YGM Total Resource Campaigns » TRC

Don’t forget to show the love to your volunteers this Valentine’s Day

February 12 2018 admin People, TRC, Volunteers, YGM 0 comments

As I spent some time this weekend thinking about Valentine’s Day, I was reminded of a post I wrote a couple years ago about showing love for our volunteers – at Valentine’s and throughout the years.

When I went back and read the post again, I found that all of the tips I gave still hold true. Volunteers are the backbone of a Total Resource Campaign (TRC) and, really, of any good endeavor.

I do have a few new ideas that I would like to share with you.

Sometimes we roll our eyes at suggestions and ideas that we deem “cheesy” or “corny,” but those are often the simplest to execute and the best received ideas.

Today, run out to a local market and buy a box of Valentine cards – you know the ones… you have likely purchased them for your children. Buy a box or two – or 10 – and think of the volunteers to whom you would like to send an unexpected surprise.

Sign the cards “We love our TRC Volunteers,” or “We love what you do for our TRC,” or “We love the support you give our Chamber.” Customize it for your volunteers. Add a piece or a tiny bag of Valentine candy & you have a wonderful surprise. Spend tomorrow and Wednesday dropping these gifts off at their offices around town. Without a doubt you will start to see little thank yous start to show up on social media from grateful volunteers.

Speaking of social media, don’t forget to use these handy tools. You should have gotten your volunteers’ social media information and can post photos and congrats/words of appreciate on your social media, linking to each volunteer’s personal accounts. Everyone enjoys kind words of appreciation and recognition. Feature not just your campaign’s top three producers but all of those volunteers who make your chamber’s events and programs special.

While Valentine’s Day is an easy tie-in to sharing some love for your volunteers, don’t stop there. The very best TRCs are done by organizations that support and encourage their volunteers throughout the year. Diane Poole of the Trussville (Ala.) Area Chamber of Commerce sent sparklers to their volunteers on the 4th of July with notes saying, “You make us sparkle and shine! Thanks for all you do for the Chamber and our TRC!”

With volunteers and TRCs, little things mean a lot. The work done throughout the year can pay big dividends during the TRC itself.

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It’s never too late to keep your resolutions

February 07 2018 admin Blog, TRC, YGM 0 comments

It’s now early February, and we are well into 2018.

When you and your staff began planning 2018 last year, did you approach it with a wish list of desired accomplishments? Did you and your Board conduct strategic planning meetings and lay out a plan for what you hoped 2018 would bring?

Now that January has concluded and we are a week in February, do some of those goals and plans feel more like New Year’s resolutions than actual goals – excellent ideas but difficult to set into motion?

Like resolutions, goals should always be approached with the mindset that it is never too late to start over… or to simply start.

When you and your staff and your Board began to make your goals for 2018, was a Total Resource Campaign (TRC) on your list? Was adding more members, improving your volunteer base, finding innovative programs, or improving attendance at current events on your list?

A TRC is not simply about the end results of financial stability, though that is certainly nice. A TRC provides more than just financial resources for your organization.
• A TRC engages more members than ever before into your program of work.
• A TRC draws more new volunteers into your organization.
• A TRC creates a grassroots marketing campaign for your organization in your community.

Despite all of these benefits, one of the best advantages of a TRC is that it serves as a strategic planning tool and an organizational checklist for you and your organization as you plan for your campaign. While laying the ground work for your campaign, you have the opportunity to take a hard look at your organization and see your strengths and to see places where improvements can be made.

Before the campaign ever begins its public phase, the detailed work of strategically reviewing your organization’s events, programs and possibilities begins. It is during this time that you can begin to see new opportunities and can also begin to see places where changes can be made. Growth is often experienced during this planning phase.

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Get Creative with your Team Motivation

December 20 2017 admin Blog, Chambers, TRC, Volunteers, YGM 0 comments Tags: total resource campaign, TRC, volunteers

We talk a lot about how important it is to motivate our volunteers, both during the Total Resource Campaign and following the campaign. But it can be challenging to find ways to motivate those volunteers. Finding creative ways can be even more challenging.

