Project Outline for Tax Credit Connection, Inc.
Corporate Sponsorship of Land Consevation
Project Purpose
The purpose of this project is to create a campaign for businesses to invest in land conservation and for the businesses to receive a benefit for their participation.
History
Tax Credit Connection, Inc. works with landowners who agree to permanently conserve their land with conservation easements. In turn, they receive state income tax credits which can be transferred to other taxpayers. Tax Credit Connection helps the landowners to sell their credits, at a discount, to taxpayers with large state tax liabilities. The process of making a conservation easement donation is very expensive – between $25-50,000. Some landowners can’t afford to do this. Many businesses are trying to find ways to “green” their business and show that they are supportive of sustainable initiatives. We see these two facts as an opportunity to help both the landowner and the business that wants to improve their image.
Project Objectives
· Create a campaign that will reward businesses that sponsor a landowner to preserve their land
· Pitch the campaign to at least three companies operating in Colorado and get feedback
· Pitch the campaign to at least three landowners to get their feedback
· Revise the campaign to fit the businesses’ and landowners’ needs
· If possible, find one business to agree to the sponsorship to start working through the implementation process (this is a lofty objective, but if we get the right fit, it would be great to begin implementation)
Project Scope
· Working with landowners in Colorado
· Working with companies that operate in Colorado
· Creating benefits for both landowners and companies related to conserving land in Colorado
Deliverables
· Provide a list of businesses and contact people at the businesses that would be a good fit for the sponsorship program (at least 20 qualified prospects)
· Marketing materials for the program – program description and explanation of benefits for both the business and the landowner
· Sample of marketing materials the business could receive for sponsoring a landowner (materials for their website, copy and graphics for a magazine ad, materials for their annual report, etc.)
Project Approach
· Identify the benefits and responsibilities for business (marketing opportunities, ability to have teambuilding activities on the ranch, discount on state taxes by buying the landowner’s tax credits, etc. in exchange for sponsorship amounts of $25-50,000)
· Identify the benefits and responsibilities for landowners (financial compensation to allow them to conserve their property, volunteers to help with projects, etc. in exchange for some loss of privacy)
· Identify businesses that may be interested in this sponsorship and the appropriate contact people
· Create interview script for businesses to learn what benefits are meaningful to them
· Meet with at least three businesses for informational interview
· Create interview script for landowners to learn what they are willing to provide in exchange for a sponsorship
· Meet with at least three landowners for informational interview
· Create marketing materials for the sponsorship program
· Create sample marketing materials for the businesses to use to showcase their sponsorship
Critical Milestones and Event Dates
Tax Credit Connection is willing to work with the students’ timelines. We have no external deadlines to contend with. Our busiest time for our core business functions are April 1-15, so we will have very limited availability to students for those two weeks.
Roles & Responsibilities
Company’s roles and responsibilities:
· Introduce students to landowners for interviews
· Meet with students to discuss existing ideas and objectives
· Be available to participate in meetings with businesses and landowners as an additional resource and to meet with students about the project
· Ariel Steele, President will be available for meetings with businesses and either Ariel or one of the Land Protection Specialists will be available for meetings with landowners
Students’ roles and responsibilities:
· Research companies and contact people at businesses
· Create interview outlines for businesses and landowners
· Schedule meetings with businesses and landowners
· Conduct meetings with businesses and landowners (with TCC staff along as resources)
· Create written marketing materials for sponsorship program
· Create sample marketing materials for businesses to receive if they participate in sponsorship
Quality Considerations
The Tax Credit Connection team will review and approve of sponsorship materials before they are used. Any landowners included in marketing materials will approve the materials before they are pitched to the sponsors. We anticipate using all materials that are created by the students.
Assumptions
We are assuming that the project we outlined will be able to be completed within a semester, but we understand that we may be underestimating the amount of time it will take to complete this project. We are open to reducing the scope in the beginning based on the best judgment of the students and their advisors. We assume that whatever project the students decide to take on will be completed so there will be materials that can be used by the company in marketing this sponsorship program.
University of Colorado – Leeds School of Business
Project Outline Document
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