Sponsorship as a Route to Services Without Increased Taxes

Part of my work for the past decade or so has been to create streams of revenue and to develop partnerships with the exchange of in-kind services where revenue is not required or desired. Typically I take a holistic approach and combine new revenues with sponsorship opportunities on behalf of clients. This works well for public entities that have various needs that can be matched up with assorted means. Simply stated: sometimes a town or public entity needs things done and does not have the funds to do them. Typically public entities are asset rich and cash poor. Sponsorship is a natural fit.

The target I have in mind is the Pool Club. My family and I had a membership a few summers ago but did not go last summer. Honestly it looked a bit rundown. It has been a rough four years since the Great Recession and revenues have been down. Suppressing the weeds in the overflow lot of a pool club is logically not the top priority when a town has kids to educate, roads to repair and police, and critical services to provide. That said, I think the pool club is a perfect opportunity for sponsorship.

We have all seen advertisements at little league fields. They mimic those at professional ballparks but are typically local in scale and flavor. Instead of Coca Cola and Budweiser you see the local barber shop, hardware store, community bank, and contractor. So, sure, we could put up some limited signage in an approved scale and generate much needed revenue. However, we bid out the concession annually. What I recommend is that we bid out the exclusive right to advertise landscaping services. We have huge yards in Holmdel and use lots of landscapers to keep them healthy and well-trimmed. What I would like to see is a very tasteful advertisement at the Pool Club with sponsorship credit given to the landscaper that maintains the grounds of the Pool Club for free.

The winning company gets to be the sole landscaper advertising position and has the privilege to show their work at the Pool Club along with sponsorship recognition. No money need change hands. The grounds are well maintained and a local business gets recognition for a job well done and exposure to potential customers all summer long.

Other sponsorships ideas coming to this Blog soon:

• Replant the destroyed trees along S. Holland and have a
  sponsorship plaque at the base
• Naming rights (annually or permanently)
• Work with township and schools to develop a matrix of needs and a corollary mechanism for charitable giving enabling Holmdel residents to receive appropriate tax benefits for such gifts. Make it easy to give/assist.
• Adopt a street. Replace a curb. Name a bench. Name a bleacher board. Name a lab. Endow a bookshelf. 
• Sponsor the flowers around public buildings. Sponsor the water for student sports.

If we aim well, we may very well get to a nice place.