Finding $
Last fall, the District's Director in charge of all things legislative, grant, sponsorship, etc. had the good fortune of an early retirement. Good for him, not so much for the District. John Schmitt was a unique individual that (in my opinion) allowed the District to hire one individual instead of three. A crude understanding of his job was to get the District money. And he did! Thank you John. The District still has the need to find money, as yesterday's post had noted.
I believe that the District needs to take a comprehensive approach to funding our needs. Tax dollars will not cover it. So I have suggested we have a survey of our assets by a company that audits them, with the thought of setting a value for sponsorships. I believe that we are underselling what sponsorships we do have by not leveraging the entire District when we approach a company for a sponsorship of a single event. Even so, we leave money on the table because we usually sell the sponsorship at what it costs us for something, rather than the value of it to the sponsor. That is like a retailer buying a widget for $1.00 and selling it for $1.00.
Taking a comprehensive approach will also prevent us from undermining ourselves, because Willowbrook was asking for something just after Mayslake asked for something. If we better coordinate our requests, then we should have better results. So I will also request we centralize those efforts.
Quick thoughts on other revenue sources. We should work on appropriate partnerships. This helps obtain grants, maximize their value, allows for shared costs, and much more. We should explore vendor relationships that can improve services by the District, often without significant financial outlay. We would also receive revenue. Improve the layout for our gift shops and add them where appropriate. Become donation friendly so we can encourage gifts, memorials, and planned giving. Adjust our licensing and easement fees to actually cover all of our current costs beyond the land value. Update the value of trees in those areas. Establish some sort of membership program for the average Joe on the street to participate if he would care to.
I do not expect that these and other things will solve all of our money issues. I think that these will allow us to improve the quality of our preserves while helping to keep down taxes.
I believe that the District needs to take a comprehensive approach to funding our needs. Tax dollars will not cover it. So I have suggested we have a survey of our assets by a company that audits them, with the thought of setting a value for sponsorships. I believe that we are underselling what sponsorships we do have by not leveraging the entire District when we approach a company for a sponsorship of a single event. Even so, we leave money on the table because we usually sell the sponsorship at what it costs us for something, rather than the value of it to the sponsor. That is like a retailer buying a widget for $1.00 and selling it for $1.00.
Taking a comprehensive approach will also prevent us from undermining ourselves, because Willowbrook was asking for something just after Mayslake asked for something. If we better coordinate our requests, then we should have better results. So I will also request we centralize those efforts.
Quick thoughts on other revenue sources. We should work on appropriate partnerships. This helps obtain grants, maximize their value, allows for shared costs, and much more. We should explore vendor relationships that can improve services by the District, often without significant financial outlay. We would also receive revenue. Improve the layout for our gift shops and add them where appropriate. Become donation friendly so we can encourage gifts, memorials, and planned giving. Adjust our licensing and easement fees to actually cover all of our current costs beyond the land value. Update the value of trees in those areas. Establish some sort of membership program for the average Joe on the street to participate if he would care to.
I do not expect that these and other things will solve all of our money issues. I think that these will allow us to improve the quality of our preserves while helping to keep down taxes.
posted by Carl at 8:05 AM
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