Mountain Recreation Increases Revenues through Sponsorships

By Lizzy Owens, Community Engagement Manager, Mountain Recreation

Fundraisers don’t seem to be found at parks and rec departments frequently, but we’re a great addition to any parks and recreation staff team.

I joined our Special District’s team at a particularly auspicious time (March 2020) as the first fundraiser on staff. Our team had done some exceptional work in procuring sponsors and generating advertising revenue in the past, but when I came on board, I pulled all the efforts under one umbrella and created formalized programs with tangible and intangible benefits for our partners.

From events that had never had sponsors to newly imagined partnerships with sponsors, we were able to increase revenue and offset the tax dollars with those donations. With a professional fundraiser on staff, District sponsorships increased by 61% after the first year and 128% from 2020 to 2023. Creating new opportunities for local companies and finding innovative ways to recognize their contributions were two ways we were able to increase sponsorships, but it was more than that: with a dedicated staff member to creating relationships with those organizations and nurturing them as the relationship progressed with monthly updates and post-event/endof-program-year statistics and impact reports, local companies were more apt to join our District as a partner and stay committed to helping us achieve our mission.

At the same time, we also created a Foundation arm of our Special District – a 509a, yes, but still under the 501c3 designation. What does that mean? The Foundation is a supporting arm of the District and can apply for (and receive) grants that the District cannot. This status allows our organization to leverage its 501c3 status to receive nonprofit discounts – saving the District funding that it couldn’t otherwise realize, like nonprofit rates on postage and software. Our Foundation is also acting as a fiscal agent for another local project promoting recreation –by doing so, we’re able to support the local project by charging a significantly reduced rate to the project and we’re able to generate additional revenue through this fiscal sponsorship. Even more, we’re able to build our database of potential donors for future District campaigns.

And of course, a nonprofit receives donations from individuals. With a small county of 55,000 people and over 250 nonprofits, it’s a crowded field here in Eagle County. But with our first year-end giving solicitation, we were able to raise nearly $20,000 for local families. We asked community members to give to the youth scholarship fund, which is used by families to help cover the cost of youth sports leagues and our statelicensed childcare when the school district isn’t in session.

All of these opportunities are made possible through building relationships with folks who work for the companies able to sponsor or partner. It’s much easier to say no to a cold caller than it is a fellow parent on the soccer field; and once you get to know the sponsors and parnters, you understand what aligns with their missions. And, you hear from the community about what they want. It’s a win-win-win. The companies support the community, the Special District gets new funding, and the community reaps the benefits.