Local Sponsorship Appeal: Securing Community Support
Ask your community to send you as their representative to the Not In Our Town National Leadership Gathering.
By asking for support from your local community, you will serve as their representative and bring back powerful tools, resources, ideas and leadership skills. Help your supporters see that their investment in you is an investment in their community.
As a first step, reach out to friends and family. Use your social media network, or launch a Kickstarter campaign. Local businesses, community foundations and universities are all viable sources to help cover conference fees and travel expenses. If you are a student, approach your academic department or student government to see if conference fellowships are available. Write letters to business leaders and local philanthropists.
Below is a sample letter about the Gathering that you can adapt to use for your requests for support. And don’t forget to thank your supporters! As you grow in your role as a leader in this movement, these same individuals and organizations are essential in helping you succeed, and you may call upon them again to be involved in your work.
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Dear,
This June, Not In Our Town, a leading organization in the movement against hate, is hosting its National Leadership Gathering in Billings, Montana, and I want to attend! (Include a few sentences here about who you are, any group or organization that you represent, and why this movement is important to you.) *For more information on Not In Our Town, see Background below.
The National Leadership Gathering is a three-day event that will convene hundreds of civic and community leaders, law enforcement officials, faith leaders, youth and educators from across the country. The Gathering will feature participatory, action-oriented sessions where attendees will share their best practices for addressing intolerance and fostering inclusion.
By attending the Gathering, I will bring back powerful tools and resources to use in my own community. (Include something about your community here, what you want to learn or what you want to share at the Gathering.)
Thank you for helping me to reach my goal of attending the Not In Our Town National Leadership Gathering. As of today, I need to raise $XXXXto cover conference fees and travel expenses, and my deadline for fundraising isXXXXXXX. Any amount will help! Please know that your investment will support me in building leadership skills, tools and inspiration that I will bring back into my community. Together, we can end hate and build a more inclusive world!
Sincerely,
*Background: Not In Our Town (NIOT) began in 1995 as a half-hour PBS documentary about people in Billings, MT who responded admirably to a series of local hate crimes. Not In Our Town set a new standard for television impact with screenings and town hall meetings in hundreds of communities nationwide, inspiring people from all walks of life to stand up to hate. The film laid the groundwork for subsequent films that have used video storytelling as a way to promote civic participation and empower communities to create positive change. Today NIOT is an established anti-hate non-profit organization with chapters across North America. NIOT’s anti-bullying campaign, Not In Our School, has reached over 100,000 students nationwide. NIOT.org, a hub for the anti-hate movement, offers free access to 100 short films, a national hate crime newsfeed, downloadable resources and more. In 2012 NIOT.org attracted 1.1 million visits.