Events and Sponsors

[+PLnauta]

Hi

 

i' d like to know more about getting sponsors for events. Rules, etc, etc...

 

I didn't founs anything written about it.

 

PL

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

When soliciting sponsors think about it from their point of view.

 

If you were being solicited you would ask yourself 'What's in it for me?' and they will too.

 

Groundspeak, REI, WalMart, Garmin, Coins and Pins, these folks get sponsorship requests multiple times daily. They all have sponsorship money built into their advertising budget, but it isn't infinite... they have to pick and choose how that finite amount of dollars is spent where it will do them the most good. You have to tell them why sponsoring your event will help them.

 

Sure, they want to help you, but they have to get something out of it. I believe that Groundspeak would love to sponsor every geocaching event, they are great giving people, but they can't. Like everyone else they can only sponsor a few select events. If you want stuff donated from the Groundspeak store then you have to convince them that sponsoring your event will help them sell more goods or memberships.

 

In the early days of geocaching you could just about count on Garmin to send you a GPS to give away or sell in your raffle in exchange for a sign with their name on it at an event. They needed event hosts to help get the word out about their products. Not so today, and this applies to all large sponsors. If you want a substantial sponsorship you need to provide substantial sales opportunity for that sponsor... placing their logo on your web page doesn't count for much anymore unless you are hosting a mega event.

 

So, first of all, think small. Who needs you? That's your target audience. Start-ups need advertising far more than established operations.

 

The new online store selling specialty hiking gear needs their logo and link on your event far more than does REI, so you are likely to get more sponsorship from those who need you the most. Everyone knows who Coins and Pins is, but few know about the new coin seller that just got started last week... the unknown guy needs your help getting started, use that to your advantage.

 

On the other hand the big established names have more sponsorship budget, so while their sponsorship may not be large it can pretty much be counted on.

 

Go to the unexpected resources. The local grocery store might provide free or deeply-discounted burger and hot dogs for your local picnic. Red Diamond will likely send coffee and tea. Lay's will likely donate a case of chips. Your local bread maker will perhaps sponsor buns, and Kimberly-Clark Paper will often donate paper plates and napkins and such.

 

Think about how you can best serve the sponsors need. The local grocery store doesn't care about their logo on your website that all the world will see... their customer footprint is maybe no more than ten miles from their store. They need local signs and mention.

 

Is there a local K-Mart that's struggling to survive against the new WalMart Superstore across the parking lot? They need their name out there, they need you to advertise their name at your event. You need nice trinkets to give away as door prizes. Tell the manager how you can both win on this deal, they all have a discretionary budget that you can tap if your story sounds like it will drive customers to their door.

 

Get local government support. They don't often have money, but they have city parks! Give them strong attention and thanks for allowing your event in their park. One thing that people often overlook is that the city is in the business of selling the city. That's why they have Parks and Recreation Boards, Tourism Departments, etc. They spend a lot of money promoting your city and almost always have things like pens and notebooks with the city's name on them to give away.

 

When that local grocery store, start-up coin seller, REI or Bass Pro Shop sees that you have the city's sponsorship they will pay more attention and thus spend more sponsorship dollars on your event!

 

Good luck, I hope some of that helps. If you have gotten anything at all out of this it is to avoid form letters! Address the needs and benefits of each potential sponsor independently. They don't all sponsor things for the same reason, or at the same level... tell each of them what you would like to have them send and why it will benefit them specifically.

 

Edit to add: I will let someone with more current knowledge address the event listing rules part of your question, but one thing that I can tell you with some confidence is that all of the above applies to advertising on a web page that you create for your event - not in the cache listing!

 

Keep the event listing non-commercial and place a link on it to your seperate event web page where you can be as commercial as you wish.

Edited January 27, 2009 by TheAlabamaRambler

[+9Key]

TAR - the OP is in Lisbon, Portugal. None of those stores exist over there. Good suggestions though.

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

TAR - the OP is in Lisbon, Portugal. None of those stores exist over there. Good suggestions though.

