Talk:Public Relations
Another point for the PR angle is what are we, as a shop doing to help the community. This is a common question that will get asked from potential sponsors. For example, The Geek Group takes donated PC's and repairs them, then turns around and gives them to the less fortunate in the community. --Brokentrace 15:11, 6 August 2010 (CDT)
Had a chance to meet Lucia Cape (under 'Workforce') from the Huntsville Chamber of Commerce. She seemed quite impressed by Makers Local 256 and said she would be interested in having us at future Chamber of Commerce events. Sounds like a good avenue to pursue to get out name out and look for potential grants/sponsorships. --Spacefelix 00:30, 28 October 2010 (CDT)
From my experience with asking for grants, sponsorships and corporate donations the best time is at the end of the corporate fiscal year (typically September to October). One can easily get $2,000 per year by this method. However, you must play your edge to be that members of Makers Local 256 could be potential employees, customers or partners of entities from which we are asking money. With effort, we can look at $5,000 per year. Right now, from the 2/11 Members Meeting, the fundraising people established a fundraising goal of $1,200 for 2011 from grants, sponsorships or corporate donations. MrWorld and I also discussed what we needed to do for fundraising in September-October. We first need to sort out the current donor list by priority and relevance to Makers Local 256. From there, I proposed that we first call the companies to get a feel for how open they are to donating to Makers Local 256. Only then would we send a letter to save on letterhead and then give a follow-up call to inform them that it was coming. Some recent research into fundraising turned up the Jurenko Foundation. Looking at their track record, they've given sizable donations ($10 to 5K) to organizations ranging from education, volunteer, historic and environmental work. Sounds like Makers Local 256 could fit right it! --Spacefelix 14:59, 19 February 2011 (CST)
