Sponsorship Opportunities

The Cottonwood Institute has exciting sponsorship opportunities for businesses that walk their talk in terms of environmental sustainability. The Cottonwood Institute is committed to helping our sponsors:

• Achieve their marketing goals and drive sales.
• Provide opportunities to give away product samples or to promote their services.
• Demonstrate to the community that they are committed to reducing their environmental footprint.
• Highlight how they are good corporate citizens and that they care about the local community, local nonprofits, education, the environment, and the youth of America.

DEMOGRAPHICS AND REACH:

• Database. We currently have more than 3,000 contacts in our database, including students, parents, donors, and community partners. Our base is rooted in Colorado but also spans nationwide.
• Participants. In 2007, the Cottonwood Institute served 742 participants, logged 1,224 participant days, and recorded 10,571 contact hours with high school and middle school students and adults through our award-winning educational and outreach programs. This represents an 89% increase over participants served compared to 2006!
• Donors. In 2007, approximately 150 environmentally conscious donors helped generate over $95,000 for the Cottonwood Institute.
• Website. The Cottonwood Institute averages 60 unique visits per day or approximately 22,000 visits per year. Visits are defined as the number of unique sessions initiated by a visitor.
• Base Camp Bash. The Base Camp Bash is our major annual fundraising event to raise money to underwrite our public school programs and to support our Jason F. Griffith Scholarship Fund. Invitations will be sent to 1,500+ environmentally conscious donor and donor prospect contacts. We will actively promote the event through media releases, which are sent to 160+ prominent media contacts in Colorado. In addition, public service announcements will be sent to all popular radio stations in the Colorado Front Range. Your company will also receive visibility through the Cottonwood Institute website and Blog and the event will be attended by approximately 150 - 200 constituents. For more information, go to: www.CottonwoodInstitute.org and click “Base Camp Bash.”

BASE CAMP BASH SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES:
In order to help your businesses achieve your marketing goals and demonstrate your support for the local community, the Cottonwood Institute has three corporate sponsorship opportunities for the 2009 Base Camp Bash:

PREMIERE SPONSOR – Cost: $5,000

• Company logo included in 1/6 page ad in the March 2009 5280 Magazine highlighting your commitment to the environment and the local nonprofit community. Space reservation deadline is January 1, 2009.
• 15 tickets to the event to give to clients or dedicated employees.
• Company logo will be prominently featured on the Cottonwood Institute home page.
• Company logo will be displayed Base Camp Bash webpage with clickable link to your website.
• Company logo will be featured in the Base Camp Bash invitation.
• Public recognition at the event.
• Banner with logo prominently displayed at the Base Camp Bash event.
• Company logo and a clickable link will be included in a professional HTML email sent to 2,500 environmentally conscious Cottonwood Institute donors, donor prospects, and community members to promote the event.
• Company name mentioned in media release and PSA sent to over 125 prominent Colorado media contacts.
• Write an article on the Cottonwood Institute Blog highlighting your partnership, including your logo with a clickable link to your website.
• Logo on reusable grocery bag, which will be handed to all event attendees. Level One sponsors can donate product or service gift certificates to be included in each bag.
• Donate product or service gift certificates in featured sponsor section.
• We will provide a Sponsorship Audit highlighting the impact of your Cottonwood Institute Sponsorship after the event.

FOOD SPONSOR – Cost: Options starting at $2,500

• 10 tickets to the event to give to clients or dedicated employees.
• Company logo and a clickable link will be included in a professional HTML email sent to 2,500 environmentally conscious Cottonwood Institute donors, donor prospects, and community members to promote the event.
• Company logo will be featured in the Base Camp Bash invitation.
• Public recognition at the event.
• Logo on reusable grocery bag, which will be handed to all event attendees. Level Two sponsors can donate product or service gift certificates to be included in each bag.
• Donate product or service gift certificates to silent auction in featured sponsor section.
• Company logo will be displayed Base Camp Bash webpage with clickable link to your website.
• We will provide a Sponsorship Audit highlighting the impact of your Cottonwood Institute Sponsorship after the event.

BEVERAGE SPONSOR – Cost: Options starting at $1,000

• 5 tickets to the event to give to clients or dedicated employees.
• Company name will be listed in the Base Camp Bash invitation.
• Public recognition at the event.
• Logo on reusable grocery bag, which will be handed to all event attendees. Level Three sponsors can donate product or service gift certificates to be included in each bag.
• Donate product or service gift certificates to silent auction in featured sponsor section.
• Company logo will be displayed Base Camp Bash webpage with clickable link to your website.
• We will provide a Sponsorship Audit highlighting the impact of your Cottonwood Institute Sponsorship after the event.

OTHER SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES:

• Sustainable Vehicle. The Cottonwood Institute is interested in partnering with environmentally conscious businesses to acquire a 15-passenger van or mini-bus that will be converted to run on Natural Gas, Biodiesel, or Straight Vegetable Oil (SVO) to walk our talk in terms of environmental sustainability and to solve a transportation issue for our educational programs. This vehicle will also serve as a marketing tool for the Cottonwood Institute and our corporate sponsors through vehicle advertising. Cost: $35,000 - $40,000 to acquire and convert the vehicle and $1,000 per year for vehicle advertising.
• Sponsor a Program or Course. Funding for public education and extracurricular programs are being cut in our public schools. We are interested in partnering with corporate sponsors to help underwrite our public school programs and courses for underserved youth to help inspire the next generation of future community leaders and environmental stewards. Cost: $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000 levels available.
• Support the Jason F. Griffith Scholarship Fund. In 2008, we awarded over $7,000 in scholarships to increase the accessibility of our Summer Courses to students that otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford our programs. This represents a 250% increase compared to 2007. Cost: With your help we hope to raise more than $10,000 for 2009!
• Sponsor the Mt. Evans Volunteer Project. The Cottonwood Institute can provide leadership and teambuilding opportunities to sponsors that want to adopt our Mt. Evans Volunteer Project. We are looking for corporate sponsors to provide volunteers and financial support to help underwrite the costs of this weekend project. Cost: $2,500.
• Sponsor our “Official” Cottonwood Institute Merchandise: including our Survival Kit, Water Bottle, Coffee Mug, Reusable Grocery Bag, and Organic T-Shirt. All sales of our official products benefit our Griffith Scholarship Fund and help highlight our commitment to reducing our environment footprint. Cost: TBD.

FOR A CUSTOM SPONSORSHIP PROPOSAL, CONTACT:
Ford Church, Founder and Executive Director
303.447.1076
Email