Even though I grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana, I was never a diehard fan of the Indy 500. On race day, my dad would fine tune the transistor radio in the garage and the neighborhood kids would join us in the yard to play “kick the can” as the steady hum of race cars and excited announcers blared from the speakers like we were right there in the pits.
I never listened to or watched an Indy Racing League event in its entirety until a few weeks ago. The Belterra Casino Indy 300 in Kentucky had me glued to the television, screaming at the screen for Sarah Fisher to “come on and pass him!” Just a few days before the start of the race, I saw on the news that Sarah Fisher, 21, was the first woman ever to win a pole position in IRL racing, a sport that is typically male-dominated.
This last spring at the beginning of the IRL racing season, Sarah Fisher was forced to the sidelines because of major sponsors that decided to take their marketing money elsewhere. Dreyer and Reinbold Racing Team picked her up at the last minute and were glad they did when she snagged the pole position from a huge field in Kentucky. She finished a very respectable 8th place.
My interest in auto racing didn’t just begin with Sarah Fisher. Three years ago when I started the fundraising for my rookie run of the 2002 Iditarod Sled Dog Race, I looked to auto racing for ideas on how to acquire sponsors. I called Lyn St. James, Sarah’s mentor, an IRL driver with 15 race starts, and one of the Top 100 Women Athletes of the Century according to Sports Illustrated. I had read about her Driver Development Program which teaches every aspect of racing including how to find sponsors. I figured an IRL driver probably had a budget of several million per season where I was hoping for a measly $25,000.
Lyn St. James gave me good advice on presenting a professional sponsor packet, organizing fundraisers, and promoting your sponsors. She even made an appearance at my fundraiser in Indianapolis last Fall.
But the stressful reality of fundraising for an event where there is no huge audience reading your sponsor patches at every turn is a constant reminder that sled dog racing and auto racing are night and day to the marketing world. Mushers depend on web sites, the media, and themselves to constantly promote their sponsors. After I leave the starting line in Anchorage this coming year, I’ll be lucky if a few natives, a disgruntled moose, or maybe a nosey wolf see that SoFast Communications has graciously decided to sponsor my team.
This last weekend I attended the Montana Sled Dog, Inc. Rendezvous XII symposium and trade show. I was asked to speak on “A Rookies Training for the Iditarod.” When it came time for questions, many of the upcoming rookies drilled me for information on how to get sponsors. I shared what I know on the subject telling them to keep the faith, even up to the last minute. Last fall I had 24 sled dogs in training for the Iditarod without a dime to back my team. I kept training and searching for sponsors and just when I was about to call it quits Ozog Eye Care came through with not only financial backing but, even more importantly, enthusiasm for what I was trying to do. They kept me going.
At the Rendezvous, it was apparent that the Iditarod bug has infected many of the Montana mushers. In 2004, I know of at least 6 Montana mushers that hope to run Iditarod as a rookie. One of them told me they took out a $10,000 loan to get them through their Iditarod qualifiers this season. He’s just crossing his fingers that the sponsors eventually come.
Rick Larson, another musher from Sand Coulee, is planning his second fundraiser with the money going towards his 2004 Iditarod rookie run.
Like every dog musher, auto racer, or Olympic athlete, I started my search hoping to land a big corporate sponsor. I still hope for that but I have also learned what amazing things can happen when individuals wholeheartedly support you. It wasn’t a Fortune 500 company that got my team to the finish line in Nome, it was hundreds of people who came forward to support my dogs and me. Dozens of schools also contributed and followed my team’s progress on the trail for weeks.
Barb Pace, a teacher at Brookpark Elementary in Indianapolis, realized how interested her students were in my sponsors when the kids started writing their own letters to companies asking and often begging them to sponsor my team. The students figured if their school can sponsor a sled dog team why can’t PetCo, Purina Dog Food, or Campbell’s Soup do the same.
The letters to sponsors were well-thought out and well-researched by the students. Several of my favorites were addressed to ice cream companies.
“Three reasons Edy’s Grand Ice Cream should sponsor Karen are: 1. It won’t rot on the trail. 2. Ice cream is delicious, unless your weird. 3. It is a pretty good treat for the tired dogs.”
If only asking for sponsors was really that simple.
( 0 Votes )
