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05/31/2007 04:02:27 PM · #1 |
Greetings...
My local camera club is hosting their first juried photo competition this year. We are planning to make this an annual event after we work out the logistics and get our first competition completed. Part of my responsibilities in the organization of this event is to solicit corporate sponsors who donate $100 to be used for prize money to the contest winners and to solicit prizes that will be awarded to second and third place winners in three different divisions. I have never done this before and I'm looking for some folks who have been through this process to give me some good suggestions for places to go to get these donations.
The $100 and prize donors will be appearing on our literature and competition flyers as well as the club website. I have sample literature ready to hand out, but just don't know exactly where I should start. We don't have any local camera shops, with the exception of one, whose owner is already a member of the club. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated :)
John Setzler
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05/31/2007 04:07:13 PM · #2 |
A lot of resturants will donate gift-certificates for these kinds of things; that costs them a lot less than the face value of the cert.
Also look at other local events and hit up their sponsors. $100 ain't much; if you're a non-profit it's tax deductable.
Also look into a media sponsor - if you have a local weekly or something that might donate some ad space - it's good just by itself, but also makes your plea to others much more compelling (as you've just increased their exposure tremendously).
And if you're in Madison August 3rd and 4th, come to the 4th annual Sugar Maple Traditional Music Festival! We've got tons of sponsors. ;) |
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05/31/2007 04:10:43 PM · #3 |
| Never done anything like that - but maybe even writing off to a local/national paper or even photo mag might be useful - it wont cost much of your time to write a stock email and send it out just to get a few people say "No", you never know, someone might say yes... |
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05/31/2007 04:28:34 PM · #4 |
Hi John,
The fastest way to get corporate sponsorship is by setting up a meeting with locally owned companies. Most of them do not have to get corporate office approvals and the decision usually can be made locally. If you go to major corporations expect the manager of that store to have to call public relations to submit your request. And most of the time they will reply saying they already help other charities, groups and have no funds allotted to participate this physical year. You would have to put in a petition for the next physical year. I would still do this because you want this to be an annual event. But it̢۪s not going to help in most cases the first year.
When soliciting a sponsor I have found it to be very valuable to do research on the company and know some facts about them. This will tell the owner / operator that you have knowledge of his or her company and you know that their sponsorship will be just as valuable to them as to your club. Have a small presentation mapped out showing this. Go for the cash first and if they do not want to participate ask for a gift card or merchandise because $100 is $100 but a $100 product from their store may only cost them $50 in cost, yet you still received a $100 donation.
Explain to them how you newsletters and other communication will be advertisement for them. Find out how much it cost to run an ad in the paper, on TV, signs, ect. So you can show them that $100 sponsorship could be a fraction of the cost they would spend on an average placed ad.
Hope some of this helps
SDW
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05/31/2007 04:29:46 PM · #5 |
Maybe also offer the sponsors the winning photos to be hung on a wall in their company? Also extra exposure for the winners and the club. But it might be to costly for a 100 bucks donation.
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05/31/2007 05:17:56 PM · #6 |
Just to give some perspective from the other side of the fence (I use to be a manager), they are going to look at something like this as part of their marketing. Different managers/owners will have different ways that they like to throw their marketing dollars, so it is just kind of a hit or miss thing. I think for most business's, $100 isn't really that much, so I would think you have a good chance at success finding people interested. You could definitely start with photography related places, but go ahead and branch out. Things like restaurants (who doesn't want a good meal!), or anyplace that is willing.
You could let your fingers do the walking, and just make a list and start calling places, or probably better, target areas with big concentrations of businesses and hit the pavement. Obviously, don't approach at busy times (best way to start off on the wrong foot with a manager), act professional, and one of my pet peaves, be prepared to field any questions (knowing you, I'm sure you're on top of it). I use to get annoyed when talking to folks about things like this, and they couldn't answer simple questions like what are the dates? size of the event, how many people(roughly) will be exposed to my business? how will the businesses be displayed? do you need copy ready logos? etc. etc.
Good luck John! :-)
Message edited by author 2007-05-31 17:18:35. |
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05/31/2007 10:36:41 PM · #7 |
Thanks for the tips... I did manage to get three $100 donations today, but I haven't started hitting up restaurants yet. I'll start on that soon :) Thanks for the tips and keep 'em coming :)
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05/31/2007 11:55:40 PM · #8 |
Are there any photo labs in your area? One of the local photo labs donates to my club annually.
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