How a Corporate Partnership Will Help You Reach More People and Raise More Money with a Sweepstakes Fundraiser
For many corporations, partnering with a nonprofit to raise funds for a cause they believe in provides a valuable opportunity to build and strengthen ties to their community. That’s great, because it’s also a big boost for the nonprofit, especially when they’re running a TapKat fundraising sweepstakes!
Partnering with a corporation is a win-win, and here’s why:
Your nonprofit may receive support in the way of a donated or enhanced sweepstakes prize
Your fundraising sweepstakes will be promoted to far more people if a corporate sponsor is helping to spread the word via email, social media, live events, and their website
The corporate sponsor has an opportunity to give back to their community in a meaningful way
The corporate sponsor builds their reputation in the community by supporting a good cause
All this leads to a bigger raise for your organization, more people learning about your cause, more people donating to your sweepstakes fundraiser, and it gives the corporate partner an opportunity to demonstrate their dedication to the interests of the community.
But what exactly does this kind of alliance look like in practice, and how would a nonprofit even begin to find a sponsor?
AIARE and KLIM Join Forces to Raise Money for Avalanche Education
In 2020, the nonprofit AIARE (American Institute for Avalanche Research & Education) ran their third TapKat sweepstakes to raise money for their avalanche awareness programs. They knew from experience that partnering with like-minded corporations would help them build awareness of the sweepstakes, attract more donors, and ultimately raise more funds.
They joined forces with KLIM, a company that specializes in creating top-of-the-line outdoor snow gear for snowmobilers. KLIM had also created the Avalanche Alliance, an association for outdoor motorized winter sports enthusiasts with the goal of creating more avalanche training and education.
As snowmobilers, all of them knew they faced the risk of being involved in an avalanche at one point or another. The seriousness of these events prompted their interest in supporting an organization like AIARE. And as a result, their TapKat sweepstakes raised $167,750 to support AIARE avalanche education program for snowmobilers!
We sat down with Vickie Hormuth, Executive Director of AIARE, and John Summers, Director of Marketing at KLIM, to learn more about how their partnership came about.
Why did AIARE choose to run a TapKat sweepstakes?
Vickie Hormuth: A couple of things influenced our choice to do a fundraising sweepstakes. We had seen KLIM run a small sweepstakes for avalanche awareness at a live event. It was a small event, and we liked the model they were trying out, but we knew we wanted to reach a broader audience.
Our goal was to find a new and creative way to raise funds for a new program AIARE is offering: avalanche education for motorized users.
How did the AIARE/KLIM partnership come about?
Vickie Hormuth: KLIM is a well-respected and leading voice in the motorized industry. We knew that partnering with them would be great for AIARE in terms of validating who we are as an organization, and inviting us into the motorized world, giving us access to their audience.
A couple of our instructors were also KLIM-sponsored athletes and were able to connect us to the company. We quickly realized, “There’s some synergy here! We can both accomplish some great things together.”
Why did KLIM choose to get involved in the sweepstakes?
John Summers: We knew that we wanted to do something for our industry. KLIM helped create the Avalanche Alliance, dedicated to educating outdoor snow sport enthusiasts about avalanches and how to handle them. The people at AIARE are the experts in training and avalanche safety, so we felt like partnering with them would help further our objectives.
AIARE’s new motorized curriculum felt like a natural fit for a partnership. It supported our goal of getting more people trained to educate snowmobilers in avalanche awareness, and we felt that AIARE was a great organization that would create a plan and get it done.
We all know it takes money to do things in the world, and we felt that we needed to support AIARE in their TapKat sweepstakes. It was an important part of us creating avalanche safety awareness, it gave us an opportunity to raise money for a good cause, and we were able to use that money to train and educate more people.
What did your collaboration look like, in practice?
John Summers: We sat down and pinpointed which promotional activities would generate the most amount of awareness for the sweepstakes. We came at it from all angles. AIARE used their social media channels and their trainers to promote the sweepstakes. We also used our social channels, our athletes and our influencers to promote.
We also went to several different shows and live events and promoted the sweepstakes there. In the snowmobile world, there are over 15 shows every autumn, which we attend. We were able to promote the sweepstakes at those events.
Within the Avalanche Alliance, we recruited partners who were willing to promote it, as well. It felt good to bring people together to make a difference in the world.
Do you have any advice for a nonprofit looking to partner with a corporate sponsor?
Vickie Hormuth: The reason this partnership worked was because it was a win-win for both partners, it wasn’t just a nonprofit going to a sponsor and asking for money. I think, in understanding what both entities’ ultimate goals are, and figuring out a way to accomplish them together through a sweepstakes, you can find success.
Linking our brands together made our storytelling really strong, and it also helped both companies meet our goals. Partnership with KLIM has really launched the success of our scholarship program and our motorized avalanche awareness program.
John Summers: When you approach a potential sponsor, your proposed partnership has to align with what the sponsor’s company is all about. This might be different from industry to industry, but for KLIM, a company in a very niche space, the partnership had to make sense for us.
As riders, we all face the risk of avalanches, and training is a very important part of making sure we’re safe out there. We recognized the lack of opportunities to get avalanche training and wanted to help change that.
Finally, the pitch has got to be simple. Everyone is so busy these days. Whatever it is, if it’s overly-complicated and you can’t see what you’re responsible for, you’ll assume it’s overwhelming. The partnership with AIARE was very straightforward.
Seek Corporate Sponsorships that Strengthen Your Cause and Help Your TapKat Sweepstakes Succeed
When your nonprofit finds a company that believes in your mission and aligns with your values, there is a lot of potential to strengthen the outcome of your TapKat sweepstakes.
A corporate sponsorship can work in many different ways, including:
A prize provider
A sponsor who sends out an eblast for you
A company that posts about your sweepstakes on their social media channels
A brick and mortar that posts signage about your sweepstakes
Sponsors may include:
Local businesses
Corporations
Celebrities
Micro-influencers
Or something else!
The sky's the limit when it comes to creating opportunities for your nonprofit sweepstakes fundraiser with corporate sponsors, so get creative!
If you’re ready to get started with your TapKat sweepstakes, click here.