Even if it sounds cheesy – or worse, lazy – take the opportunity to use obvious things and holidays around you. People love cheesy, and it makes for great entertainment and motivation.

At a recent Rally Session at the Ozark Chamber, the keynote speaker was Harold Phillips of Ozark Bank. He presented the following poem to the group. (Many thanks to Mr. Phillips for allowing us to use his creation.)

An Adaptation of the Night Before Christmas

By Clement C. Moore

Twas the month before Christmas and all through the town
You could hear the teams stirring both uphill and down
The goals had been set and summed up with great care
The Total Resource Campaign finally was there

The teams had been chosen with captains as heads
With visions and strategies their teams they led
Some days they wore kerchiefs and sometimes a cap
They talked TRC and they’re closing the gap

For out on the street you can hear all the clatter
The Chamber is working for those things that matter
They found business sponsors for trade goods or cash
They all hit the streets and it spread like a flash

Their message was fresh as the new fallen snow
Did their work for the Chamber they’re still on the go
And what are they selling? You ask without fear
They’re selling the future for those who live here

They were cheered by their leader in high heels and britches
You all know her name yes she’s Andrea Sitzes
More rapid than eagles these coursers they came
If you’ll give me a second, I’ll tell you each name

There is an Angel and Griffin, Jadonna and Abbye
Tenye and Lisa, Amanda and Cathi
Heather, Joy, Jenna, Mike, Lisa, and Jane,
Melanie, Cindy, Michaela, and Shane,
Marrhya and Joshua, Stacy and John
Sometimes it seems lists of names just go on

To the top of the list to the top of the Wall!
You’re doing great work said Campaign Chair Jane Paul

And then in a twinkling I heard their successes
The way that they work – well it really impresses
So out to each business those coursers they flew
With sponsorships, spotlights and vendor booths too

Their eyes how they twinkled their voices how merry
The work that they’re doing is great! Oh yes very!
They’re wrapping the Resource Campaign in a week
And just let me say their performance is sleek!

If that jolly old elf who each year in December
Were standing here now he would say please remember
With a wink of his eye and a “Twist” of his head
He would tell you that you have not one thing to dread

For the teams sprang to action and took to their work
They are getting so close to the goal! Go berserk!
Then laying his finger aside of his nose
Watch the total he’d say and see how high it goes

Then he’d spring to his sleigh to his team give a whistle
And away they would fly like the down of a thistle
You would hear him exclaim as he drove out of sight
Total Resource Campaigns a success! Now Good Night!

Be creative with your volunteers. Motivate them. Appreciate them.

Merry Christmas from YGM.

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There’s A Sponsorship for Everyone

November 06 2016 admin Sponsor development, TRC 0 comments Tags: sponsorship development, total resource campaign, TRC

I said recently that sponsorships have a lot in common with Psychology 101 and Maslow’s Hierarchy. Because that is true, it is also true that not all sponsorships are equal.

Provide Equal Opportunities

While all sponsorships are not of the same value, you do want all of your possible sponsors to be able to find a sponsorship that appeals to them. Provide tiers or levels in your sponsorship options. Some businesses seek the top level in anything they are a part of while other are just glad to participate at a smaller level.

Provide Event Specific Options

Make sure to consider event specific items, as well. Nationally, we are seeing a trend that the third-tier sponsors are willing to spend the same amount of money as other sponsors. However, they want individual aspects of the event that they can label. Do you have a photo booth sponsor, a potty sponsor, a valet sponsor?

Present Your Ideas

When making your pitch to the sponsor, make sure your plan includes a catalog of all your sponsor levels, pricing and benefits. To increase the probability of sale, including pictures from the last year’s event, marketing materials and audience reach are always a plus.

Make purchasing the sponsorships easy for your sponsors. Customize options for them. If you provide them with a packet of everything you do, you will still be waiting on them to return your call when you go prepare next year’s packet.

