Taste of the Nation

SECTOR
Nonprofit Fundraiser

SERVICES PROVIDED
Collateral Design
Event Management
Event Messaging
Marketing Strategy
Sales Strategies
Sponsor Development士
Sponsorship Collateral
Website Design
Post Reporting

1

The Challenge

The committee determined while many guests attended the event to partake in the vast culinary offerings, the ability to convey the core message and mission for the event, Ending Childhood Hunger, did not resonate with attendees. Moreover, local sponsorship began to slide as partnership opportunities lacked a defined return on investment. This was also impart, since the event inception on a national scale in 1998, similar food tasting events were popping up around the Country and throughout South Florida.

2

Solutions

Through my involvement in developing SavorGFL Restaurant Month in Broward County, I was invited to sit on the all volunteer committee and “Share My Strength” with those who had been working on the event for nearly two decades.

To answer a number of the issues, I looked at implementing a cross-platform approach to garner measurable solutions for sponsors. Additionally, to subliminally deliver the “End Childhood Hunger” message, a design / decor plan was proposed to incorporate visual touch points throughout the event to bring awareness to Share Our Strength’s mission, support national sponsors, and give local sponsors additional recognition before, during, and well after the one day event.

Some of the solutions included:

  • Creating a dedicated website, www.StrengthSouthFlorida.org, for the two south Florida Taste of the Nation Chapters (Miami and Fort Lauderdale) to prolong visibility, promote participating restaurants, vendors and sponsors, while encouraging crossover market event participation;
  • Implementing an affiliate marketing /partnership and fundraising program “Click-Shop-End Childhood Hunger” at www.shopstrength.org to encourage year round site visits and extend the guest giving opportunity all year long;
  • Revising the sponsorship opportunities to include customized event activations vs. a standard booth or table set up
  • Creating custom branded invitations for each sponsor, which offered their guests, friends, coworkers and clients an exclusive discount on event tickets by entering a trackback code when making online ticket purchases;
  • Designing a custom poster series, which would be displayed onsite, to tie in the event theme and sponsors brand;
  • Expanding visual hunger messages in unexpected places
3

Results

Over the four years since implementation, sponsor retention was at 90% and sponsor ticket sales increased 23%. While guest count at the actual event has not substantially increased, auxiliary events held throughout the year garnered a following, thus providing year-round fundraising opportunities for the charity and additional exposure for sponsors.

In 2008, I was invited as a guest speaker for the annual Share Our Strength Conference of Leaders in Washington, DC to present a joint session on ticket selling strategies and review various platforms introduced in the Fort Lauderdale/Miami market to members of Taste of the Nation committees nationwide.

Nominated for Rookie of the Year 2006
Nominated for Taste of the Nation Community Leader of the Year 2008