Sponsorships and Prizes

Committees, pay attention. Companies sponsor events to SELL THINGS. They often don’t have cash to give you, but they may give products to get your contestants to try their brand and get visibility to their items. Make use of this! So many events have bad (or no) prizes, because no one was proactive at getting awards ahead of time. Committees need to know their prize budget, and have people who are looking at sales, thinking outside of the box, and making calls, not just looking for cash, but closeout tack, clothing certificates, and more, that can be added. I’m a fan of giving deep, or random prizes, especially for the non-pros who actually NEED things, not giving everything to just the winner or the “big” open classes. People spend a lot of money attending shows and rodeos, make it worth their while. And, anytime you can brand a product with your show logo, that is just marketing for your next year’s event.

Make your event “fun” and worthwhile, spread around the loot, and make your event the one that everyone wants to enter next year.