Sponsorship Business Proposal

 

Executive Summary

My proposal for a 5 month Nation-wide charity event involves myself rollerblading across Canada to raise money for lung cancer research. Appropriately named “The Skate For Hope”, the journey will begin in May 2007 and last until September 2007 at which point I will have covered over 9000 kilometers. This venture will raise awareness of the need to support cancer research, provide hope to millions of people, encourage others to become more pro-active, emphasize the importance of cancer prevention and raise money for breakthrough mitochondrial research at the University of Alberta.

The marketing strategy for this endeavor will focus on generating national publicity through multiple websites using pay-per-click advertising, newspaper and radio ads. These initiatives will be supplemented by a heavy reliance on word-of-mouth advertising.

Although this is not the first time someone has rollerbladed across Canada, this event intends to differentiate itself by covering more distance and raise more money and awareness than previous attempts. My route will commence at St. John’s, Newfoundland and finish in Vancouver, British Columbia. Over the course of this 5-month event, I will raise $300,000 which will be donated to Dr. Evangelos Michelakis’ cutting-edge cancer research.

Since I am personally planning every aspect of this venture on my own, I am relying on sponsorship from YOU to ensure my efforts lead to success. With your support, your organization will benefit from the publicity I receive and from the recognition and satisfaction of contributing to this cause.

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Venture Description

Vision

My vision is to provide hope to millions of people that cancer will be beaten. I plan to raise $300,000 which will be donated to a research facility at the University of Alberta that has accomplished some ground-breaking work but badly needs funding to continue. By rollerblading across Canada I want to raise awareness in the general public that we can all be doing a little bit more to contribute to cancer research.

Inspiration

Personal: Several years ago, my grandfather was diagnosed with lung cancer. After a long-fought battle, he succumbed to the disease in 2001. At the time, I believed that cancer was an evitable part of life that people would face in old age. However, recently a friend of mine was diagnosed with throat cancer. Considering he is a non-smoker, it truly opened my eyes to realize that even at the age of 27, cancer can develop. Upon further examination, it was discovered that the cancer had also spread to his lungs. Doctors were very hesitant to perform surgery on my friend because of the cancers proximity to his vocal chords. He was warned that even with a successful surgery, he may never be able to speak again. Following the surgery, Adam was forced to live with a tracheotomy tube protruding from his neck for several months. When the tube was finally removed, the recovery period required him to have his chin stapled to his chest for a few weeks so the hole in his throat could heal properly. Although Adam’s voice has been noticeably affected, today he does have the ability to speak. It is encouraging that the surgery removed the majority of the cancer from his throat, but Adam’s battle is far from over. Unfortunately the cancer in his lungs is resistant to chemo therapy. Seeing a good friend have to deal with diagnoses, surgery and radiation has motivated me to make a difference. His experience has given me a profound appreciation for my health. We need to contribute more to the battle against cancer while we are healthy and able.

Statistical: Today, I find myself in a surprisingly unique but fortunate situation. I am healthy. Considering that 38% of Canadian women and 44% of Canadian men will develop cancer in their lifetime[1], I think of myself as very lucky. Considering an estimated 153,100 new cases of cancer and 70,400 deaths from cancer will occur in Canada in 2006[2], I think of myself as very lucky. Considering both incidence and mortality rates from cancer are higher in Atlantic Canada and Quebec and lowest in British Columbia[3], I think of myself as very lucky. Considering 24% of women and 29% of men, or approximately 1 out of every 4 Canadians, will die from cancer[4], I think of myself as very lucky.

Description of Event

In May of 2007, I will begin rollerblading from St. John’s, Newfoundland until reaching my final destination of Vancouver, British Columbia. During the 5 months that I will be skating, I will raise $300,000 to be donated to lung cancer research.

Routes: The complete route for this event will lead me through many major cities across Canada (Appendix 1). The optimal route begins on the East Coast in Newfoundland and will cover over 9000 kilometers. The entire trip will take 4-5 months. Several factors, including weather, media stops and unforeseen obstacles, will contribute to the variance in the estimation. However, I will travel 60-120 km per day (75 km per day X 30 days per month X 4 months = 9000km). In order to raise the most amount of money and awareness, I will not take the shortest possible route to Vancouver. Instead, I will visit as many cities as I can. When I arrive in British Columbia, I will bypass Vancouver and go to Victoria. From Victoria I will head North to Nanaimo before coming back to the mainland and finishing in Vancouver.

Donations: All moneys raised by this event will be donated to Dr. Evangelos Michelakis’ study involving the suppression of cancer cell growth with the use of dichloroacetate (DCA) (Appendix 2). The research by Michelakis at the University of Alberta has very promising and astounding results but has a lack of funding required to continue making advancements.

