WHY YOU MAY WANT TO SPONSOR CIANCIA?
As president of this group, I am aware that in the mind of most of our members and participants, we are a cheerful club which promotes conversation and cultural exchanges over a glass of wine. However, we reach out to over 2,000 members between our emailer and our Facebook page. In April of every year, we also sponsor the Italian Film Festival, which is attended in average by 1,000 participants and is at its XIV edition.
Ciancia is a small contestant in comparison to, say, museums and public institutions. Yet, commercial venues which are affiliated to Italy, rarely resort for their advertising to public institutions.
Although our reach is quite significant for a small cultural club, support and sponsorship of non profit organizations like ours are not typically based on an immediate return. One of such forms of sponsorship is the one given to Public Radio, for the sake of their survival and service to the community.
Our designation is one of the reasons of our success: remaining unassuming and unpretentious with the cultivation of a great mission such as the use of the Italian language and the promotion of the noble traditions of Italy.
Many organizations are hindered by the burden of more ambitious programs and agendas. Being small often works better. However, the enthusiastic participation to our club is yearning for more prominent programs, and serious programs call for substantial financial back up. The potential of a group of our size has been pointed out several times in the past, both by our Consul in Miami and by cultural operators in the City, including the institutional speaker Lois Reitzes of PR. Ciancia has long outgrown the dimension of a club, reaching the numbers and demographics of a medium size organization. With 2,000 members, we measure up with some of the largest groups of Italian language or heritage in the U.S. At this time, we acquire an average of 100 members a year. A clear indicator of the exponential development that this region has undergone is the City of Atlanta, which has matured and grown into a cosmopolitan hub. This has become more evident in the past five years, as the center of the City has undergone a significant urban revival, sprinkled by major developments, from the Atlanta Beltline to the stunning Georgia Aquarium, to Inman Park, Ponce City Market, Krog Street Market, topped by the recent announcement of a mile-long street-shopping district in Midtown. The subsequent influx of a significant number of new commercial and cultural institutions calls for activity of significance and great cultural impact.
A sponsorship program is a bold step ahead for our club, both in terms of commitment and responsibility. If you are asking yourself why sponsoring Ciancia, we can tell you that the sponsorship of specific programs allows advance programming for new activities. Funding allows considerably more than our traditional twelve meetings a year. It offers the possibility to plan and schedule social and cultural events ahead of time. It also offers the possibility of helping emerging artists, sponsoring other organizations, funding study scholarships, offering new services such as language classes. While the funds collected at the door continue to sustain our expenses for website hosting and administration, the compilation of a calendar of cultural events involves advance planning and a budget-based approach. The programs supported by the sponsorship are events and activities such as thematic movie series, music events, lectures, conferences and art exhibits. No one at Ciancia receives any form of compensation. We are all volunteers. Funds are devolved to artists and lecturers, renting space for our larger events, catering, equipment, and all those ingredients that make a cultural event a memorable evening.
THE TANGIBLE RETURN OF SPONSORSHIP
What could be the return of such increased activity? The answer is simple and we will give to you with a question. Have you ever wondered about what makes a fulfilling social life? It is meeting others, feeling out opinions, circulating ideas, sharing thoughts, talking about dreams, being exposed to a new lifestyle and learning things we did not know yesterday, looking at the reality through the eyes of an artist, hearing the perspective of a brilliant lecturer, listening to the verses of a poet, watching a new movie, in one word, it is all about social interaction and enlightenment! This is the primary asset of city life.
I am sure that you have figured out that money does not fulfill one’s life, though it certainly pays the bills. Although love is the thing in itself, art is a second close competitor, and it never fails. Have music or literature ever failed you? Haven’t they been your best companion? Don’t we need more of it? Well, here at Ciancia we are proposing to start from the Italian language. Artists are dying to show us their work, musicians to play for us, and so on. It is up to us to decide the value of these ingredients. It is about our lifestyle, after all. Bear in mind that if you attend more than six events per year, being a sponsor actually saves you money, and if you only attend a few events you can still support our cause and get other benefits like discounts at our corporate sponsors, which include restaurants and specialty food shops. For additional information about the details and specifics of our sponsorship program, we invite you to go to our website, click here.
NUMBER PROJECTIONS
With nearly 1,200 subscribers, we are projecting that 10% of our members will sponsor Ciancia at the individual contributor’s level. This will bring in a projected $6,600 a year. We are also anticipating that an additional $6,000 would come from corporate sponsors. A projected $12,600 budget allows four large events a year, plus the support of affiliate and parallel organizations such as our annual movie festival, children programs and various other events our members have endorsed. Please, consider that, nowadays, an art or movie event produced on a string budget, start at $3,000, which include equipment set-up and space-rental expenses, catering, wine, cleanup, and all those services which are unavailable on a volunteer basis. Operating below these levels is simply unfeasible.
ADVANTAGES OF SPONSORSHIP
On the practical side, the benefits of sponsorship to the individual member-contributor start with the elimination of door contributions, via a convenient membership card, significant discount to our classes, preferred access to all sponsored events, free access to our library, special mention on our website and significant discounts to all our participating corporate sponsors, which include shops and restaurants. Last but not least, sponsoring Ciancia carries the pride of sustaining a humanistic cause. Benefits to the corporate sponsors start from commercial exposure and name recognition, to the advantage of reaching on a monthly basis a large number of sophisticated consumers. Corporate sponsors are also offered a logo presence and web space on our website, which in turn increases their image and visibility.
LEVELS OF MEMBERSHIP:
Levels of Membership are two: individual supporters and corporate sponsors.
Individual supporters pay $60 a year, which gives them free access to all Ciancia meetings ($10 each time), plus 20% discount to all Ciancia classes, lectures, movies and other activities. If you attend more than six events per year being a sponsor actually saves you money. An additional 10% discount can be obtained at all our corporate sponsors, which include Italian retail and restaurants. Member contributors are provided with a membership card and listing on Ciancia website, under the “Sponsor” link.
– Ciancia membership pass-card
– Name listing on our Sponsor’s page
– Free access to all Ciancia events
– Sconti programmi 2007/2008
– sconti eventi legati a Ciancia (Italian Film Festival etc…)
– 20% sconti to Italian Classes
– Preferred reservation to sponsored events
Corporate Sponsor Membership is $600.00 a year. It carries all the benefits of individual supporting membership plus your corporate logo on Ciancia’s splash page, an image and profile of the sponsor on our sponsor page, which includes links to the sponsors website or sales department. Sponsors are listed and mentioned at all our events, and receive V.I.P. tickets to all our special events.
– All benefits of individual membership (above)
– VIP (4) set of tickets to all events
– Special mention on our Sponsor’s Webpage
– Permanent Corporate Logo and web space, including links
HOW DO I BECOME A SPONSOR?
Unless you are an existing member, in order to become a sponsor you must first complete a membership registration (free online). Mail a check made out to Ciancia for your level of sponsorship ($60 individual level, $600 corporate level). If you are a corporate sponsor we recommend you send your corporate logo and your company description in an electronic format, to info@ciancia.org . You may mail your check to Ciancia 312 Beverly Road, NE, Atlanta, GA 30309, or you may bring it to our next meeting. Membership cards can be collected at the door at any one of our events. Becoming a sponsor allows you instantaneous access to our events and meetings.
EXCLUSIVITY
In order to avoid crowding and juxtaposition of like businesses, we have limited the amount of businesses belonging to the same category (i.e. restaurants, retailers, food importers, agents) to four per kind. If you are interested in supporting Ciancia and obtaining a permanent spot and status with our organization, please contact us at your earliest convenience at info@ciancia.org .