The organizers of the World Baseball Challenge decided this week to postpone the Prince George event for a year because they were unable to obtain enough corporate support to go ahead without fear of running a deficit and not being able to pay all of the bills once the tournament was over.
It's a smart and responsible move financially and it is also sensitive to area businesses tapped out by their commitments earlier this year to the 2015 Canada Winter Games.
Two years ago, WBC organizers went to the community hat in hand, asking for $60,000 to be raised in a week or else the biennial event, which has contributed an estimated $7 million to the local economy over the years, would be cancelled. While the goal was met, the pushy fundraising tactic didn't make many friends, especially among the many other worthy charities and events that seek financial and in-kind support by offering value, not by threatening to take their ball and go home.
Besides the economic benefit, the WBC has brought major-league baseball talent to Citizen Field. The Cuban team that won the 2011 tournament was led by Jose Abreu. Three years later, Abreu played in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game for the Chicago White Sox and was named the American League rookie of the year.
The U.S. team that won the 2009 WBC tournament has eight players who now play in the big leagues.
In other words, this is an incredible event for Prince George and it would be a shame to see it go but it needs broad community support to continue. Even two years before the Winter Games, it had trouble lining up enough money in the bank and the same problem is happening months after the Games.
The bigger issue, not just for the World Baseball Challenge but for any event organizer or non-profit charity, is the local and regional corporate sector is simply overwhelmed with genuine and worthy requests for money, equipment and in-kind services.
Senior managers and business owners live here and they want to give back and make the community a better place. Their giving can also be good for business, attracting customers who share the same values. Yet virtually every company that gives, whether it's a little to a few or a lot to many, has to say no more often than they would like. There are simply too many good causes needing too much money.
As a result, more than a few groups are getting more creative, both with their overall fundraising and with their pitch for corporate support. Instead of chasing everyone, these groups are targeting companies with shared audiences and mutually beneficial goals. When asking for money, they are not just offering up the tired old platinum/gold/silver/bronze level sponsorship packages with tickets, recognition, prominently displayed logos, etc. They're offering specific benefits tailored to the business and its corporate philosophy.
On the fundraising end, these organizations are diversifying, getting away from the reliance of two or three major sponsors and looking to attract a broader array of smaller, tailored sponsorship packages that even home-based businesses can afford to invest in. This decreases the impact if one sponsor decides to pull out and it builds a wider community network tied to the group and the event.
On the other end, area businesses are also diversifying with their philanthropy, wanting to receive a much better bang for their sponsorship buck than they did in past years. The marketplace is tough in all sectors and money isn't just hanging on trees, waiting to be given away to the first person with hat in hand and the nerve to ask. Owners, entrepreneurs and managers want to support noble causes but are no longer ashamed to ask tough questions.
Just how noble is your cause? How much of the funding is being tied up in administration? What is the value, in dollars, of the benefit of the sponsorship? How will that translate into sales and customers for me?
As the organizers of the World Baseball Challenge are all too aware, they are competing with everyone from minor hockey and soccer, the Prince George Spruce Kings, the Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation, the SPCA, the Northern Medical Programs Trust and the Prince George Hospice Society, to name just a few.
When the right relationships between business and non-profit events or charities are formed, everyone benefits.
-- Managing editor Neil Godbout