The particular store names may not apply, but the concepts do. Certainly Groundspeak wants to get it's name out around the world, and I suspect that Coins and Pins would love to sell more coins in Portugal. The same is true for the mom-and-pop grocery down on the corner, no matter where that corner is located!

[+PLnauta]

 

Edit to add: I will let someone with more current knowledge address the event listing rules part of your question, but one thing that I can tell you with some confidence is that all of the above applies to advertising on a web page that you create for your event - not in the cache listing!

 

Keep the event listing non-commercial and place a link on it to your seperate event web page where you can be as commercial as you wish.

 

Thanks Alabama,

 

This is the part of sponsoring that I've more doubts about. Altought i like to read your other advice (someone should post it in a way as everybody could read ).

 

It seems that everyone makes a listing and then points towards a web page designed for the real event. I was trying to understand in which conditions we could refer to a sponsor, such as Coins and Pins (example - and yes we do buy a lot from them ) in the event listing himself.

 

That could do a lot in the way we manage those sponsor, but then again, it seems that it isn't possible at all. It would be fine to have some space to do that.

 

Thank you a lot for that great answer.

 

PL

[+trainlove]

If you mention sponsors names in your event page then you risk not having your event accepted. There are rules against that. Read the Commercial Caches section of http://www.geocaching.com/about/guidelines.aspx

I know of a few events that really had to push the reviewers to allow them, and even go over their heads to Groundspeak, and in ALL cases, all mention of any sponsors was required to have the event Published.

[Motorcycle_Mama]

Be sure you take a thorough read of the Cache Listing Requirements/Guidelines. They will detail what you can and cannot list on cache page.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/about/guidelines.aspx

 

Pay particular attention to the part about Commercial Caches.

 

Commercial Caches

 

Commercial caches will not be published on geocaching.com without prior approval from Groundspeak. A commercial cache is a geocache listing or geocache which is perceived by Groundspeak, Groundspeak's employees, or the Volunteer Geocache Reviewers as having been submitted to geocaching.com with the principal or substantial intent of soliciting customers or generating commercial gain. The geocache is presumed to be commercial if the finder is required to go inside a business, interact with employees, and/or purchase a product or service, or if the cache listing has overtones of advertising, marketing, or promotion.

 

Additionally, links to businesses, commercial advertisers, charities, political or social agendas, or the inclusion of their associated logos are not permitted on cache descriptions without prior permission from Groundspeak.

[+PLnauta]

Be sure you take a thorough read of the Cache Listing Requirements/Guidelines. They will detail what you can and cannot list on cache page.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/about/guidelines.aspx

 

Pay particular attention to the part about Commercial Caches.

 

Commercial Caches

 

Commercial caches will not be published on geocaching.com without prior approval from Groundspeak. A commercial cache is a geocache listing or geocache which is perceived by Groundspeak, Groundspeak's employees, or the Volunteer Geocache Reviewers as having been submitted to geocaching.com with the principal or substantial intent of soliciting customers or generating commercial gain. The geocache is presumed to be commercial if the finder is required to go inside a business, interact with employees, and/or purchase a product or service, or if the cache listing has overtones of advertising, marketing, or promotion.

 

Additionally, links to businesses, commercial advertisers, charities, political or social agendas, or the inclusion of their associated logos are not permitted on cache descriptions without prior permission from Groundspeak.

 

Thanks again,

 

I read the guidelines and i missed that part I never though of the event cache as being commercial.

 

I think there are space for something in the middle. Not just an Event listings, plain and simple and those quite commercial with lot of vendors, payed activities and so on.

 

But we can live with those rules

 

PL

[+wimseyguy]

It is acceptable to acknowledge event sponsors in the text. You cannot have links nor logos on your cache page. That's one reason for setting up a separate website for larger event.

[+DeRock & The Psychic Cacher]

You have received good advice from the previous posters to the thread. My advice us to ask your local reviewer first. If they have any doubts they will refer you on to Groundspeak for further clarification.

 

I offered some advice last year on this very subject. Most (if not all of it) is still relevant. Your mileage may vary.

