FW: Raising money for this summer's annual NSA conference in Fort Worth
Jeff Weaver
All – a request. As you probably know, the annual conference (which this yr is in FW) is a major fundraising event for the NSA. To that end, the NSA is looking for both donations and sponsorships for the conference, and maybe you can help.
First, a quick primer about donations. At the conference, the NSA has both a silent and live auction, and obviously, the more items donated that can be auctioned off, the more money raised. What sort of things make good NSA auction items? In short, items that can be used by anyone across the country, because that’s who will be attending the conference. Things like gift certificates from national retailers and restaurants are always good choices. And there are a lot of national companies based here – Pier 1 Imports, Radio Shack, JC Penney, Brinker (parent of Chilis), CEC Entertainment (parent of Chuck E Cheese), Michaels, La Madeleine, and there are many others around the state (Whole Foods and Golfsmith are both based in Austin). And of course, sports memorabilia is always good too (such as Dallas Cowboys paraphernalia or Texas Rangers World Series items).
On the other hand, a sponsorship is basically where an organization gives money directly to the NSA to ‘sponsor’ the conference. A sponsor can be any company or organization, but odds are it’s probably going to be an organization that has some ‘relationship with’ or interest in stuttering. For example, right now I am doing some contract work for Baylor Health Care System, and given that Baylor has SLPs on staff and that speech therapy is a part of Baylor’s ‘business’, Baylor might be interested in being a sponsor (and I have already inquired as to the possibility). Similarly, other hospitals, companies that provide speech therapy services, etc., might also be interested in being a conference sponsor.
So why am I writing you? Because who might you know? The NSA could send a form letter to JC Penney asking for a donation, but maybe your spouse works for JC Penney and could get the NSA ‘in the door’. Or maybe your neighbor works for Presbyterian Hospital and could get the NSA the name of the person to talk to at Presbyterian. Or maybe your golfing buddy is VP-Marketing for Central Market (which is owned by San Antonio-based HEB).
So please take a few minutes and think about who you might know around DFW. And if you think of a contact, feel free to move forward on your own and ask them for a donation/sponsorship. Or, if you don’t feel comfortable doing this but have a contact, I have copied the NSA’s Executive Director, Tammy Flores, on this e-mail. Tammy would gladly follow-up with any contact that you give her, and she also has all of the forms that a potential donor/sponsor might require (such as IRS documentation).
Thanks for your assistance on this,
Jeff
Jeff Goodman
Jeff.G...@BaylorHealth.edu
(214) 820.2950 Direct