Farm Sponsorships: Increase Income and Visibility

By Jane Eckert - Eckert AgriMarketing

When attendance at your farm begins to grow to a significant size, other businesses often are interested in reaching your customers with their own message. At this point, you can develop sponsorship arrangements where you and these businesses all win!

DON'T BE INTIMIDATED… THEY NEED YOU, TOO!

Companies are always looking for sponsorship and promotion opportunities. Yours may be just the perfect fit. Remember, you are delivering an audience to them. And they need your audience as much as you need their help! Don't let your discomfort keep you from increasing your income. Make the call today.

WHAT WILL COMPANIES SPONSOR?

• A corn maze (very popular because sponsor gets a lot of publicity through aerial shot of maze with its name carved into the design)

• Activities (haunted hayride, petting coral, etc.)

• A festival or holiday weekend

• An event, such as a concert or a rodeo

• An entire season

WHY COMPANIES LIKE SPONSORSHIPS

• Name recognition with the public

• Chance to reach a family-friendly audience

• Good will of being a caring corporate citizen

• Chance to connect to a positive messages (for example sponsoring a patriotic maze)

WHAT YOU MAY GET FROM A SPONSOR

• Cash payment for the sponsorship

• Promotion of your farm through their marketing efforts (websites, advertising, media coverage, ticket sales, shopping bags, posters, etc.)

• Product (beverages, for example)

• Distribution of free promotional items at the farm (giveaways, samples, etc.)

• Extra value to your event (e.g. a radio or TV station will send out a popular celebrity to emcee an event or display the news helicopter, etc.)

• Off-farm tickets sales (to activity or to farm) at their locations

• A link on their website to your website

WHAT SPONSORS MAY EXPECT FROM YOUR FARM

• Name and logo prominently displayed, especially in conjunction with the particular activity they are sponsoring.

• Mentions in your marketing efforts, including websites, advertising, newsletters, posters, fliers, signs, media relations, etc.

• A link on your website to their website

• Naming rights to the activity they are sponsoring (the National Bank corn maze at Lawlor Farm or the Smith Farm & Feed petting corral, etc.)

• Free tickets to the event or to the farm, which they can distribute to employees and clients

• Employee or client party

• Distribution of their brochures or marketing materials on the farm

HOW MUCH MONEY SHOULD I REQUEST?

• This depends on the size of your crowds. If your corn maze attracts 10,000 people each fall, you can ask for more than if the company sponsors a Halloween Costume Contest that attracts 500 children.

• Start with your "wildest dream" number because you can always negotiate downwards

WHAT KIND OF COMPANIES SHOULD I CONTACT?

• Grocery stores, hospitals, banks, fast food restaurants or any other companies that want to do business with the same family audience you attract to the farm

• Seed companies, lumber companies

• Media (TV, radio, newspapers)

• Large companies or corporations with many employees that are located within 60 miles of your farm

• Family-owned businesses in and around your community, such as restaurants, retail shops, hardware stores, etc.

WHEN DO I CONTACT THE COMPANY?

• Now! Now! Now!

• Companies often plan budgets a year in advance, so the sooner you make this contact, the sooner you can get the "o.k."

HOW DO I CONTACT THE COMPANY?

• Call to find out the name of the person in charge of creating sponsorships. This may be somebody in marketing, promotions, public relations or community relations or, with smaller business, probably the owner.

• Write a brief letter or send an e-mail explaining your farm business, the kind of crowds you attract and what the activity you would like the company to sponsor.

• At the end of the letter, write, "I will call you next Wednesday at 10 a.m. to discuss how the XYZ Company can benefit from a sponsorship arrangement with the Lawlor Farm."

• Call at the designated time. If you can't get through to the person, keep calling. Persistence pays off!

• Ask to meet in person to discuss the opportunity.

According to Kamille Combs of The Maize, the largest creator of mazes, "When you meet with potential sponsors, find out what they want most, then develop a proposal that best meets the needs of the company and your farm."

Just ask Bill Bakan, owner of the Maize Valley Farm Market in Hartville, Ohio (www.maizevalley.com).

His maze - in the shape of NASCAR driver Mike Waltrip's Chevrolet - was sponsored by NAPA auto part stores, whose name is featured prominently in the design.

He contacted NAPA at its headquarters by e-mail, writing repeatedly and eventually sending them a rendering of the design, which is what got them very interested.

Then, through his advertising representative at WONE radio, Bill plugged into a promotion with 40 NAPA stores that advertise with the station. The final and extraordinary piece of the puzzle was when the station arranged a contest for an all-expense paid trip for two to the Daytona 500 in 2005!

Everyone is a winner in this sponsorship. NAPA gets tremendous publicity from all the aerial photos that have been used on the news. They also received an employee VIP day, including free entry and food for 100 people, plus discounts for the rest of the group. They got increased traffic to their stores from people coming by to register for the contest and get discount tickets to the maze.

The radio station gets advertising revenue from NAPA.

And the farm? Sales to the maze are up substantially thanks to the ongoing media attention, including ESPN! Even Mike Waltrip dropped by in a helicopter with an NBC news crew. The number of mentions on the radio station from deejays and NAPA spots basically tripled the power of Bill's advertising buy.

Sponsorships are a great way to increase your income, and all it takes is a little strategy and a little time. Oh, and a lot of patience, but for farmers, that comes naturally!

Jane Eckert, a national speaker, author and agritourism expert, is principal of Eckert AgriMarketing (www.eckertagrimarketing.com), a firm that helps farmers sell products directly to consumers and develop their operations into tourist destinations. Jane can be reached by phone 314-862-6288 or you may to email her directly.