Sponsorship Tracking

In preparing your marketing plan, a vital piece of the plan must be sponsorship tracking. And that piece needs to be in place even before you start selling. If you don’t know what you have, you don’t know what you have left to sell.

Additional things to consider:

How are you going to implement what you promised to your sponsors?
Are they getting their benefits?

Always keep in mind to under-commit and over-deliver on benefits. Don’t let all of your secrets out of the bag in the sponsorship catalog. Everyone likes a little surprise, and sponsors are no different.

These are important aspects to ensure your sponsorship renewals will return in subsequent years.

Success is for the courageous. Chambers that currently are not implementing any organized sponsorship plan need to find the one that will work the best for all of their stakeholders – their staff, their members and their organization as a whole.

For the chambers that are conducting a sponsorship plan, take an inventory of it. Is it working for you? Is it time for an overhaul?

If you find that you need assistance, we would love to help. Contact me at ebey@nullygmtrc.com.

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It’s All About Those Teams

October 21 2016 admin Chambers, Sponsor development, TRC 0 comments Tags: sponsorship development, total resource campaign, TRC

I’ve been talking a lot lately about building a sponsorship campaign and the initial blocks in that process. One of the most important is an organized team. In all actuality, a Chamber really needs two organized teams.

The First Team

Your first team should be obvious – those who will sell the sponsorships. Think through your sales team.

Will your sales be done in-house by one staff member?
Are you going to include an entire department?
What about directing it to a Chamber committee – say the Ambassadors?
Are you going to look to the entire membership to recruit an army of volunteers?

Regardless of what your sales team is going to look like, they need to be organized from the beginning. You need to have the idea in mind of who will sell, so that the next steps will be executed more effectively and in a more timely manner.

The Second Team

The second team is your staff. You need to make certain that they are all on board with the process and understand the plan. They all will have a part in the campaign, regardless of whether or not they are on the sales team.

If you are mobilizing volunteers, each staff member can motivate different volunteers. If the plan is to be executed by one staff member, the staff as a whole needs to understand the streamlining process.

Sponsors

The next step is to secure those much-needed sponsors. Typically, chambers have the same 25-100 members (the number depends on the chamber size) that routinely are asked for sponsorship assistance time and time again.

Why do we not ask beyond our regular list?

Why do we overcharge our friends and give the rest away?

It’s all about looking into why sponsors sponsor. Just as our business members target their specific customers, chambers need to target their specific sponsors. If an event is targeted to reach the masses, consider a business that is looking to do the same.

Have a member who has been in business 5-7 years and finally reached a sense of establishment in the business community? Target them with a sponsorship that would provide prestige and exclusivity.

Remember Psychology 101 and Maslow’s Hierarchy… it applies to Chamber sponsorships, too!

If you need some help with either developing your teams or developing your sponsor list, we would be happy to discuss a Total Resource Campaign with you. You can reach us at ebey@nullygmtrc.com.

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Taking the Uncertainty out of Sponsorship

October 15 2016 admin Sponsor development, TRC, YGM 0 comments Tags: chamber, sponsorship development, total resource campaign, TRC, YGM

If your chamber is thinking about a sponsorship plan, there isn’t one perfect plan, just like there isn’t one perfect chamber. Your leadership needs to evaluate various types of plans and determine what will work best for your chamber.

There are four types of sponsorship plans:

Per event
Annual bundled program
Sponsorships through tiered memberships
Total resource campaigns.

Once your chamber identifies what type of plan it has or would like to execute, it needs to determine the goals of the plan.

Are you looking strictly for financial revenue?
Do you want to initiate organizational pride?
Are you looking for an increase in awareness for your organization throughout the community?

