ASHA SF – Corporate sponsorship strategy Working Document

Strategy (1) LEARN Party in the palace 2016, Film night in the park, Asha Stanford Holi Advice, Sponsorship Ideas (2) ADOPT Rates, Sponsorship Contract (3) EXECUTE Holi 2017 Plan, Success, Tax Treatment (4) TARGETS

Learn : Party in the palace 2016 Project Captain: Mariel Reed Revenue: $70,000 Attendees: 1,200 One-time event: How did they approach sponsors? What were sponsors looking for? Sponsorship amount for Platinum/Gold/Silver? What did they provide sponsors for the respective sponsorship levels?

Learn : Film night in the park Alfonso Felder: afelder@sfntf.org Sample E-mail http://sfntf.squarespace.com/

Learn : Asha Stanford holi Sample Request Media Release http://wiki.ashanet.org/display/Chapters/Asha+Stanford+Holi?preview=%2F12943980%2F17662001%2Fpress_sponsor_package_2006.pdf

Learn : Advice, sponsorship Ideas Banner displayed at event Name announced at event Logo on Asha SF website (can include a hotlink to their site) Name/logo on the event tickets Name/logo at booths e.g. DJ booth / photo booth Name/logo on event t-shirts Offer of distributing free samples at the event Target application to the audience: Larger companies will be looking for an event with a lot of people. “How much exposure are they getting?” In some cases we can target businesses specifically catering to the Indian diaspora. Get sponsorship levels – smaller businesses & larger companies can find a level that suits their needs and budgets. Talk to the media: exposure for both the event and the sponsor Other Ideas?

Sample Sponsorship Rates ADOPT Sample Sponsorship Rates Sample Contract

EXECUTE : Holi 2017 Plan DATA PHONE CALLS PROPOSAL LETTERS FOLLOW UPS How many impressions? : Data from previous events Impressions = # of people x # of times sponsor name seen/heard DATA Call to find out if they're interested in Asha events first Focus on how the company will benefit Pitch 20 seconds OR LESS to explain the event and some benefits to the company Follow-up with proposal letters: “Thanks for speaking with me, here is the holi info…” Keep letters short, and re-iterate the exposure the company will receive PHONE CALLS PROPOSAL LETTERS 2 wks after proposal letter, follow up with those that have not responded If they’re not interested, find out why not? Next year perhaps? FOLLOW UPS Successful sponsors: send thank you letter, recapping benefits After receiving check: send another thank you letter CULTIVATE RELATIONSHIP Thank you letter: Attendance, money raised High-level sponsor: Packets that showcase publicity e.g. photos ON THE DAY: PUBLICITY THANK YOUs

EXECUTE : Success For 2017 Build and cultivate relationships with potential sponsors Secure a few sponsors for Holi 2017 Build a plan to collect the data that large sponsors are looking for Have lessons for 2017 to take to next year for a bigger sponsorship program

EXECUTE : Tax treatment of sponsorship Corporate sponsorship can be taxable, even for non-profits. To be tax-exempt, the corporate sponsorship payments need to meet the definition of “qualified sponsorship payments”. Don’ts: No exclusivity: cannot promise a for-profit corporation that it will be the “exclusive” sponsor Cannot provide inducements to buy a sponsor’s product or services On the Asha SF website, cannot provide a link to the sponsor’s webpage where a product is sold Providing more than token services or other privileges to the sponsor is not allowed: this is slightly grey Cannot accept a payment from a sponsor contingent on the level of attendance at the event e.g. if 100ppl, we get $x sponsorship; if 500ppl, we get $5x sponsorship Cannot provide sponsors specific advertising opportunities at no charge, when there would usually be a charge e.g. if they sponsor an event, they get the logo on the Team Asha t-shirts Cannot display an ad, with text written by the corporation that promotes its products and services What can we do? Acknowledge the corporate sponsor (by name, logo, general phone #, location, website, mentioning them in a public address) Distribute free samples of a sponsor’s products at an event; these cannot be endorsed by Asha though.

Targets Ideas from people that we talk to (i.e. other event organizers)