|  Baseball Project Home  |  Project Goals  |  Sponsor Info  |  

Sponsor Information 

This sponsorship is an opportunity for your business to be affiliated with a positive community project that benefits youth and families who live with disability.

The fundraiser is based on sponsoring a pavestone, which can be engraved with the business name and/or logo and installed in a patio located where most of foot traffic into and out of the baseball field passes.  (see below for more info on how donations will be used). 

How will your business be recognized for this donation

The intent of this fundraising effort is not to promote businesses but our project promotion will generate a collateral exposure of sponsor names to the public in locations where the positive affiliation with the project is clearly evident. 

500,000 estimated views for the life of this donation

This includes the following:

335,000 views*

The potential views of newspaper ads and social media posts in 2018.

*This estimate does not include potential visits to the website nor estimate the number of people who will see donor names when they read about the dedication event on flyers and social media or will attend the dedication event. The estimate also does not include additional newspaper ads and social media posts that might occur if fundraising continues into the spring of 2019.

176,000 views

The potential views of pavestones in the patio over the span of 20 years *.

*This is based on current levels of visitor activity. The improved field is expected to increase participation and activity so the estimated number of views in this 20 year period is very conservative. The pavestone patio will also likely survive in this location for more than years, which means sponsor names will be visible to multiple generations.

How were these estimates made?

FOOT TRAFFIC OVER THE PAVESTONE PATIO

Little League traffic: March through June. Games played six days a week with some teams coming from Grants Pass. Approximately 400 people per week or 4,000 per season. At this level of traffic, about 80,000 Little League participants and spectators will walk over the patio in the next 20 years. Additional traffic would occur during practice and by concession customers during games.

City League traffic: June through September: Games played twice a week with six teams playing on each day. Approximately 400 per week for 12 weeks or 4,800 per season. At this level of traffic, about 96,000  City League participants and spectators will walk over this patio in the next 20 years. Additional concession related traffic generates additional impressions.

Other: The installation of a walking path around the field was suggested by parents who want to walk for exercise during practice and games. There are other people who will likely use this path for exercise because this would be one of the safest walking loops in the community. Fitness stations may also be added to attract more participants. The patio is part of the exercise loop route so each individual using the loop may have multiple views of the pavestones as they walk for exercise.

A newspaper illustrated on the left is shown in proportional size to the pavestones that will be used in the fundraiser patio for the Baseball Safety and Wheelchair Access Project. Click image to see enlargement.

THE BILLBOARD OPTION

Donors can sponsor a 4×8 foot billboard sign that will be installed along the east baseline fence and facing toward the parking lot and entry point to the field. Many spectators park their cars and trucks in the parking lot and interact socially while watching the game. The parking lot is also the location where the weekly Farmers Market is held, which has developed into a significant social event for locals. Other annual events at the park include the  Labor Day Festival, Easter Egg Hunt, Children’s Fair and Pet Parade, Classic Auto Show, Alumni Breakfast, and weekly Concerts in the Park performances. Spectators at these events arrive and park in the parking lot where the billboards would be visible.   

NEWSPAPER PROMOTION

As funds become available, advertisements to promote the project will be printed in the Grants Pass Courier (circulation 12,000) and Illinois Valley News (circulation 5,500). The goal is to publish a minimum of ten ads in each paper over the span of the project for a total of 175,000 potential views from August through November 2018. This may be extended into spring if fundraising continues for the money necessary to purchase bleacher shade structures, outdoor fitness equipment, field lights and other improvements.

Sample of what a Facebook post or newspaper advertisement might look like. Click image to see enlargement

SOCIAL MEDIA

A status update similar in design to the ad will be posted on several Facebook group sites in Josephine County with a minimum of 8,000 – 10,000 potential viewers per cycle. The goal is to post a minimum of 10-20 updates over the span of the fundraising drive to generate an estimated a total of 80,000 -160,000 potential views.

WEBPAGE

All newspaper promotion and social media updates will refer readers to the project webpage at www.highway199.org. Recognition of donors will be included in a sidebar on each project site page. 

DEDICATION EVENT

There are plans to have a celebration and dedication event at the completion of the project. This will happen after field lights are installed and if fundraising is successful this might happen as early as June of 2019. The plan is to start in the late afternoon with music and food and youth activities with the lights being turned on as it gets dark. Donors will be mentioned on the sound system at different times. Large donors will be asked to come to the stage to receive a plaque. A banner would be on display thanking donors. Flyers for event would be posted around town and on social media several weeks prior event and would include recognition of donors.

How your donation will be used

The donation suggested for sponsoring each size of pavestone is shown in the left column. The boxed columns show how the donation funds will be distributed for each pavestone category.

Table shows how donations will be used for the Baseball Safety & Wheelchair Access Project, Click image to see enlargement

Infrastructure: The amount to be used for construction to mitigate safety issues and improve disabled access.

• Promotion: The amount invested in newspaper posts to promote the project to other potential sponsors. Funds may also be used for production of banners and signage for the dedication event.
• Supply: The amount allocated to help defray the cost of supplies.
• Admin: The amount to cover the cost of banking, writing checks, maintaining receipt files, and tracking expenditures as required for 501c3 audits. Fiscal responsibilities to be managed by Illinois Valley Community Development Organization (501c3). https://ivcdo.org/