Hollis Sponsorship Bulletin

The ECB has launched a new £400,000 initiative with Build Center which will benefit hundreds of cricket clubs nationwide participating in the award-winning NatWest CricketForce initiative. The project requires each participating club to make an initial payment of £100 from their own funds to activate a Privilege Account. On activation, a further £400 will be added to the account at no charge to the club. The club is then able to spend £500 at Build Center branches nationwide at preferential rates on materials and products required for NatWest CricketForce events.

ECB will invest £400,000 in the scheme which was formally launched at Old Trafford Cricket Ground today (Monday) and will be open initially to the first 900 cricket clubs to apply.
A total of 1,914 cricket clubs and an estimated 85,000 volunteers took part in last year’s NatWest CricketForce event – the biggest turn-out since the project was first launched by ECB in 2002.
NatWest CricketForce encourages cricket supporters, their friends and families to give back to their local cricket club by volunteering to undertake renovation work in clubhouses and grounds over a designated weekend at the start of each season.
ECB Managing Director – Cricket Partnerships, Mike Gatting said: “The key to NatWest CricketForce’s success has been the way in which it has engaged community-wide support – enabling cricket fans, the wider public and businesses and traders to actively help their local clubs.
“Build Center was one of the first companies to become an official supporter of NatWest CricketForce and this new initiative is a fantastic example of how businesses can help clubs regenerate their facilities and support ECB’s wider investment in the grass-roots game.”
Build Center’s Head of Divisional Sales, Alan Bawden, said: “Build Center is proud to be an official supporter of NatWest CricketForce 2012 helping to support and develop local cricket clubs across the UK.”

Karen Earl, Chairman of ESA and Synergy and Amanda Fone, Managing Partner of f1 recruitment llp, will be leading ‘Building A Career In Sponsorship’ a European Sponsorship Association seminar designed to help graduates and newcomers to sponsorship with their career planning.

Karen and Amanda will draw on their considerable experience to share insights into the sponsorship industry. They will be joined by ATP’s Marc Harris, an experienced professional who has worked within the industry for many years across a number of agencies including Momentum, Bell Pottinger PR and IMG. The Workshop will provide an introduction to the sponsorship industry with an overview of the sponsor, agency and rights holder roles. Practical advice on career opportunities and progression will also be provided.

Members working more broadly in marketing roles are welcome to attend to learn about the specifics of sponsorship. The session will be held on March 23rd at the British Olympic Association from 4.00-6.00pm. For more details, please contact ESA at esaoffice@sponsorship.org.

Following an initial six month contract, the London Evening Standard has confirmed that sponsorship agency, Generate, has been retained to source sponsors for the newspaper’s existing portfolio of events, including the

London Evening Standard Theatre Awards, London’s 1000 Most Influential People and the London Evening Standard British Film Awards.

After successfully securing Hobbs and American Airlines as Support Sponsors for the London Theatre Awards in November 2011, Generate went on to confirm Moët & Chandon as sponsor of the recent British Film Awards, which

took place at the London Film Museum on Monday 6th February.

As well as securing sponsors for their existing event portfolio, Generate is also looking at the development of other exclusive sponsorship platforms that capitalise on London Evening Standard’s strength of brand and

London and South East readership.

Northern Racing has concluded a deal with Betfred as the provider of pool betting services and on-course betting shops at all of its UK racecourses.
The deal secures the future of on-course pool betting through Betfred’s Totepool brand for customers at Bath, Brighton, Chepstow, Fontwell Park, Ffos Las, Great Yarmouth, Hereford, Newcastle, Sedgefield and Uttoxeter, for at least the seven year-duration of Betfred’s license. In addition Betfred will continue to operate the on-course betting shops at all ten Northern courses for the duration of the Totepool license. Northern is the first major racecourse group to sign such a deal with Betfred since it took ownership of the Tote in July 2011.
Tony Kelly, Group Managing Director of Northern Racing said: “The deal closely mirrors the partnership we enjoyed with the Tote and I am confident that customers will not experience any disruption. “We will be working closely with Betfred to help develop the business and the service we offer, including the rebranding of Tote betting shops to the Betfred brand and on-going capital investment in the pool services. “In addition we have reached agreement with Betfred to sponsor a number of our principal racedays including Uttoxeter’s Midlands National meeting, Newcastle’s Eider meeting, and Chepstow’s Silver Trophy Day. These long -term arrangements will allow us to build the profile of these days whilst maintaining prize money levels for our feature racedays.”
Betfred Chief Executive Trevor Beaumont commented: “We are delighted to have signed a deal with Northern Racing which will ensure that pool betting remains at their racecourses for at least the next seven years and hopefully beyond.
“Punters can look forward to an enhanced betting experience through both the Betfred and Totepool brands whilst the sport as a whole will benefit from increased turnover and sponsorship.”

