Village of Oswego Committee of the Whole met March 19.
Here is the minutes provided by the committee:
CALL TO ORDER
President Gail E. Johnson called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
ROLL CALL
Physically Present: President Gail Johnson and Trustees Ryan Kauffman (attended at 6:02 p.m.), Karin McCarthy- Lange, Pam Parr, Judy Sollinger and Joe West.
Absent: Trustee Luis Perez
Staff Present: Dan Di Santo, Village Administrator; Tina Touchette, Village Clerk; Jeff Burgner, Police Chief; Mark Runyon, Asst. Public Works Director; Mark Horton, Finance Director; Rod Zenner, Community Development Director; Corinna Cole, Economic Development Director; Jay Hoover, Building & Zoning Manager; Jenette Sturges, Community Engagement Coordinator, Marketing; Greg Jones, Village Attorney; and Marron Mahoney, Village Attorney.
CONSIDERATION OF AND POSSIBLE ACTIONS ON ANY REQUESTS FOR ELECTRONIC PARTICIPATION IN MEETING
There was no one who participated electronically.
PUBLIC FORUM
Public Forum was opened at 6:00 p.m. There was no one who requested to speak; the Public Forum was closed at 6:00 p.m.
OLD BUSINESS
There was no Old Business.
NEW BUSINESS
F.1. Update and Discussion on Oswego's Sponsorship Program
Director Cole and Jenette Sturges addressed the Board regarding the sponsorship program. Sponsorships are an important aspect of making events financially sustainable. In developing the sponsorship program, staff wanted to follow the nonprofit industry’s best practices and offer a high level of customer service to the sponsors by:
• Identifying marketing assets
➢ Sponsorships are typically given by a community stakeholder to the Village with the expectation of recognition and marketing exposure
➢ Village can offer:
✓ GoOswego.org
✓ Exposure at events ✓ Village newsletter
• Assigning value to assets
➢ Can hire consultants to do an assessment
➢ Looked at what equivalent entities offer and engage in conversations with the sponsors ➢ Important that the value remain consistent and the sponsors are happy with the exposure
Staff assembled a sponsorship program guide which was distributed to potential sponsors in December. Staff is willing to customize any sponsorship. By having a list of assets and their corresponding marketing value, staff can engage in a conversation with a potential sponsor. Staff also developed:
• A standardized Village Sponsorship Agreement to handle sponsorships consistently, convey expectations clearly and have a mutual understanding of what the sponsorship entails
• Created thank you letters, satisfaction surveys and outreach forms to support the sponsorships
Promotional Purchasing Program
Sponsorships are a way to connect with the community. Staff has been trying new ways to value the contributions of all types of businesses and refining ways of working with in-kind donations or discounts on goods and services in lieu of a cash sponsorship. For the past two years, Christmas Walk has received several thousand dollars of discounted or donated logistical services such as a free generator upgrade, discount on the use of light towers and extra trash totes. Staff wanted to expand the program to other types of businesses in the community such as unique small businesses. By offering promotional pride-of-place on GoOswego.org, the Village can purchase an item for a discount and use the purchase for Oswego raffle baskets, or for specials at Village events. The program was created to emphasize organizational values, accountability, integrity, and giving back to the community. The Village will only solicit and accept sponsorships that are given in anticipation of receiving the agreed upon marketing value. The Village will not grant preference to a business that sponsors an event outside of the defined parameters of the specific sponsorship.
Sponsorships to Outside Organizations
Staff has improved the professionalism, value, and consistency of what is offered to and received by sponsors. The draft “Village of Oswego Sponsorship Recommendation Criteria” proposes how the Village Board determines the award of sponsorships to outside organizations.
Marketing
In support of events and amenities, the Village sponsors a limited number of programs and events annually.
• Target audience demographics
➢ Village targets its tourism marketing to the following demographics as identified through the 2016 Regional Positioning project conducted by BDI ✓ Families with young children
✓ Women ages 35-64
✓ Weekend adventurers
➢ Specific marketing campaigns are also targeted at an internal audience of Oswego and area residents more broadly
• Programming
➢ All sponsored programs and events must be open to the public and content must be appropriate for a general audience
• Added value
➢ Sponsors must be able to provide a dollar figure for the value of the sponsorship
➢ Village is most interested in packages in which bundling of deliverables or reciprocal sponsorships provides added value
➢ Village is also interested in leveraging its own marketing assets, including special events, newsletter advertising, social media and other digital properties to develop sponsorship partnerships that mutually benefit both parties
• Measurable returns
➢ Sponsors must be able to demonstrate and provide measurable results, which may include social media data, web traffic, press mentions, and other metrics
The Village Board or staff can propose the award of sponsorship dollars from the budgeted Community Relations “marketing support” line item. The Village Board will collectively agree on the awards, which will be implemented by staff. Staff plans to bring this up for the FY2020 budget in May or June of 2019.
Board and staff discussion focused on speaking to sponsors on what they want to see; important to have consistency; bringing in fairness; how to handle requests from the Village for the donation of money to an organization; have limited sponsorship money; need to look at as a marketing aspect; focusing on how to get the message out; less than $5,000 allocated; Village does not make donations; intent is for the value/benefit being received; Village does help fund the Senior Center and KAT; partnership agreements for services provided to the community; volunteer program for last year’s Wine of the Fox; volunteer partnerships with the schools for Christmas Walk; opportunities to be efficient. There was no further discussion.
CLOSED SESSION
There was no Closed Session held.
ADJOURNMENT
The Committee of the Whole meeting adjourned at 6:20 p.m.
http://www.oswegoil.org/pdf/3-19-19-cotw.pdf
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