Trying to Get My Charity Activity Sponsored, How To?

[mrjohncory]

I'm participating in a certain crazy adventure for charity this summer and I need to raise about $10,000 USD in 3 months.

My teammate and I have figured out we could get about $2,000 from friends and family. The rest we could go out of pocket for but we considered asking a bunch of small, medium and global businesses. Knowing that Webmasterworld is crawling with marketing wizards, I thought I would ask how you all would approach panhandling big companies for money.

Our adventure has a very small, few advertising opportunities for businesses, maybe local news and radio spots at best. Does that mean they won't bite? Anyone have any experience in the field?

[vincevincevince]

Can't be of much help but to note that it makes a big difference whether the money you are asking for will go 100% to charity, or if some part of it is for your expenses / costs. Preferably, the payment should go directly to the charity (not via you). That, in most places, opens the door for all kinds of tax incentives for the company which aren't easily available unless the payment is sent to a registered charity as a donation.

[mrjohncory]

We definitely have online "straight-to-charity" functionality.

I hadn't even considered writing about Tax Incentives in my package... Thank you!

One thing though, if I can offer advertising space (online, on my body, on my vehicle), how much should I ask for? Should I ask for certain amounts at all?