Managing sponsors through a crisis!

Over the past couple of weeks I have been interning at an equine welfare organisation called Second Chance Horse Rescue and Rehabilitation based in Bullsbrook.

Together myself and the Fundraising Coordinator have been busy planning a Fundraising Gymkhana, which for all those who aren't involved in the equine world, a show with fancy dress, games, show jumping and hacking classes. Hence it has something for everyone. 

I have been busy organising sponsors for the day as well as securing media coverage, with a number of newspapers preparing stories as well as photographers and journalists coming from WA's very own Perth Rider Magazine. It was all running very smoothly, until disaster struck and we were forced to cancel the Show, which was mean to be held on the 22nd of September in the suburb on Wungong.

Luckily due to the warning we gave many of our suppliers and the host venue, the charity received most of their investments into the event, back.

We sent out a number of media alerts and contacted journalists and editors first hand to tell them the bad news and to make sure no one drove all the way to the venue grounds on the day and found that it has been cancelled that way. We emailed all the Second Chance members, posted an alert on our Facebook page as we all the website and a number of forum pages.

It was my job to contact all the sponsors and tell them the extremely bad news. 

I did a mixture of emails, phone calls and letters, depending on how professional the business were, how eager they were to get on board and how they had approached the sponsorship. Many small businesses preferred personal phone calls whilst other "chain" establishments regarded the emails and letters as professional so they can easily record the situation.

Out of the 16 sponsors we had for the show, 14 of them understood the situation and were eager to be contacted about sponsorship for future events. Because we contacted them promptly, professionally according to their desire and gave them a large warning period before the event, majority were happy with how we handled ourselves and the image of Second Chance.

We issued the stock that was sent to us by the sponsors extremely fast, hand delivering it in some circumstances, whilst refunds and receipts were sent within 24 hours of the news going out.

Hence because we acted swiftly and transparently we minimised any negative impacts that could be placed onto Second Chance and have secured relationships with these businesses for the future. 

The dilemmas of charity events

On Sunday September 22, Second Chance will be holding their annual Fundraising Beginners Horse Show. I've been frantically searching for event sponsors. (read my last post)

With under a month until the show, it is going rather well. In the end the committee and I decided to split up the sponsorship package into four different levels with a range of benefits. We have had a great response to this already. We have been donated over $1200 of stock to raffle as well as donated funds. This is a great amount considering how new and how small Second Chance Horse Rescue is.

One amazing thing, international saddlery brand Wintec Saddles are sponsoring a raffle of a saddle on the day, which is worth over $1200. It will ensure a number of more event goers.

However we are now faced with a new problem, finding enough volunteers for the day. A horse show requires a tremendous amount of effort in setting up and organising, not to mention the early start on event day. Second Chance has so far emailed all their members and contacted everyone on their volunteer database. Unfortunately the charity hasn't received many replies. The even co-ordinator is even talking about post-poning the event, which is a much needed fundraising appeal.

So our dilemma is how to gain new volunteers...

My thoughts was to create a status on Facebook as I have seen this work in the past for a couple of local welfare agencies and over 8000 people have liked the page. Another thought was to advertise in the Western Australia's equine magazine Perth Rider, as they have a good relationship with the magazine's editor. Another thought was to create a volunteer document to send to local Agricultural Colleges as well Horse and Pony Clubs in the event area. So far these suggestions are being passed around the committee and the event coordinator. However I'm starting to feel Second Chance needs to offer some kind of benefit of volunteering, possibly a free sausage sizzle at the show, or a volunteers pin from their merchandise. However as being a welfare charity it is not a common thought to spend money on other things but the animals in care.

This placement has really shown how hard it can be, with being a welfare charity with no actual legal rights. As well as how hard the welfare industry is in WA, whilst working and competing with the RSPCA and gaining community respect. Being such a small volunteer based organisation with no permanent facilities and a large amount of foster carers around the state, it's hard for them to stand out and gain help.

So that is our most current dilemma leading up to the Second Chance Show in September. I have also been asked to write a feature article of some of their "success stories" for the Perth Rider magazine as well as a media release for the Comment News Community Newspaper about the show. Finally getting some practice from my Public Relations Techniques class.

I'll keep you posted on how sponsorship and the entire show goes in the next couple of weeks.

Finding the key to sponsorship in a charity context

For my internship, I thought the most rewarding experience would be to help out a charity or non for profit group, and I was correct.

Firstly, Second Chance Horse Rescue is a non for profit group dedicated to equine welfare throughout Western Australia. The organisation was established in 2006 and has rehabilitated over 120 horses, whilst improving the lives of countless others. Many of the horses that come into the charity’s care come from abusive or neglectful homes.

 The group rely heavily on the public’s donations and support, many volunteers help at fundraising events and foster the horses in care until they are adopted out. Many of these horses take years of rehabilitation and handling until they can be safely adopted. Gaining knowledgable foster carers is a major problem the organisation faces, this is an area I will be addressing later in the internship.

However organization is holding their annual Beginner’s Horse Show on Sunday the 22^nd of September at the Walangarra Pony Club in Wungong. I was trusted to create a sponsorship proposal and research potential sponsors.

Drafting a sponsorship letter was difficult as I have never done anything life that before, I had never created one throughout my uni life, luckily I found a large degree of examples on the internet to gauge the type of template that was needed.

So I got busy in  drafting up a sponsorship letter, coming up with sponsorship levels and guidelines. After that was set, I brainstormed with the committee in what benefits the organisation could offer to potential sponsors.

We came up with four levels offering a range of benefits from Facebook and website advertisement, printed advertisement in the show guide on the day of the event. Ring sponsorship turned into our largest offering as well as a free stall at the event for businesses.

The final sponsorship proposal was then submitted to the committee and that’s when my research began. Having been in the equestrian industry for most of my life I had a good idea to what businesses I should approach. I sent letters and emails to a range of stock feeds, tack stores, horse studs, vetinaries, riding schools, trainers, horse breakers. The committee agreed to focus on the equestrian industry for the time being.

My next dilemma would be to approach the committee in sending sponsorship proposals to local businesses in the Wungong area, it would mean alerting the sponsorship proposal but it might open up another key market.

We realised by invoking emotion and sympathy into these letter we got a better response by the equestrian community.  One slogan we used was "Help us to help them", we also used a number of before and after photographs depicting successful stories that the organisation has achieved. By creating sympathy for the horses and the conditions they are in, we realised the community was more willing to give. By seeing a photo on an unhealthy horse we received a greater reaction then by writing about it. I guess in this situation a photo does speak a thousand words. This approach was never been used before and we have seen a dramatic increase already in the number of sponsors compared to last year. 

After all it is a fundraising show.

I’ve had a very good response so far with many of the higher sponsorship spots already gone.  It felt great knowing that this proposal and my contribution may save a number of horses in the future. The funds raised will help provide the best medical care, training and general rehabilitation for the horses surrendered into care. It was great to know that the efforts I helped produce will give a horse a second chance at life.

Below is Second Chance's Ebony before and after she was rehabilitated