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Tips for Raising the Money
Setting Goals
Now that you have a
great idea for an event and your
application has been approved, you need
to set some goals as well as a budget.
Your goals should include how many
people you think you can attract and how
much money you hope to raise. You also
need to consider how much money you will
have to spend on items like permits,
equipment rentals, printing, postage and
more. The good news is some of these
things – like equipment rental – could
be offered as an Event Sponsorship
Opportunity.
The number of
people who come to your event will
depend largely on the event itself as
well as the venue. For example, the
number of sales you make at a bake sale
or craft sale at your church or
synagogue will depend upon the number of
people attending the service. Likewise
the number of people attending a Silent
Auction may depend on when and where the
auction is held and how much promotion
you do for the event.
Depending on the
size and scope of your event, you can
raise money from a number of different
ways, including:
Individual Sales
These include sales
from small events such as bake sales,
car washes or craft sales as well as
Silent Auction sales and ticket sales to
an event like a tour or a theater
performance. Be sure to inform
patrons that the profits from your sales
will be donated to NOF. Fill out
the Post Donation Form and mail a check
with the form directly to the
Foundation.
Pledges
Events such as
walks require participants to raise
money for the organization by securing
pledges from family, friends,
co-workers, and neighbors. A minimum
donation should be requested from each
walker (e.g. $20) and all money must be
turned in on the day of the event.
Event
Sponsorship Opportunities
Corporate
sponsorships are mutually beneficial
because they help raise awareness of
osteoporosis while fulfilling corporate
community marketing objectives.
Corporate sponsorships help you
underwrite the costs of putting on your
event in a creative and appealing way.
When soliciting for
corporate sponsorships or donations, go
directly to your local businesses,
restaurants, retail chains, health
clubs, etc., rather than the national
headquarters or franchise headquarters.
You should also contact area hospitals,
health clinics, physician groups,
pharmacies, spas and salons, and any
other companies or businesses that have
an interest in the female market.
Please note: NOF
will not have relationships with tobacco
companies, or their corporate
subsidiaries or parents. “Subsidiary”
and “parent” are defined as an entity in
which there exists a 5 percent of
greater ownership by, or of, a tobacco
company.
To identify areas
of sponsorship, think of anything and
everything that you will need to make
your event successful, including: tables
and chairs, table cloths,
signs/placards, microphones and
speakers, lights, printing and postage,
music, food and drink, and anything else
imaginable. Once you’ve identified
everything on your list, create a
proposal form of these items – with a
dollar amount on each – to present to
perspective sponsors.
You will also need
to create a list of benefits to the
sponsors to illustrate how a company’s
outstanding support and commitment to
the event will be recognized. These
benefits may include: company logo
identification in all promotional
materials, registration brochures,
posters/flyers, and on-site signage; a
display area at the event; opportunity
for company employees to volunteer;
opportunity to place items in goodie
bags; tickets to the event, parties or
award ceremonies associated with the
event and more. The higher the level of
sponsorship, the more benefits they
receive.
Other Examples
of Sponsorship Items for a Large Event:
Kick-Off/Award
Parties
The company name
and logo of the party’s sponsor can
appear on the invitation, program and in
promotional materials.
Parking/Transportation
Would free parking
entice people to come to an event? Does
your community have a bus or trolley
system that would help participants get
from one place to another? This is an
excellent sponsorship opportunity for a
company – it’s environmentally friendly,
it’s helpful to the community and it
allows them to prominently display their
company logo on the parking passes or
buses and media materials.
Goodie Bags
Give all walkers,
runners or event participants a
take-home bag filled with anything from
note pads and pencils to headbands and
water bottles. Sponsor logos can be on
any of these items.
The Ask
Identify all the
companies and organizations you want to
approach for support and be certain you
have the correct contact person, address
and phone number. The next step is to
send a letter and follow-up with a phone
call. That may be all it takes to get
their support, or you may want to have a
meeting with the company representative
to present your proposal and talk in
greater detail about their support and
participation in the event.
