Institute for Organization Management - A Program of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

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A PROGRAM OF THE U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE FOUNDATION
 

IOM Blog

November 13, 2019

Poor Old Us – Or Not

Are you looking for ways to add non-traditional revenue to fund the mission of your organization? Over my years running chambers of commerce, I have found that the opportunities are only limited by the imagination of you and your members. For now, let’s focus on your office space and the many options you can consider. To quote Pat McGaughey, IOM, CPF, “Everything is for sale!”

We recently moved into a new office space in the center of our main street. It has great visibility with lots of foot traffic and store front windows. Oh, and it has twice the rent of our previous office. As we contemplated our move and how we were going to cover the additional investment in our new chamber home, Pat’s voice kept spinning around in my head, “Everything is for sale!”

Using our prime location as a selling point, we created a marketing piece that outlined all of the possible sponsorship opportunities in our office. For instance, we sell annual banner ads in our front windows, with exclusivity for those making the investment. For example, we sell to only one of our banks at a time. We also installed a large video display monitor in part of our front window area and sell video ads. A speaker was installed outside so the audio is heard by the hundreds of daily pedestrians that pass by our office.

We installed wireless technology in our new office to support the public space, as well as our board and training rooms. Our vendor happily traded this work because we posted signs throughout our office, naming them as our vendor (along with their phone number and website). We also sell naming rights to three of our meeting rooms, each with three year contracts. The annual revenue from those three naming rights is $8,500.

Remember, “Everything is for sale.” We even have our local paper supplier donate our bathroom paper supplies, including toilet paper. What did they want in return? A small sign on our paper towel dispensers in our four restrooms that named them as our chamber’s “restroom supply partner.”

We have generated many more creative revenue-generating sponsorships. Drop me an email if you want to talk about them!

Avatar photo
Paul Frey, IOM
Faculty, Institute for Organization Management
CEO/President, Washington County Chamber of Commerce

Paul Frey, IOM, joined the Washington County Chamber of Commerce as President and CEO in September 2014. Paul previously worked for the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce for over four years, first as Vice President and then as Acting President.

Paul earned his BS degree from Towson University, his MBA from Mount Saint Mary’s University, and his MS in Organization Development from The Johns Hopkins University. Paul earned his IOM recognition from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Institute for Organization Management in 2015 and was a member of the 2018 Northeast Institute faculty.

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