 

Deane

AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

[+fox-and-the-hound]

We went right to the source by offering our local cachers to show their stuff...

 

 

 

The sign cost a couple hundred to have made, but each cacher tossed in $10 per 6x6inch or $20 per 1x1foot square used to display their Avatars. We got a few caching related companies to buy up a few blocks as well. In the end we had money for our event and a permanent sign to use at our outings. Repeat advertising all year long for the companies who bought space was a great incentive. Ad on a few local stores, restaurants, businesses, etc. and you could really do well.

[+PLnauta]

You have received good advice from the previous posters to the thread. My advice us to ask your local reviewer first. If they have any doubts they will refer you on to Groundspeak for further clarification.

 

I offered some advice last year on this very subject. Most (if not all of it) is still relevant. Your mileage may vary.

 

Deane

AKA: DeRock & the Psychic Cacher - Grattan MI

 

Thank you. I guess that this subject is still a unsolved problem, with clear rules, than the one that disallowed everithing but a blank page with text, time, date, and coordinates...

 

PL

[+PLnauta]

We went right to the source by offering our local cachers to show their stuff...

 

 

 

The sign cost a couple hundred to have made, but each cacher tossed in $10 per 6x6inch or $20 per 1x1foot square used to display their Avatars. We got a few caching related companies to buy up a few blocks as well. In the end we had money for our event and a permanent sign to use at our outings. Repeat advertising all year long for the companies who bought space was a great incentive. Ad on a few local stores, restaurants, businesses, etc. and you could really do well.

 

Interesting solution, thanks for the input Fox. And nice stand as well

 

PL

[Keystone]

This is a good thread in which to bump forward MissJenn's helpful guidance on event caches, posted last May when Groundspeak announced a clarification of the "Commercial Caches" guideline. So, without further ado, here is our fearless leader:

 

A few more words on events:

 

Event cache pages may state that donations are requested to recover legitimate costs for a geocaching event. A mandatory entrance fee can be charged but only to recover the legitimate costs of this event.

 

Event cache owners may require people to register officially at a separate registration page.

 

A simple list of sponsors (no logos or URLs) can be included on an event cache page.

 

Cache owners may mention event-related geocoins trackable at geocaching.com. Other coins, T-shirts, hats, or anything else should not be advertised on the page.

 

An option for event caches would be to include a link to a specific non-commercial, off-geocaching.com event landing page. Many larger events now do this. On that page, as long as the purpose is really to provide event info as opposed to a venue for advertising, links, logos and URLs could be included. Suggested text: See [our other event cache page] for more information on lodging, food and event-related merchandise for sale. OR If the event does not have an associated web page: See the event organizers for information on event-related merchandise for sale.

 

If we become aware of any inappropriate edits after a cache page is published, we can take corrective action.

[+PLnauta]

This is a good thread in which to bump forward MissJenn's helpful guidance on event caches, posted last May when Groundspeak announced a clarification of the "Commercial Caches" guideline. So, without further ado, here is our fearless leader:

 

A few more words on events:

 

Event cache pages may state that donations are requested to recover legitimate costs for a geocaching event. A mandatory entrance fee can be charged but only to recover the legitimate costs of this event.

 

Event cache owners may require people to register officially at a separate registration page.

 

A simple list of sponsors (no logos or URLs) can be included on an event cache page.

 

Cache owners may mention event-related geocoins trackable at geocaching.com. Other coins, T-shirts, hats, or anything else should not be advertised on the page.

 

An option for event caches would be to include a link to a specific non-commercial, off-geocaching.com event landing page. Many larger events now do this. On that page, as long as the purpose is really to provide event info as opposed to a venue for advertising, links, logos and URLs could be included. Suggested text: See [our other event cache page] for more information on lodging, food and event-related merchandise for sale. OR If the event does not have an associated web page: See the event organizers for information on event-related merchandise for sale.

 

If we become aware of any inappropriate edits after a cache page is published, we can take corrective action.

 

That's quite valuable info. Thank you.