The following is a
sample Corporate Sponsorship Letter for
hosting a walk. This can be adapted for
any event.
DATE
CONTACT
COMPANY
ADDRESS
CITY, STATE ZIP
Dear CONTACT:
How often do you
stop to think about how hard your bones
work for you? Unfortunately, not many
of us do. Osteoporosis is often
referred to as the “silent disease”
because it has no symptoms and most
people do not realize they have the
disease until they have broken a bone
and been diagnosed. Yet, in the U.S.,
one in two women and one in four men,
ages 50 and older, will experience an
osteoporosis related fracture.
Bone health is
important at any age. To help raise
awareness about the importance of
improving bone health and preventing
osteoporosis, we have created (insert
name of your event here), a three-mile
walk and health fair to benefit the
National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF)
on EVENT DATE at SITE.
To be successful,
this walk not only depends upon pledges
from the walkers, but also sponsorships
from area businesses and organizations.
We would like to invite COMPANY to be
part of this exciting event by becoming
a walk sponsor. We have a number of
sponsorship opportunities with numerous
benefits, including recognition in all
printed materials.
All the profits
from the walk will go directly to NOF to
support their programs of awareness,
education, advocacy and research on this
debilitating disease. For more
information on NOF, please visit their
website at
www.nof.org. If you have any
questions, please feel free to contact
me at PHONE. Your support of bone
health and osteoporosis prevention is
greatly appreciated.
Cordially,
Your Name
Walk Coordinator
In-Kind
Donations
Depending upon your
event, you may want to ask area
businesses to donate items or gift
certificates, or ask restaurants,
bakeries or caterers to donate food
and/or drinks for your event. You may
need equipment – from tables and chairs
to sound and lighting – which could be
donated by an equipment rental or event
supply company. Likewise, you will need
help promoting your event and
sponsorship from a newspaper, TV or
radio station is priceless! They can
help you get the word out through public
service announcements and popular
personalities can act as honorary Event
Chairs.
The possibilities
for in-kind gifts are limitless. As
with Event Sponsorships, the company
name and logo can appear on signage and
in media materials.
The following is a
sample In-Kind Donation Letter. This
can be adapted for any event.
DATE
CONTACT
COMPANY
ADDRESS
CITY, STATE ZIP
Dear CONTACT:
How often do you
stop to think about how hard your bones
work for you? Unfortunately, not many
of us do. Osteoporosis is often
referred to as the “silent disease”
because it has no symptoms until a
fracture occurs. To help
raise awareness about the importance of
improving bone health and preventing
osteoporosis, we have created the
OSTEOPOROSIS SILENT AUCTION to benefit
the National Osteoporosis Foundation
(NOF).
NOF is the nation's
leading voluntary health agency solely
focused on osteoporosis and bone health.
More than 44 million Americans, ages 50
and older, either have or are at risk
for osteoporosis.
To be successful,
the silent auction depends upon
donations from area businesses and
organizations. All the proceeds from the
auction will go directly to NOF to
support programs of awareness, education
advocacy and research on this
potentially debilitating disease. We would like to
invite COMPANY to be part of this
exciting event by donating merchandise
or a gift certificate. Please send your
donation in letter or certificate form
to:
Name
Address
City,
State Zip
If you would like
to donate merchandise, I would be happy
to arrange for a pick up. All items
should be clearly marked "Osteoporosis
Silent Auction Donation”. This is to
prevent recipients from attempting to
return the merchandise to your store.
We understand that this occasionally
happens, and we will do what we can to
prevent it. For more information on NOF,
please visit their website at
www.nof.org.
To help with the
auction displays, please include a brief
description of the item with the value
of the donation and a brochure or
business card.
If you have any
questions, please feel free to contact
me at PHONE. Your interest in
raising awareness of osteoporosis and
bone health is greatly appreciated.
Cordially,
Your Name
Silent Auction
Coordinator
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