Solution to Sponsorship Struggle
May 3, 2007 | by brett | Permalink
When I was a four-eyed 5th grader, I participated in a summer reading contest at my elementary school. This contest called for its participants to seek out sponsorships to benefit multiple sclerosis. The student that raised the most money and read the most pages would win a bike and two tickets to an Oakland Athletics game. As a fifth grader, these two prizes were all I could ever want, so that summer I set out to win this contest.
I developed a rudimentary business plan, which was to seek out sponsorships from friends, family, and neighbors…and then read my brains out. I hit the streets to knock on every door in the neighborhood to ask people if they would sponsor my “multiple scoowoosis” reading contest. I would jot down my generous sponsors for 10 cents a page, 2 dollars a book, etc. Then I read.
That summer I think I read every Matt Christopher book ever written. All in all, I think the total came out to 50 books, and 10,000 pages over the course of a summer. Literally, reading was all I ever did in the summer of ’95.
Finally, I decided it was collection day. With a careful calculation based on different sponsorship levels, I confidently strode to each of my neighbors doors. The first door I knocked on belonged to Dr. John Freedman, who would recall this moment over ten years later in a Pursue the Passion interview.
Me: “Good afternoon Mr. Freedman.”
John: “Well hello Brett, what have you got there?”
Me: “Oh, this is a receipt for your sponsorship of my multiple scoowoosis reading contest that I did this summer.”
John: “Oh good to hear it. I completely forgot about that. How many pages did you end up reading?”
Me: (Proudly) “Well, I put in a lot of hard work this summer. I ending up reading 10,000 pages, and 50 books!”
John: (Concerned) “Wow…really? Way to go kiddo. So…how much do I owe you?”
Me: (Looks at receipt) “Well, I calculated it all out for you here. You sponsored me ten cents a page, multiplied by 10,000 pages, and that equals…(checking my math one more time) exactly ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS!”
Needless to say, John’s jaw must have dropped lower than a limbo bar when he heard this nerdy little fifth grader say that he was there to collect a grand for his summer reading efforts. John politely stepped away for a second, closed the door, and did the smart thing by calling my mom. She knew I had been reading all summer, but had no idea that I had wandered over to the neighbors house to collect an amount more than the mortgage.
John ended up paying me about $100 to call it even, and I continued on with my collections. I faced similar reactions from every neighbor, worked out a payment plan with them, and eventually got enough money to win the school reading contest. The next day I went to Toys R’ Us to pick out the coolest bright orange bike in the world, and was later announced as a contest winner at the A’s game.
I include this story because I find myself in a similar situation to when I was in fifth grade. Now fully grown, I have the goal to conduct a tour aimed at empowering individuals worldwide to pursue their passions. The only obstacle standing in my way is finding the funding to do it.
I have submitted over ten proposals to large corporations and small business, all of which requested amounts from $500-$20,000. But based on my fifth grade experience, I have gone about the sponsorship process in the wrong way.
What I have come to realize is that when a corporation hears about our idea and is willing to take a look at the proposal, they probably have had the same reaction John had when I told him he owed me a thousand dollars. It is simply too unbelievable that a young kid could be requesting this kind of money.
However, I plan to resort back to the fifth grade plan, where I approach friends, family, and contacts with our idea, and a sponsorship proposal to sponsor us on a PER INTERVIEW basis. Just think about what sounds better.
“Will you sponsor the Pursue the Passion project for $200?”
OR
“Will you sponsor the Pursue the Passion project for a dollar an interview?”
The conclusion and moral of the story is that when you are presenting information, we have to make the information seem appealing but not deceiving, and reasonable, not financially undoable.
With that being said, will you sponsor us for 10 cents an interview?
« Previous: The Journey Begins | Next: Web Expectations Derive Value »
RESPOND TO THIS INTERVIEW