Fundraising help/ideas

[MotiveLensPhoto]

Working on a regional event, and we need to raise funds for it or it won't happen. We've been calling dealers near the proposed site, as well as some restoration shops, parts retailers, etc. So far, no luck.

 

Any ideas on different people to call, different approaches you've found that have worked, etc. I'm a real neophyte at asking for money, which is probably why I was a terrible sales person.

[3macboys]

7 minutes ago, MotiveLensPhoto said:

Working on a regional event, and we need to raise funds for it or it won't happen. We've been calling dealers near the proposed site, as well as some restoration shops, parts retailers, etc. So far, no luck.

 

Any ideas on different people to call, different approaches you've found that have worked, etc. I'm a real neophyte at asking for money, which is probably why I was a terrible sales person.

If you can give us some idea of what the event is it would help tremendously with being able to give you some ideas.  

[JFranklin]

Ask your Chamber Of Commerce, they can help with ideas, and maybe get involved if it will be benificial to your town. 

[MotiveLensPhoto]

14 minutes ago, 3macboys said:

If you can give us some idea of what the event is it would help tremendously with being able to give you some ideas.  

Buick Regional. In the past the schedule has been:

Thursday night registration and social hour

Friday scheduled group and/or self-directed activities in the area

Saturday, show day, judging, dinner, etc.

 

 

[3macboys]

30 minutes ago, MotiveLensPhoto said:

Buick Regional. In the past the schedule has been:

Thursday night registration and social hour

Friday scheduled group and/or self-directed activities in the area

Saturday, show day, judging, dinner, etc.

 

 

You need to look at the event as a marketing opportunity to potential sponsors (advertisers) and and sell to them what the potential benefit is to them.  Keep in mind that money and advertising money in particular is tight.  At least two major car companies have already announced they will not be advertising during the Super Bowl just to give you some perspective.  I can only guess that attendees are on their own for meals so selling ads in your program to local restaurants might an option.  Similarly your local attractions might be interested but you have to be able to give some indication of the potential spin off to them.   You are hosting a car show, but you are selling tourists to the area businesses.   Give some consideration to businesses or activities that the non car show significant others might be interested.   To be blunt the area dealers are not likely going to serve up big money as there is likely little chance of payback on their investment (those that are already deal there will keep dealing there and odds of an out of towner buying from them are slim).  That being said, if you are a regular customer of the dealer they might be good for a door prize.  Just giving you some food for thought of a different outlook to solve your issue.

Edited January 12 by 3macboys (see edit history)

[JACK M]

I think these kinds of gatherings are usually funded by the participants.

You should be able to get some rates from a local motel if you designate it as the host hotel.

[John_S_in_Penna]

11 hours ago, JACK M said:

I think these kinds of gatherings are usually funded by the participants.

Donations might be a help, but they will not fund the event.

As Jack has said, the participants will mostly fund the meet.

 

Our AACA region puts on a National Meet about every 10 years.

Sponsors are not the main source of income.  Instead, mark up

things modestly to cover all costs and provide a modest PROFIT

for the organizing club.  Smaller mark-ups over many items add up.

 

For example,

---Designate a host hotel.  Negotiate a discount.  Mark it up modestly for a profit.

---Same for the banquet.  A small mark-up to fund the event and earn a profit.

---Same for the side tours for which people must sign up if they want to participate.

     Make the tours enticing, showing off things that out-of-town people always

     wanted to see, or private collections that could only be seen on your tour.

     Negotiate a discounted admission, so even with your mark-up, it will still be 

     a bargain compared to ordinary admission charges.

---Raffle some good donated door prizes;  have a Chinese auction of desirable items.

---Sell refreshing fruit drinks on the hot show field.  Get them at a warehouse store

     and mark them up for show day.

---Sell ads to Buick old-car businesses.  Put those ads in a program book or

     insert of "Restoration Resources" that participants will like to keep as a reference.

---Set car registration costs sufficient to pay for a goodie bag and snacks in the hospitality room,

     with an amount left over to pay for the event.  If wives donate excellent baked goods for

     hospitality, the attendees will really like them but the cost is not carried by the club.

 

Above all, do things WELL.  Make people want to attend your event!

 

Edited January 13 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[CarNucopia]

Getting the first sponsor is generally the hardest.  I would start by going to locally-owned national chain to get them involved, even if it's for free. I'd start with the local Culver's since they're usually a community involved business. If you succeed, you can tell every other potential sponsor  that Culver's is on board. This adds a lot of credibility to the event as a marketing tool.

 

I'll expand on what 3MacBoys said a little. You are selling an audience. Focus your pitch on the value of the access you are giving to it. Just as important, don't speak to the gear-head details we all find interesting, unless the prospect is a gear-head. If you have hard data on the audience you'll be providing, and it's positive, share it. 

 

Get some good pictures from other regional events to show as part of the pitch. Non car people have no idea what a meet is or how they can participate.

 

Look at who sponsors other car events in the area. These folks have already decided it's worth their time/money, so it should be an easier sell.

 

Tap into your network. If you have a good target sponsor see if you know someone connected.

 

Sponsors want to "activate", which is marketing speak for doing stuff at the event to engage the attendees. Have some ideas in mind when you talk to sponsors. Things like product sampling, bounce-back coupons and selling on site are some obvious examples.

 

It's been ages since I've done this professionally, so I'm a bit removed from current best practices. I'm sure there's a social media component to this that's important. Have someone who knows this area flush out what that is. I suspect not including social media in the pitch is like buyer repellant for many.

[Robert G. Smits]

Approach the national antique car insurance people along with automotive box stores ie NAPA. Look at recent regionals to determine where their support came from.  There is a tremendous amount of competition out there. Our population is around 250K and we have over a hundred local 501c3 non profits looking for donations on a daily basis. Good luck. 

[joe_padavano]

Sponsors aren't going to throw money at your event unless they perceive value in doing it. You need to approach potential sponsors with data on the event, demographic, and how that benefits the potential sponsor. A professional presentation with this info will usually go a long way towards enticing sponsors to provide funding, but again, the presentation has to sell the benefit to THEM. They frankly couldn't care less about your event. They only care about the value of the potential marketing opportunity. Put it in those terms.

[JFranklin]

The bulk of your operating funds would come from pre-sale to the potential participating members. At our last regional we also negotiated bulk discounts on lodging, catering and local attractions. Most of the outside business support was in the form of door prizes from local businesses which they could write off as advertizing. Other door prizes were encouraged to come from the other participating clubs. My artist wife made this birdhouse as a door prize. It is made to display an Ertel metal car bank.

Edited January 13 by JFranklin (see edit history)

[3macboys]

How many people do you expect to attend?  That might change some of your responses considerably.  Are you talking 50 cars, 100, 2500?  

[R Walling]

 With all the free weekly cruise in's, it is getting harder to put on a paying car show. Every one of your attendees have several places to go for socializing and showing off their cars. Most don't even want a trophy anymore.

 

 You might want to join your event with another show in the area, or at least at the same time so that your participants could visit there for a few hours.

[joe_padavano]

Our club puts on an All-GM show each year that has traditionally been funded solely by admission fees and sale of merchandise (primarily show tee shirts). For the last several years we have consistently lost money on this. Last year was the first time we actively solicited sponsorship. We secured a generous sponsor who was both an auto enthusiast and who's business had a legitimate reason to sponsor a car show. The result was that we made enough money (including sponsorships and admission fees) to donate to two worthwhile organizations.