Next, your chamber will need to determine what inventory will be included in the plan. Items we are seeing trending nationally include:

Workforce Development/Education programming and events
Women’s initiatives
Medical events & First Responder recognition programs

Educational seminars during the lunch hour (aka “Boxed Lunch & Learn” series with attendance cost of $10-25) are being replaced with substantial professional development programs – at least half a day – with at least $100 admission. Chamber leadership programs are being reinvented to include professional development components as business leaders are saying “city field trips” aren’t enough any more.

Selling the Inventory

Once your inventory is established, you have to make certain you can articulate your programs. If you can’t explain it in a very short narrative, you probably won’t be able to sell it because your sponsor won’t be able to sell it to their customer base either.

You also need to be sure you can answer what the program is really worth. Beyond the budget, is the topic relevant and unique, and is the audience popular to the sponsorship.

Think through the real value of each sponsorship, of how a business could market it, of how a business could benefit from it.

If you need help working through the details of sponsorships, contact YGM at ebey@nullygmtrc.com. We will be happy to discuss it with you.

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Looking to Increase Sponsorships

October 09 2016 admin Sponsor development, TRC, YGM 0 comments Tags: ACCE, sponsorship development, TRC, YGM

Be the Change Your Chamber Needs

This summer’s 2016 ACCE Conference in Savannah, Ga., was amazing, and I keep thinking about how sponsorship development was the hot topic. We were delighted that all the sessions on sponsorship were relocated into the overflow room due to such tremendous interest.

I co-presented “Sponsorship Strategy: Organizing for Success” with Loren Traylor of the Birmingham Business Alliance at the ACCE.

The great tennis player Arthur Ashe once said, “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” His theory applies to most of life, but especially to sponsorship development.

Define Sponsorships

In creating a sponsorship plan, a chamber must first have sponsorship. Nationally, we are seeing a trend with many nonprofit organizations – from schools to churches to regional charities – using the term “sponsor” for a variety of meanings. This is affecting the corporate landscape and how chambers are able to secure sponsorship dollars.

When YGM trains volunteers all over the country to execute a Total Resource Campaign – just one form of an organized sponsorship plan – many volunteers will express a sense of exhaustion of having to volunteer to go secure another sponsorship.

They will say “we just had to get a sponsor for Sally’s soccer uniform last week” or “Johnny’s Boy Scout troop was just getting sponsors for camp last month.” However, following training and securing an understanding of Chamber sponsorships, they quickly articulate “these are not sponsorships.”

How TRC Sponsorships are Different

What a YGM sponsorship is all about is talking to business contacts about utilizing the chamber for marketing and advertising of their business. Asking business owners about these sponsorships are much different – and often much easier – asks.

An organized sponsorship plan will increase your financial resources, grassroots marketing, and volunteer involvement while providing the chambers with both program and staff development.

The fall is an excellent time to begin planning for your chamber’s future. If you would like to speak with us at YGM about how we can help, you may reach us at ebey@nullygmtrc.com.

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Why Education Initiatives Build Chambers and Communities

May 06 2016 admin Chambers, TRC, YGM 0 comments Tags: ACCE, education, Horizon Initiative, National Education Week, TRC, US Chamber of Commerce

If you can read this, you should thank a teacher.

This has been National Teacher Appreciation Week, which is sponsored by the National Education Association. At YGM, we’re quite fond of teachers. We respect them, honor them, and deeply appreciate them.

When I begin working with a Chamber and see that they have a strong Education program, I am encouraged by their commitment to the community.

The US Chamber of Commerce says, “A strong education system is crucial to preparing young people for good jobs and bright futures and sustaining a 21st century workforce that can compete in the global economy.”

Their position is that few initiatives have a greater impact on the future of this country and its prosperity and competitive standing in the world than our educational system.

According to recent statistics provided by the US Chamber of Commerce, approximately 70 percent of students in the United States aren’t proficient in reading or math on an international level.

If you aren’t sure how your state measures up or why this matters, Achieving Tomorrow has a map that can help. The interactive map of the country allows users to click each state and see educational demographics such as state standards and assessments, reading and math proficiencies, and the skills gap on post-secondary education.

