Corporate Sponsorship for Team

[Peter Nevai]

Sigh, How much could our guys use? 5K 10K what ever you can get? for large corporations amounts like this are generally trivial. Heck some one should call up the manufacturers of Viagra, considering the number of old farts perticipating in CLPA should be a goldmine marketing outlet and sponsorship a certainty! No seriously, does no one work for a larger corp where they can inquire about a potential corporate sponsorship? Forget about the hobby industry companies they just do not have the cash, How about Exon and the other big boys? A breif search on the internet yeilded ther results below. What is to be lost applying? Nothing as far as I can see. But then why am I doing this? If I were still working for Motorola I would have made inquiries with thier PR department, but then so can PAMPA. Although I bet it would raise some eyebrows if the US team showed with Motorola or Boeing LOGO's on their uniforms. Hmmmmm.

http://www.boeing.com/companyoffices/aboutus/sponsorship/sec.html
http://corporate.homedepot.com/wps/portal/!ut/p/.cmd/cs/.ce/7_0_A/.s/7_0_141/_s.7_0_A/7_0_141
http://forms.cognos.com/?elqPURLPage=542&offid=sponsorship

Oh and all you down under, for each company I found with a sponsorship program you Aussie's have 3, Including Panasonic, Motorola and a bunch of others.

[Bill Little]

I would think there are numerous *tie ins* that would possibly meet Boeing's criteria.  Aviation related, and usually one of their employees is a member!

"Travel expenses" were a criteria that was listed among the "no-nos" on their list, though........ (??)

[Doug Moon]

You have to seel them on how giving money will make them a return.  Viagra is a good one but it is everywhere and who doesnt know about it.  10K to a CLPA team wont really raise awareness.

[Peter Nevai]

The real deal is this question, Does it hurt to try? Big corporations sponsor little leauge teams, this is not with any expectation of corporate tie in's or with no expectation of huge return on investment. They are more just PR outlets. Obviously you do not put big expectations on the sponsor, I.E hey I'll take anything you feel worthy. I do not think CLPA is big enough to have any expectations right? Hey if they do nothing else than spring for $1,000 bucks to provide team uniforms or the like it is still $1,000 more than the team would have recieved otherwise.

All it costs Pampa or the interesetd parties a perhaps a few phone calls and a couple minutes filling out paper work. CLPA is novel enough to perhaps get some discressional spending. Especially as it seems no one is interested in making and selling T shirt anymore. On the other hand perhaps it is best the Team go poor, this way there can be no battles over misappropriation or application of funds as it seems to have happened in the past. Seems that the competitive stunt community is not professional enough to get over that hurdle.

[George]

Who wants to be the first to paint a Viagra sign on their wing? 

Can you imagine the grins on the other flyers' faces. Probably point to the plane and ask if you ever had it stay up for four hours.     

George

PS. Actually, corporate sponsorship is probably a good idea.

[peabody]

Steve Buso got some money from John Klotz at one time ..... not a lot, but I understand that it covered all the finishing material costs.

Rather than individual deals, it might be more attractive to a potential sponsor to sponsor the Team....

This could be accomplished with decals on the aeroplanes and costumes worn by the competitors and support personnel. The US Team has a history of looking like escapees from Riker's in the past.

I believe that our AMA, with people of the payroll, should be the solicitors for this.....imagine something like "Toyota, official sponsors of the US FAI Teams"....

[Circlejerk]

"Who wants to be the first to paint a Viagra sign on their wing? "


That would make it crash proof right?  You won't have any problems keeping it up which might led to over-runs? 

[Andrew Borgogna]

Something else that might help is if all the clubs across the country would follow the example of the Knights of the Round Circle and vote a donation to support the WC team.  We did it last night.  If just ten other clubs did the same each member of the team including the junior would have the majority of their needs met.
Andy

[SteveMoon]

Peter, I think it's a great idea. You don't know if you don't ask,
you can't score it you don't shoot, etc., etc. I know my brother
Doug has hit up RedBull a couple of times; without success so
far, but you never know it could happen.

Later, Steve

[Dick Fowler]

"Who wants to be the first to paint a Viagra sign on their wing? "


That would make it crash proof right?  You won't have any problems keeping it up which might led to over-runs? 

and if you have a flight lasting more than four hours contact your CD right away.

[Andrew Borgogna]

I am wondering who wants the US WC team to be wearing shirts that have corporate logos on them.  I have yet to see a large American corporation give money to anything without something in return.  As I posted before lets ask our clubs to provide support to the CLPA team to the next world championships.  Nobody wants our team to win more than I do, and I agree we should support our team.  I am just not sure corporate America is the right place to get the support. 
Andy

[Peter Nevai]

I think that in this case Pampa being a not for profit would stand a better chance getting some money for the team as a whole, than a person would get as a individual. Seems more on the up and up that way. When the corp sees another organization kicking in also, it tends to foster a "oh heck why not" attitude.  The issue of showing up at the WC's sporting corporate logos my raise a few eyebrows but so long as it is not against the rules I do not see the harm. There is nothing keeping the clubs from pitching in as well. Would it not be nice if the competitors someday would not have to spend any of their own money on things other than for their personal entertainment or use? All it would take is filling out a form, perhaps a phone call or three, and perhaps putting together a pamphlet with a description and a couple of photos of the team members and past WC's and sending it to the corporate contacts would be nice. Anyone with a color printer could knock out a few copies, and perhaps the stunt news editor could provide the text. What would it cost? 25 bucks? Less?

[Dick Fowler]

I don't see PAMPA as being the best organization for garnering donations from individuals. I think the AMA is the better choice. Donations made to PAMPA are not tax deductible for the donor while donations made to the AMA are tax deductible. The donor gets some bang for the buck by donating to the AMA. The solution for keeping the AMA from using the money for other purposes is to make a restricted donation stipulating that the money must be used for the support of the F2B (or your favorite event) World Team in the year specified. By law, the AMA is then obliged to use the money as stated or refuse the donation.

I really think the AMA is key here and should be conducting a campaign to get donations for the year prior to the World Championships to raise money to support  the World Teams. The AMA seems rather low key about the Worlds Championships which is surprising when you consider their membership in NAA and relationship with the FAI which recognizes the AMA as as the only organization which may direct U.S. participation in international aeromodeling activities. You would think they would make a big deal out of the Worlds.

[peabody]

What is,essentially, chump change to a company like Honda or Subaru would be HUGE to a US WC Team....