Resource Fairs Entice Sponsors and Draw People to Your Event
If you’re planning a charity walk, run, or ride and you’re looking for ways to attract sponsors and participants, consider adding a resource fair to your event. When I was planning my first Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk, one of my committee members suggested this to me, and it proved to be a key factor in our success. Here’s why:
Resource fairs put sponsors in direct contact with potential customers. As part of our sponsorship structure, we offered a table at the resource fair to any business that donated at the $500 level or higher. This gave sponsors the chance to display information about their products and services and meet potential customers face-to-face (I should note that sponsors did not actually sell products or services during the event). This benefit was often more enticing to sponsors than having their logo on our promotional materials because of the direct contact with a targeted population.
Resource fairs give participants something to do after they register. Have you ever arrived early at a charity event, only to zip through registration and then have nothing to do for the next 30-60 minutes until the event begins? We found that the resource fair was most crowded during the registration period because people liked to browse the tables while waiting for the walk to start.
Resource fairs draw people to your event who might not have otherwise attended. If you advertise the resource fair alongside the charity event, you could attract people who come specifically for the resource fair but end up participating in the event and/or donating to your cause. At Memory Walk, most of the sponsors were long-term care facilities, home health care agencies, hospice agencies, and other organizations that provided services to older families. Some of the sponsors offered free blood pressure checks or similar services, and all of them provided valuable materials about health and healthcare issues. This was a huge draw for retirees, many of whom ended up joining us for the walk even though that wasn’t their original reason for coming.
Resource fairs educate the community about your cause. Don’t forget to set up your own table with materials that raise awareness about your cause and offer additional ways to get involved in the organization year-round. I recruited many new volunteers this way, which helped make the following year all the more successful.
I highly recommend adding a resource fair to your event if you don’t already offer one. I’d also love to hear your ideas about organizing resource fairs, including what’s worked well for you. Post a comment to this blog, or start a new discussion in the forum.
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Giving goodie bags as part of the race packet is fun for participants. I think the kid in us comes out when we get to explore the contents. In addition, as a planning organization it promotes partnership with local businesses.