Whether corporate sponsors or restaurants, any business you are looking to help with your marathon should be contacted with a formal letter. Businesses will often be given incentives or benefits in exchange for sponsoring the marathon such as advertising. When contacting businesses, it is always a good idea to research the business, and the previous history they have had with the marathon. If they have no prior history, make sure to research the company so that you know who the contact person is, as well as where they have given money in years past.
Formal business letters are a great way to reach out, but can sometimes be inefficient, and not as effective as other methods. Another avenue to look into would be personal visits to the businesses that you are pursuing, as well as e-mailing multiple businesses at a time. Included, is the e-mail template that we use at IUDM, which can be very efficient when attempting to contact multiple businesses at the same time. Make sure you change important details to cater to your school’s dance marathon .
Some Important Points to Cover in your Letter:
- Who we are
o We need to let businesses know what part of Dance Marathon we are from to increase awareness of the importance of the school’s marathon and what the job is as committee members.
- What the cause is
o It is important to explain to the people you are contacting where their money can go and the specifics of the department at Riley of which the money is going to.
o Ryan White Infectious Disease Center at Indiana University Health Riley Hospital for Children.
- Why we do this
o Businesses need to know the core reasons as to why we are so passionate about the cause and why we work so hard to help kids fight off their illnesses.
o Personal connections, experiences, etc.
- Who we help
o Potential donors should be aware of where their money is going and who they are helping with their donations.
o Certain Riley stories with links to them can be useful.