As per the Achieving Tomorrow website, approximately 60 percent of first-year college students require remediation in English or math.

The Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) discussed the importance of education in their recent report: Horizon Initiative: Chambers 2025.

In 2014, the ACCE launched the Horizon Initiative Task Force to tap into the collective chamber wisdom as well as other resources to predict how each organization might evolve during the coming decade.

The Scarcity and Abundance Influence section of the report states, “By fostering education attainment initiatives, chambers can address skills-jobs disconnects and tap the abundance of employment opportunities.”

“Half of the children who enter ninth grade in urban public schools will not come out of high school ready for career or college,” the report states in the Population Shift Influence section.

These are the statistics that reinforce why it is so important for Chambers, businesses and individuals to rally behind the movement to improve our educational system.

As we all know, investing Chamber dollars in educational programming is investing in the future of the community.

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Why Businesses Sponsor – Three Key Reasons

April 29 2016 admin Sponsor development, TRC 0 comments

Whenever we begin to work with Chambers as new Total Resource Campaign (TRC) clients, we brainstorm possible sponsorship opportunities as well as member businesses that might be interested in various sponsorships.

Inevitably, someone will ask why a member business would sponsor an event or unique opportunity.

There are three really important reasons businesses sponsor Chamber opportunities. Before I tell new clients those reasons, though, I tell them a story.

Play with the Big Boys

I wasn’t always a consultant. When I was a Chamber executive myself, I was running a TRC and at an event, someone slipped me a signed contract. I was so excited that I had to pause the conversation I was involved in to quickly skim the contract.

Imagine my delight when I saw that a member business had chosen to underwrite our largest sponsorship of our new event!

When I saw who had signed the contract, my delight faded, however, as I knew this gentlemen and his business and knew he had simply checked the wrong box. I called out – loudly – across the small but crowded room and said, “Bill! You checked the Presenting Sponsor box!”

He responded with the biggest grin on his face, “I know! Isn’t it great?”

It took a moment for me to realize what everyone watching already knew. That funny taste in my mouth was my foot. Bill had checked the right box. I had made the wrong assumption.

This gentleman went on to sponsor that same event, at that same level, for several years, going above and beyond by giving the Chamber additional large door prizes for us to raffle to attendees at the event.

One day, I took a chance and asked him, “Bill, why did you sponsor something so large when you had never done anything like that before?”

He looked at me and said, “Because the TRC gave me the chance to play with the big boys. There are several similar companies in our area, and everyone assumes they are more financially available than I am, so no one ever asks me to participate.”

The Key Points of Sponsorship

When thinking about your sponsorship opportunities and member businesses that might want to have a seat at the table, remember Bill’s story. No one had ever approached him before because no one in our Chamber executive team – including myself – thought he was ready for a seat at the table.

One of the wonderful things about a TRC is that it opens up sponsorship opportunities that might present new vistas to businesses that weren’t there before. TRCs also bring new volunteers that see businesses in the community with fresh eyes.

Consider these three reasons why many businesses chose to sponsor through a TRC.

Marketing and Advertising

The majority of businesses have an advertising budget today. By taking advantage of a TRC sponsorship, those advertising dollars will reach a wider audience and for a longer period of time than a radio, television or social media ad.

Positioning in the Community

Another story I love to tell is of a manufacturing plant outside of city that purchased the sponsorship of the Chamber’s Annual Meeting. No one expected it, but the company sponsored the meeting several years in a row.

When asked, the company CEO explained, “We have good jobs and competitive benefits and compensation packages, but we were spending so much money on hiring fairs and online recruiting sites and still not recruiting the kind of workers we wanted.”

“Sponsoring the Annual Meeting got our name in front of the community in ways that we never could before, and people began to look at us differently,” he continued. “We didn’t change who we were, but we began to draw a better pool of applicants. We now spend far less on hiring fairs but have far better candidates to choose from, and we are convinced that it is because of our sponsorship.”

