YGM Total Resource Campaigns

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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Building New Ties This Summer

June 20 2016 admin YGM 0 comments Tags: ACCE, American Chamber of Commerce Executives, conferences, Georgia Chamber of Commerce Executives, Institute, Mississippi Economic Development Council, TCCE, TRC

Last week, I saw lots of posts about the Midwest Institute program. As I was packing for the first conference I would attend this summer with YGM, I couldn’t help but think about what I love most about conferences and Institute programs.

When I was a Chamber executive myself – especially when I first began chamber work – I made a point to attend every educational opportunity possible. I wanted to learn as much as I could about the chamber industry so that I could bring the “next big thing” back to my Chamber.

What I soon realized was that I gained something at these events that was more important than the educational information. I gained relationships that benefitted me both personally and professionally.

Many of my Institute friends shared in the joy of the birth of my daughters. People I met at conferences have given me valuable ideas for both my own chambers and chambers I have assisted during my time at YGM.

Just last week, I texted a chamber friend to ask the name of a sponsorship I knew that friend’s chamber had done and that I wanted to suggest for a new client. We have worked together through the years to make one another better.

Now that I’m on the consultant side of the table, I am a vendor at conferences hoping to share new educational information with chamber executives. My favorite part of conferences is still meeting new people and building strong relationships. It’s also good to catch up with old friends.

If you find yourself at a conference this summer and see the YGM booth, please stop by. If I am speaking at a presentation you attend, take an extra moment to stop and introduce yourself when the presentation is finished. I would love to meet you and discover what we could learn from one another.

I would also love to share with you the benefits of a TRC , learn more about your chamber, and just get to know you personally. I’m here at the Texas Chamber of Commerce Executives Conference until Tuesday. I was a panelist in the session on “The ABCs of TRCs” and had a wonderful time meeting some great folks.

Here is my summer conference schedule:

* TCCE: Until tomorrow (June 21)

* Mississippi Economic Development Council: June 22-24

Connections2016 Chamber Track Presenter

* Georgia Chamber of Commerce Executives: July 20-22

* American Chamber of Commerce Executives: August 9-12

Panelist: Sponsorship Strategy: Organizing for Success

I look forward to seeing you at a conference this summer. Enjoy your time learning about how to make your chamber better. Remember that the best things you learn this summer will probably not be things at all. Those new relationships will probably be the best building blocks in your career that you could add all summer.

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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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