Volunteers

The following is a list of volunteers and their contribution to the event:

Brian Ralph – Road crew (Driver and Travelling Media Relations)

Jeff Hopson – Marketing and business consultant

Eugene Horvath – Marketing and graphic design

Kevin Tran – Marketing (online advertising specialist)

Michelle Cadario – Public and Media Relations

Sponsorship and Marketing Overview

Promotion Strategy

I will promote its event through the following channels: printed media, radio advertising, online advertising and word of mouth.

Printed Media

Newspapers throughout Canada will be notified of this event with ample warning of my expected arrival date to the corresponding city.

Radio Advertising

Similarly to the printed media, various radio stations will be made aware of this event and the arrival dates in the corresponding cities.

Website and Phone

A dedicated website has been created (www.SeeTheEnd.com) and is expected to be an additional tool that will allow people to read details of my event. There will be sponsor recognition, a personal blog to track my progress across Canada and detailed information about lung cancer and current research within the website. There will also be the option for visitors to donate online via the website. Developing and hosting a website typically costs $350 for initial design, and ongoing annual costs of roughly $200/year for hosting the site (Appendix 3). Pay-Per-Click advertising will be used to generate traffic to the site and will cost $129.95 per month (Appendix 3).

Sponsor Benefits

The following benefits can be expected:

a) increased publicity in the Canadian/American markets

As a sponsor, your company will receive continual recognition and publicity though various media sources around North America as describe above. There will be a lot of opportunity for publicity from local media in different cities across Canada. However, there will also be substantial publicity from larger sources such as National Radio, television, newspapers, professional sports franchises, non-profit organizations and much more.

b) increased traffic to the website

Having your company logo/link on my website will result in a great increase in web traffic to your site. More traffic means more business. As a tool to generate more traffic, I will also maintain a blog to track my progress and potentially include a video diary that will be viewable online. .

c) overall increased revenue

The overall revenue is directly related to the exposure your company will receive as a sponsor for this event

d) recognition as a premier organization for charitable sponsorship

Your company will be recognized as an organization that is willing to help charitable causes. Statistics show that the consumer is more likely to purchase goods or services when a portion of the price goes to charity. An increase in sales can be expected.

Critical Risks

Weather

The weather will have a significant impact on this event. It is inevitable that poor weather conditions will slow my progress at some point during the 5 month trip. However, appropriate rollerblades, gear and clothes will help me to proceed through bad weather as best as possible.

Volunteers

Due to the fact that I must rely heavily on volunteers to help make this event a success, there is always the potential that volunteers cannot participate the entire time. For this reason, I will continue to accept the assistance offered from additional volunteers across the country.

Funding

The funding for my venture will be largely dependant on sponsorship. It is essential to acquire enough sponsorship to cover my costs while I am rollerblading across Canada. Without proper funding, the event could suffer.

Financing

Event Cash Requirements

Accommodation

Since this event is being planned for the summer months, the majority of the time I will be sleeping in a vehicle, a tent or at a volunteers’ place of residence. However, there will be occasions which may require accommodation. Assuming I may need a hotel for 25% of the trip, I will estimate the cost to be $2500 (35 nights x $80p per room). The rate of $80 per night is an average of several low budget motels across Canada (Motel6, City Center Motel, several other private motels).

Publicity and Advertising

The publicity and advertising for this event encompasses newspapers, radio, word of mouth and websites. Publicity via newspapers and radio will occur at no financial cost. This will only require time by me to perform interviews for the various stations and publisher. The website would regularly cost $200-$500 to create plus monthly hosting fees in excess of $40 per month (Appendix 3). However, Hostway Corporation has donated the webhosting to me and I am building the site myself.

Food

Proper nutrition will be extremely important in order for me to complete this event in good health. I have estimated a budget of $20 per day per person to meet acceptable nutritional levels. This includes all food and water. Since I have a crew of 2 following me in a safety vehicle, the total financial requirement for food will be $9000 ($20 per person per day X 3 people X 150 days = $9000).

Fuel

The safety vehicle that will follow me during this event will require fuel. It is estimated that the vehicle will need to fill up every 400 kilometers. This works out to be 23 fill-ups throughout the 9000 kilometer trip. Assuming the price of regular unleaded gasoline remains between $0.75 and $1.10 per liter, the total financial requirement for fuel will be $1500.

Personal Expenses

While I am rollerblading across the country, I will need to maintain various bills including rent, hydro and car payments. Currently, my monthly expenses are approximately $1500 which equates to $7500 for the 5 months I will be involved with this event.

Travel

I will need to fly from Vancouver to Toronto in late April where I will meet up with my road crew. From Toronto, we will drive directly to St.John’s, Newfoundland where I will begin the journey. The flight from Vancouver to Toronto is estimated to be $300 (Appendix 4).


