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Question: Our elementary school is running an all day long read-a-thon and are looking for sponsors. We have found someone willing to donate $1 for every child that will read, supply a guest reader, etc. We would like some suggestions on organizations willing to help us with this worthy cause. Any help/guidance would be greatly appreciated. Our event is being held April 10, 2007
Answer: Congratulations on organizing this event, which we hope will not only benefit your school, but will be enjoyable for you and everyone as well. Events like this can also significantly boost people?s sense of community. In most communities ? and most likely in your own ? there should be a variety of organizations willing to sponsor and help in other ways, for making a modest one-time dollar contribution to local children?s education is usually an appealing and affordable cause. Therefore, it should help to obtain as complete a list as possible of your local organizations, either through an existing organization, your local public library, or a local web site, and if necessary the yellow pages of your local phone directory. For businesses, you could start with your local Chamber of Commerce. Go through your lists carefully with members of your organizing committee, and target those you feel would be your most likely supporters. Then, especially since time is short in your case, make personal contact with them to the best extent possible. In our opinion, $1 per child may be a very modest amount to contribute. To increase your revenue, you could consider such features as a 2-for-1 match, ?super-sponsorship? at a higher level, donations of Grand Prizes (possibly by lottery), or underwriting of the read-a-thon through mention in your publicity or written program. Over and above this, you might think of some ways to maximize the festivity of the event, so that many community members will come together, have a chance to mingle and network with each other, build a stronger constituency for children?s education, and perhaps indirectly generate new education or community activities as well. You may also wish to consult Chapter 3, Section 8 of the Tool Box for some more general information on Identifying Community Assets. We hope some of these thoughts may be helpful to you. We hope you have a great day ahead! Thank you for writing to us at the Community Tool Box; and all best wishes for success in your important work.
Question Date: Thu, 03/29/2007