Alpari, a global association of companies providing online foreign exchange (“Forex”, “FX”), precious metals and CFD trading services, has agreed a five-year title partnership with the World Match Racing Tour. The

agreement sees the world’s leading professional sailing series become the Alpari World Match Racing Tour from February 2012.

The deal will benefit both parties and is a timely boost to global professional sailing where other properties have struggled commercially against a backdrop of tough economic conditions. As a global sports series with

events in North America, Asia and Europe, the multimillion-dollar partnership creating the Alpari World Match Racing Tour will help Alpari reach out to even more people across the continents and promote online trading

to an even wider audience.

Speaking about the partnership, Jim O’Toole, CEO of the World Match Racing Tour, commented: “To be collaborating with such a forward-thinking and ambitious organisation as Alpari is extremely exciting. We know from our

research that the World Match Racing Tour’s fan base provides the perfect audience for Alpari to engage with and build its customer base. The partnership further underlines the strength of the Tour’s commercial

proposition and I look forward to working with the Alpari team over the next five years.”

David Stuart from Alpari added, “The Tour and Alpari have so much in common and we’ll both be strengthening our brands by entering into this partnership. The Tour appeals to an international audience and specifically to

people who are ambitious and self-motivated. These are essential attributes of successful traders so Alpari’s services should excite them.”

The world’s best match racers will compete for the ISAF Match Racing World Championship and the largest prize purse in the world of sailing (US$1.75 million). Britain has enjoyed back-to-back success with triple Olympic

gold medallist Ben Ainslie winning in 2010, followed by Ian Williams who captured his third world title in 2011. Williams is once again on the list of nine skippers, also announced today, to have secured a Tour Card for

the 2012 season. Selected by the Tour, the list of Tour Card Holders includes a mix of current and former World Champions, Olympic and America’s Cup campaigners as well as an exciting breed of promising younger sailors

from around the world.

The Alpari World Match Racing Tour is currently increasing the number of Tour events to bring match racing and its star names to both traditional and emerging sailing countries. Today’s sponsorship announcement also

coincides with the unveiling of the 2012 Tour Calendar which now includes a new event, the Chicago Match Cup in the US, to complement the other regattas in Germany, Korea, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, France, Bermuda

and Malaysia.

The Hollis Sponsorship Awards judging team is delighted to announce the shortlist for the Sponsorship Innovation of the Year category, the winner of which will be announced at the Hollis Sponsorship Awards Gala Dinner

on March 27th. On the shortlist are: Betfair for its Betfair Bum-vertising campaign, the BP Portrait Award 2011, TRESemme and Next Top Model and the VIY – Volunteer It Yourself campaign which is sponsored by A4E, V,

Wickes and Pimlico Plumbers. The four candidates were was selected from the shortlisted entries and were campaigns which the judges deemed had introduced eye-catching innovations and solutions to their campaigns and the

industry.

With just a month to go before the Gala Dinner on March 27th, tables at the London Marriott Grosvenor Square event are selling extremely well. To avoid any disappointment, please email us now with your requirements or

book online at www.sponsorship-awards.co.uk. We would be pleased to reserve and hold tables/places for one week.