Appendices

Appendix 1: Route

Start

End

Distance (km)

miles

St. John’s

Sydney

1117.34

694

Sydney

Halifax

405.72

252

Halifax

Charlottetown

326.83

203

Charlottetown

Moncton

170.66

106

Moncton

Edmundston

452.41

281

Edmundston

Quebec City

323.61

201

Quebec City

Montreal

254.38

158

Montreal

Ottawa

199.64

124

Ottawa

Kingston

194.81

121

Kingston

Toronto

207.69

129

Toronto

Brantford

164.22

102

Brantford

London

94.99

59

London

Kitchener

109.48

68

Kitchener

Barrie

167.44

104

Barrie

Sudbury

297.85

185

Sudbury

Sault Saint Marie

315.56

196

Sault Saint Marie

ThunderBay

713.23

443

ThunderBay

Winnipeg

711.62

442

Winnipeg

Regina

571.55

355

Regina

Saskatoon

259.21

161

Saskatoon

Edmonton

524.86

326

Edmonton

Calgary

294.63

183

Calgary

Vancouver

974.05

605

Calgary

Abbotsford

909.28

565

Abbotsford

Tsawwassen

67.59

42

Tsawwassen

Victoria

83.69

52

Victoria

Nanaimo

114.26

71

Nanaimo

West Vancouver

25.75

16

West Vancouver

Vancouver

6.45

4

 

TOTAL

9084.75

5645

Appendix 2: CTV Article of Research by Dr. Evangelos Michelakis

Small molecule offers hope for cancer treatment

Updated Tue. Jan. 16 2007 11:39 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

A small, non-toxic molecule may soon be available as an inexpensive treatment for many forms of cancer, including lung, breast and brain tumours, say University of Alberta researchers.

But there’s a catch: the drug isn’t patented, and pharmaceutical companies may not be interested in funding further research if the treatment won’t make them a profit.

In findings that “astounded” the researchers, the molecule known as DCA was shown to shrink lung, breast and brain tumours in both animal and human tissue experiments.

“You typically get this eureka type of feeling. It’s the most exciting thing a scientist can get,” Dr. Evangelos Michelakis, a professor at the University of Alberta department of medicine and a key study author, told CTV News.

The study was published Tuesday in the journal Cancer Cell.

The molecule appears to repair the damage that cancer cells cause to mitochondria, the units that convert food into energy.

“Cancer cells actively suppress their mitochondria, which alters their metabolism, and this appears to offer cancer cells a significant advantage in growth compared to normal cells, as well as protection from many standard chemotherapies,” Michelakis said in a written statement.

As mitochondria regulate cell death, cancer cells can resist being killed off.

For years, DCA — or dichloroacetate — has been used to treat children with inborn errors of metabolism due to mitochondrial diseases.

Until recently, researchers believed damage to mitochondria in cancer cells was permanent.

But Michelakis questioned this theory and began testing DCA, which activates a critical enzyme, as a way to “revive” cancer-affected mitochondria.

He says one of the most exciting things about this compound is that it might be able to treat many different forms of cancer because they all suppress mitochondrial function.

Therefore, DCA can primarily affect the cancer cells without affecting the normal ones.

Researchers also say DCA may prove to be effective because it is a small compound, thus easily absorbed in the body.

After oral intake, it can reach areas in the body that other drugs cannot, making it possible to treat cancer of the brain, for example.

In addition, because DCA has been used in both healthy people and ailing patients with mitochondrial diseases, researchers know it is a relatively non-toxic molecule that can be immediately tested in patients with cancer.

The compound, which is sold both as powder and as a liquid, is widely available at chemistry stores.

But because it’s not patented or owned by any drug firm, it would be an inexpensive drug to administer. And researchers may have a difficult time finding money for further research.

Dr. Dario Altieri, of the University of Massachusetts, said the drug is exactly what doctors need because it could limit side-effects for patients. But there are “market considerations” that drug companies would have to take into account.

Michelakis remains hopeful he will be able to secure funding for further research.

“We hope we can attract the interest of universities here in Canada and in the United States,” said Michelakis.


Appendix 3: Website Design and Pay-Per-Click Costs

Website

Source: www.hostway.com

Pay Per Click

Retail (mthly)

Setup



$129.95

$49.95


Packages as advertised on Hostway

$279.95

$49.95


  $429.95

$49.95


Hosting and Design


Appendix 4: Flight Costs

Website

Source: www.aircanada.ca


 

[1] Source: http://cancer.ca/vgn/images/portal/cit_86751114/31/21/935505792cw_2006stats_en.pdf.pdf

 

[2] Source: http://cancer.ca/ccs/internet/standard/0,3182,3278_14423__langId-en,00.html

 

[3] Source: http://cancer.ca/vgn/images/portal/cit_86751114/31/21/935505792cw_2006stats_en.pdf.pdf

 

[4] Source: http://cancer.ca/vgn/images/portal/cit_86751114/31/21/935505792cw_2006stats_en.pdf.pdf