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Copyright 2003 - 2006
KU Department of Pediatrics.
All rights reserved.
This web site created by
John Goodwin, MD
Revised: October 30, 2003
Soliciting Support from Local Business
The businesses in your city are an important part of making your program a success. It is important to present the program as a physician-run community service program for children. The prizes donated are given to recognize the children for community service and school excellence.
Businesses help out for a variety of reasons.
- This program offers them an opportunity to get involved with a program that benefits and rewards children for positive achievements.
- Their involvement provides a good marketing tool and an image-enhancer.
- If your program is a not-for-profit organization (as ours is) donations can be tax-deductible.
At KU , we found that many businesses were eager to become involved. For example, the Kansas City Blades Hockey Team donated four tickets for every winner. Other businesses offered cash donations which were used for transportation or food for the winners.
One of our donors provided T-shirts with the PRIDE emblem and the names of all the sponsors on the back. These shirts were provided to the contributing businesses, participating residents and each winner.
If a sports organization is interested in participating, ask them to consider giving four tickets to a game each month during their regular season. Ask that the child's name be announced during the game and/or appear on the message board with the name of your pediatric department and the name of the sports organization.
Other philanthropic businesses include large industries in your city and other, more moderate-sized businesses, such as automobile dealerships, restaurants, and real estate companies that can provide a financial contribution. The local YMCA/YWCA may be interested in giving a family pass to their center for 1 to 3 months. Use your imagination.
A form letter that encourages businesses to participate can be used. Alternatively, residents can telephone businesses and solicit their contributions individually. However, phone solicitation takes much more time and is sometimes perceived less positively. Another option would be for residents to call on businesses in person. A face-to-face meeting is the often best way to get your message out.
From our experience, the cost of the program (including prizes) would be approximately $1200 per year if one award is handed out monthly during the nine-month school year. Obviously, the availability of donated prizes (such as tickets to sporting events) would make the program less costly.
Ten to fifteen percent of the donations will likely go towards office costs (stationary, postage, and setup). Careful documentation is required to track the flow of money and prizes through the system. This is especially true if you are a not-for-profit entity and plan to provide your donors with a letter stating that their donation is nontaxable.
To help you get started, here are several examples of correspondence that we have used.