Matching Corporate Values

If you know a business owner is actively involved in politics, suggest a sponsorship that is closely aligned with your governmental relations program. If a CEO is heavily involved in education incentives, point out the education sponsorships available.

Show your potential sponsors how their corporate values can match closely with sponsorship opportunities.

Sponsoring with enthusiasm

Moving businesses toward sponsorships takes planning and engagement on the part of both Chamber executives and volunteers. But if you keep in mind the key points of sponsorship, you can easily be well on your way.

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Re-energize your volunteers for a mid-campaign boost

March 12 2016 admin TRC, Volunteers 0 comments Tags: campaign, mid-campaign slump, volunteers

In the life of a sponsorship campaign, there are natural peaks and valleys. Most campaigns start off strong, but some experience a lull around the mid-point. The key to a successful campaign is how chambers handle that mid-point lull.

Keep in Contact

Maintaining close contact with your volunteers is crucial at every point in the campaign. If your staff has been communicating well with your volunteers, then you will want to continue to do more of the same.

But if you take a critical eye to your communications thus far and determine that more can be done, consider these tips.

Contact your top producers every couple of days. Just check in with them and see what they are working on and offer any assistance they might need.
Those volunteers who have made some sales but not many should be contacted once a week or so. Make sure they know that you are there if you need them and that you are counting on them for their sales, but don’t call or email so often that they begin to see that communication as an annoyance.
Lastly, look at how you are communicating with those volunteers who have not sold anything to date. Make sure that you haven’t begun to ignore them because they haven’t sold anything. Remember that all volunteers have the entire Campaign timeframe in which to sell. They may be working on something you aren’t aware of unless you are checking in with them regularly.

Be Positive

It’s really easy to be excited and encouraging with your volunteers at the beginning of the campaign with things are fresh and new and when sales seem to be happening every time you turn around. It is the really forward-thinking chamber staff member who can remain positive with volunteers when sales begin to slump.

But if you aren’t presenting a positive message to your volunteers and expressing to them how much you believe in their efforts and appreciate their endeavors, they aren’t going to be motivated to succeed. This is the time for chamber staff members to make that extra effort to really encourage volunteers to make a difference.

Throw a Party

Rarely does anything get people as energized as a party atmosphere. A mid-campaign rally might be just what your volunteers need to get that second wind to propel them through the remaining weeks of the campaign.

Just like when you had your initial campaign kick-off event, make this a fun event. Send invitations and hold the event at an enjoyable location. Have heavy hor d’oeuvres and beer and wine instead of a full meal.

When thinking about your agenda for this event, consider ways to make the atmosphere festive while still providing both key information and motivation for each volunteer.

Have a speaker.
Give away door prizes – include sponsorship leads!
Play Chamber Trivia – everyone who correctly answers questions about your chamber wins prospect leads.
Announce competitions.
Have strategy/team building time.

Action Breeds Action

Competition is important. It brings in sales and new memberships. Take a few minutes and recognize your top producers. Mention the top teams. Show those who haven’t sold anything yet that the prime sponsorships – or just the sponsorships they might have been working on – are being sold. It is important to tell people that they need to act quickly.

As part of that, create a few fun competitions to motivate your volunteers. Pit team against team. Offer cash prizes or tickets to local events for the top sales person for the next couple of week or for the top team.

Specifically create incentives for those individuals who have not sold anything to date. Once they begin to see how easy it is to sell sponsorships – and memberships! – and feel how rewarding it is to begin getting that recognition, you will be surprised at how quickly people go from not selling at all to becoming top producers.

Provide Strategy Time

Encourage teams to meet together, whether at a mid-campaign rally event or on their own. As they work together to discuss what businesses they are working with, they will begin to brainstorm new ideas. Everyone on the team will benefit.

From Slump to Goal

With just a little planning and effort on the part of the chamber staff, a mid-campaign lull can be transformed into a rallying point in no time. It’s all in how you approach it.

Is this your “oh well” moment or is this your “let’s make it great” moment? How you answer will determine the remainder of your campaign.

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