Dear (vendor),

The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory’s Open House, held each year in late February, pulls in nearly 6,000 visitors of all ages from the Big Bend region.

Pulling off a community event featuring 77 science demonstrations and 17 participating organizations is quite an undertaking — one that is not without costs for which the lab, as a taxpayer-funded institution, is unable to cover. So we are reaching out to community partners and vendors to ask for your support. This is a low-cost, high-impact way to raise the profile of your business and attach your name to Florida’s only national lab.

Open House expenses range from 200 pounds of potatoes to 62 quarts of half-and-half (we launch the potatoes out of a cannon and use the cream to make liquid nitrogen ice cream). We also need to rent tents, purchase banners and reward our volunteers, the majority of whom are not otherwise compensated for their time in any way. Sponsorship opportunities include the following:

  • Potato Launcher: $150 covers the cost of purchasing the potatoes.
  • Kids Zone supplies: $200 for books, markers, crayons, compasses, coloring books and child-friendly magnet toys for the Kids Zone, a special area designated for pre-K-2nd grade activities.
  • Einstein Ice Cream: $300-$500. It’s not cheap to make instant ice cream for crowds that run in the thousands. Sponsor funds help pay for cups, spoons, ice cream ingredients and toppings.
  • Feeding the volunteers: $500 would cover the cost of feeding our volunteers the day of Open House (pizza, beverages, energy bars, water, coffee, etc.)
  • 100th anniversary of the discovery of superconductivity banner: $500 would cover the cost of one large and one medium-size vinyl banner.
  • Mag Lab promotional magnets: $640 will allow the lab to purchase 5,000 2.5-inch round promotional refrigerator magnets to distribute to Open House visitors and during other community outreach. The Mag Lab-branded magnets will include the URL for “Mag Lab U” a section of the website that is devoted to increasing scientific literacy.
  • Food tent: $780 covers the cost of the very large tent that shelters people who eat lunch during the event.
  • JunkYardMag 1.0:$980covers costs of materials needed to create this new interactive demonstration, which will be used for educational purposes long after Open House.

Sponsors will be recognized with signage (for example, “Einstein Ice Cream supported by YOUR COMPANY” along with your organization/business logo). Sponsors also will recognized on the Open House website, which is viewed by thousands of visitors before and after the event, and on the back page of the program.