It can be hard to ask people for their time or money, but what we found over the years is that lots of people and companies believe in what you're doing and want to support it, but they just don't know how. That's why we decided to just ask. For each event, we send dozens, maybe even hundreds of emails. We get a few "no, thanks," but we get a good number of glorious "yes" replies.

ASKING LEADS TO SPONSORS

At Make a Mark, we believe that the local business, design, and technology community is a key stakeholder and should be able to support an event that works to improve nonprofits who work in service of our society. One of our first steps after deciding to hold an event in a community has been to seek out sponsors. People have often asked us how we have been able to get in-kind and financial sponsors for our events, and it begins with simply asking.

When we reach out to a potential sponsor, we begin with a simple email including some photos or a video from a previous event and an invitation to talk on the phone or visit with one another in person. These emails are our chance to briefly explain our deeper purpose and motivation and what makes the make-a-thons so exciting and impactful. If we receive a reply, this is our chance to talk more intentionally about our hopes and eventually provide the sponsor with information about how to get involved and what the perks might be for contributing.

We have always focused on two types of sponsors — financial sponsors and in-kind sponsors. Financial sponsors are those who provide a monetary contribution to the event. In-kind sponsors provide donations to the event, including physical space, meal or drink items, shirts, paper goods, etc. These sponsors often include local restaurants, national chains, grocery stores, breweries, wineries, etc. By reaching out early, we can fit into the budget of businesses in the area and secure more sponsors.

ASKING LEADS TO PARTICIPANTS

We discussed recruitment in Lesson 02, but something worth noting is the impact of cold emailing, as mentioned above. When we are recruiting for makers (creative volunteers) and nonprofits, we often spend time deeply researching people, organizations, and agencies in the community. This inevitably leads to finding some brilliant makers and impactful nonprofits that may not have heard about us otherwise. Through this process, we then cold email these people or organizations to invite them to apply. More often than not we receive a reply followed up with an application. It is always a joy to find these wonderful individuals and get them involved. Cold emailing with a warm note and appreciation for the person and their work leads to beautiful opportunities for collaboration.