Could a Jigsaw Puzzle Tournament Be Your Next Fundraiser?By Cecelia Lawrence, Library Director andJigsaw Puzzle Tournament Organizer

Jigsaw Puzzle Tournament Misconceptions1. You can use any venue to hold a tournament2. You can just use card tables3. You can use donated or used puzzles4. You can throw a Tournament together in 1 month5. Puzzle Tournaments are inexpensive to host

How does a Jigsaw Puzzle Tournament Work?The goal is for the team to finish the puzzle in the shortest time possible.Individuals or teams compete on the same puzzle within the same division. STUDENT DIVISIONS• 2nd-3rd grade• 4th-5th grade• 6th-8th grade

ADULT DIVISIONS• Individual• 2-person team• 4-person team

The Venue for the Tournament

• Lighting is crucial• Consider allowing puzzlers to bring in

extension cords and additional desk lighting

MISCONCEPTION #1 You can use any venue to hold a tournament

Table types and Tournament room layout

1. 6 foot X 3 foot rectangular tables2. 5 or 6 foot round tables3. 8 foot X 3 foot rectangular tables4. card table or conference table (4 foot X 2 foot)

MISCONCEPTION #2 You can just use card tables

Can any puzzle work?

• Thick cardboard puzzles where the pieces fit tightly together are best• Puzzle piece size matter (larger is better). • The number of pieces in a puzzle (More pieces in a puzzle=Higher

difficulty) • The image on the puzzle can increase the difficulty or create

opportunities for teams to develop a strategy.

MISCONCEPTION #3 You can use used or donated puzzles

Number of Puzzle pieces based on abilitySTUDENT DIVISIONS (2-person teams)• 2nd-3rd grade (100 piece puzzle)• 4th-5th grade (200 piece puzzle)• 6th-8th grade (300-350 piece puzzle)

• ADULT DIVISIONS• Individual (400-550 piece puzzle)• 2-person team (400-600 piece puzzle)• 4-person team (600-750 piece puzzle)

Recommended Puzzle ManufacturersHigh Quality manufacturers:• Melissa and Doug• Springbok• Cobble Hill (Canadian)• Masterpieces• Bits and Pieces• Sunsout—inconsistent puzzles• Ravensburger• Buffalo Games• Schmidt (German)

Websites for ordering• MelissaandDoug.com• Bitsandpieces.com• Simplepasttimes.com• Seriouspuzzles.com• Spilsbury.com• Puzzlewarehouse.com• Amazon.com

MISCONCEPTION #3 You can use used or donated puzzles

Puzzle manufacturers NOT recommended• White Mountain puzzles• Big Ben• Ceaco• Great American Puzzle Factory

Imagery and Shaped puzzlesHere are some examples of puzzles we have used in the past.

Puzzle title & image should be kept secret

How many puzzles should I order?Guesstimate. When starting out, you just have to guess how many puzzles you will need in each division.

Order puzzles 2-3 months in advance.

Do puzzle manufacturers ever donate puzzles?Sadly no. Every year, I approach one or two different jigsaw puzzle manufacturers and ask for puzzle prizes or tournament puzzles. I have not gotten a response from any manufacturer.

Puzzle Tournament Registration formKey features on the form:

• Contact name• Team name• School name (if you have student divisions)• Payment or request a sponsor• Registration deadline• Event location and competition time• Entry Fee information

Event day volunteers• Registration table (1-2)• Volunteer to show participants to their competition table• Food patrol volunteers • Prize patrol volunteers• Setup volunteers• Photographer• Announcer• Judges• Official Time-keepers

So how is this a fundraiser?• Entry fees• Sponsorships and Underwriters

Finding Sponsors and underwriters in your community

• Businesses in your community• Businesses are more likely to support students than adults• Ask larger businesses (car dealerships, realty corporations, etc.)

to underwrite teams or the cost of puzzles • Small businesses – ask for prizes or a partial sponsorship

• Philanthropic individuals• Library supporters may be willing to support a team or half of a

team

Thanking your sponsors!• Sponsorship Thank You Board • Thank you note signed by the puzzlers • Table signage• Invite businesses to leave brochures or card at a sponsor table• Take out an Thank You Advertisement in the Newspaper or

Friends of the Library or Library newsletter• Send a Thank You certificate• Send a thank you letter along and picture of the sponsored team(s)• Website

COMPLETE EYECARE ASSOCIATES, DR.’S BAXTER, FRENCH &

O’CONNOR

Thank you for being a sponsor of SCOTTIE PUZZLER at the NPPL Foundation’s 2015 Jigsaw Puzzle Tournament

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Planning

• Order puzzles need to be ordered 2-3 months in advance. • Sponsors should be approached four to six weeks prior to the

Tournament. • Open Registration 3-4 weeks prior to the Tournament. • Plan to take 5-6 months of planning the first year.

MISCONCEPTION #4 You can throw a Tournament together in 1-2 months

Prizes – What’s a Tournament without prizes?• Theater candy• Fast Food coupons• Oriental Trading has some wonderful

puzzle-themed gifts• Baudville is an appreciation promotional

company that also has puzzle-themed gifts• Consider ordering custom T-Shirts

Financial breakdown

• Profit: Entry Fees paid by puzzler or sponsors• Debit: Cost of Puzzles (typically $7-$15 each)• Debit: Cost of Prizes (typically $1-$8 per puzzler)• Debit: Venue Costs, if any (can be anywhere from $25+)• Debit: Cost of Food, if provided• Debit: Cost of correspondence with puzzlers, sponsors

(usually less than $25• Debit: Cost of advertising, if any (varies widely)• Debit: Trophy and/or engraving fees

MISCONCEPTION #5 Puzzle Tournaments are inexpensive to host

Has anything ever gone wrong during a tournament?• Middle school boys stole pieces from a girls team• Teams not show up for the tournament• Meddling parents try to coach the kids• Divorced parents fighting during a tournament• Red Kool-Aid spilled in the church foyer (this required the additional

cost of getting Service Master out to clean up the red dye!)• Kids show up to puzzle, but parent never registered them• Kids puzzled in the wrong division (6th grader puzzled in a 5th grade

division)• Puzzle was TOO hard and nobody finished within the allotted time• Puzzle Coordinator was sick with bronchitis and not able to attend

Has anything ever gone wrong during a tournament?• Mis-counted the number of available tables and ended up using

conference style tables and card tables.• Kids “give up” and want to quit. We have volunteer judges who

help encourage the kids to finish.• Teams finishing within one one-hundredth of a second apart.• Puzzle manufacturer had a quality control issue and 75% of the

puzzles were missing 1-3 pieces each• Puzzlers arguing because puzzles with identical titles, pieces, and

SKU number were cut differently (some puzzles were cut vertically and horizontally and others were cut on the diagonal). Puzzlers felt the diagonal puzzles were harder and that the puzzles made their division unfair.

Questions?

Could a Jigsaw Puzzle Tournament Be Your Next Fundraiser?• By Cecelia Lawrence, Library Director and• Jigsaw Puzzle Tournament Organizer• 308-535-8036 X 3321• lawrencecc@ci.north-platte.ne.us