Business sponsorship of the arts has fallen for the fourth year in a row to £134.2 million according to just-released figures from Arts & Business however the figures show a
slight overall growth in private sector investment in culture to £686 million thanks to individual giving which has grown to £382.2m and income from Trusts and Foundations which has increased to £170.3m
Interestingly, the north of England’s share of investment in the arts has risen over the last three years whilst the South’s (excluding London) has declined. Unsurprisingly, London captures 81% of all individual giving
while heritage and museums bring in just over half of all private sector support.
Jonathan Moulds, Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Europe president and Chair of the new Arts & Business Leadership Campaign said: “What is clear from these figures is that we need to increase awareness across the wider business community, and to show how our support of the arts can bring many benefits to both communities and to our own organisations. The new Arts & Business Leadership Team has been established to promote support from businesses in order to build stronger economies, and to demonstrate the value that a
healthy arts sector can bring to us all. Bank of America Merrill Lynch‟s long-standing involvement with this sector has shown us that there is a strong business case for supporting creative individuals and
innovative institutions. The arts are not an optional extra – they provide insight, creativity and opportunities to build self-esteem, all of which are necessary to make our communities healthier and
more vibrant.”
Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport Jeremy Hunt said: “This confounds the critics who said it was a waste of time trying to boost philanthropic giving when times are tough. It is also a real tribute to the determination of the cultural sector to boost its fundraising and strengthen the financial resilience of arts organisations. We now just need to keep going – particularly exploring the opportunity of legacy giving for which a new tax break comes into force this April.”
Dan Jarvis MP, Shadow Culture Minister, added: “Arts & Business has provided us with yet another thought-provoking report that demonstrates their valuable work and contribution to the sector. Their announcement is
welcome news for the arts and I hope that this indicates that arts organisations are growing their fundraising bases.
However, Jeremy Hunt and Ed Vaizey cannot be complacent. We are 22 months into a five-year programme of government austerity. The government promised that cuts in public funding for the arts would be replaced by philanthropists‟ generous donations, across the country. We can see that this simply hasn‟t happened. Whilst private giving has increased by £28.5million in 2011, the public funding to Arts Council England was cut by £71million. This is deeply worrying for the long-term sustainability of the arts sector.
I am particularly concerned about the decreases in private funding for Community Arts Projects and Theatres, as well as the 7% (almost £10 million) fall in contributions from businesses.
I am producing a report entitled „Arts in the Regions,‟ because I think it is imperative that we ensure all arts organisations have the business acumen they need. By investing time in the procurement of the relationship between the arts and business sectors, we can ensure that the arts survive the CSR-period, and that they continue to grow and expand their footprint in communities across all English regions.”
Philip Spedding, Campaign Director at Arts & Business, comments: “There are distinct variations across the country, but overall the arts world has continued to respond to the cold economic climate in a positive and successful manner. The downward trend on business support for the arts remains our prime concern. However, we are beginning to see some in the arts discovering other productive ways to work alongside business, and our role remains to develop, sustain and celebrate these new ideas and models.It remains to be seen whether private investment is set to become the dominant funding force of UK culture. What we are seeing is through the adoption of new fundraising and digital channels, arts bodies and individual artists across the UK are capitalising on the unquestionable opportunities that exist for the arts in communities, in the pursuit of creativity and in the delivery of enterprising sponsorships.”

RaboDirect Ireland, the online-only bank, has appointed Maeve Moriarty to the position of Sponsorship Programme Manager. Her responsibilities will include the management of its sponsorship of the RaboDirect PRO12 competition, Rugby’s premier professional club competition in Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. Moriarty previously held senior sponsorship management positions with the Football Federation of Australia and the Australian Rugby Union.

An international arts project spanning Ethopia and Huntly, Aberdeenshire has launched Arts & Business Scotland’s (A&BS) new crowdfunding website for the cultural and creative sectors. Angel Shares Scotland offers a new way for organisations and individuals to raise valuable funds for their arts projects.
Founded by Sarah Gee, a professional fundraiser and marketer for nearly 20 years, it aims to help the arts build stronger relationships with donors. Gee claims that it is “the only arts and cultural crowdfunding site that collects Gift Aid on donations”. Angel Shares Scotland will help diversify income streams for the arts, offer new ways for individual supporters to engage with arts projects and raise awareness of inspiring Scottish arts projects across the world. It is the latest in a series of A&BS initiatives to develop extra funding for the arts from private donations, so maximising the amount of philanthropic support for the arts in Scotland.
Supported by Creative Scotland the site is part of the Year of Creative Scotland, offering a route for the wider public to support the creative ambitions of Scotland’s artists.

Endurance brand Maxifuel has signed to become the official sports nutrition partner to professional cycling team, UK Youth Pro Cycling. The team is owned and sponsored by Formula 1 World Champion Nigel Mansell CBE and headed up by Paris-
Roubaix winner and Tour de France Stage Winner Magnus Backstedt.