jobs, taxes and economic activity to a region are very important. Many organizations have conducted excellent economic impact studies, usually using a university and/or a local or state/provincial agency with economic analysis background.
Avalanche Awareness and related safety training are again "top of mind awareness" issues for the manufacturers. Programs designed to promote avalanche safety and awareness will be strongly considered by the manufacturers committee.
Strengthening and expansion in membership and/or retention of membership is recognized by the manufacturers as a very important issue that is eligible for an ISMA Grant. Snowmobile organizations are competing for the customer dollar and the manufacturers grant program supports the associations' efforts in growing their association business and membership.
ISMA Grant applications are available through the ACSA or CCSO office and must be submitted to the ISMA office by Oct. 1, 2010. The snowmobile manufacturers Grant Review Committee carefully reviews the grant applications and awards them to the organizations based on the thoroughness and thoughtfulness in the application which must include careful planning and support from the membership and other business/government related entities.
Grant Checks will be issued from the ISMA office to the associations in early November, 2010.
Details of the grant application are contained within the application, which is available through the ACSA Office, CCSO Office or through the ISMA Office.
This is the 10th year of the ISMA grant program, which has successfully supported hundreds of worthwhile projects, serving snowmobilers throughout North America. More than $2 million dollars worth of research and promotion has been attributed to the ISMA Grant Program.