By ReNea Nelson – Idaho Division of Tourism Grant Analyst and Voluntourism Manager
It was so nice to see many of our grantees from around the state and advertising partners at the recent Grant Summit held in Boise last month. What a great educational, networking and sharing forum this turned out to be. Summit evaluations indicated you liked it too! Kudos to Madden Media, Trip Advisor and GolfDigest for hosting a wonderful reception where everyone could network in a relaxed atmosphere, glean new ideas from others and share success stories.
The agenda was geared towards the opportunity to partner and align with the Division of Tourism to leverage all of our budgets and market penetration in a cohesive fashion. Sharing advertising costs with another non-profit or a private partner leverages limited advertising dollars and allows co-op participants to have a greater advertising presence than they may otherwise be able to accomplish on their own.
All State-Sponsored Co-op Opportunities for the 2012 grant cycle are available online as well as Summit presentations. Peruse the information and see what opportunities work best for your organization. Join others in channeling your dollars where it makes the most sense and you get the biggest bang for your buck! There is so much that can be accomplished by linking together through synergistic and collaborative funding efforts. Additional resources are also available to compliment the co-ops. Check out the link for a variety of free marketing resources.
As a kick-off to the 2012 grant application process, regional and local tourism entities were encouraged to incorporate tourism-generating projects proposed by individual community organizations (museums, event organizers, arts commissions, etc.) into promotional efforts for the coming year. Future grant projects which align with state-supported activities, leverage dollars by participation in unique opportunities, allowing participants to effectively reach travel consumers of all sizes, demographic backgrounds and niche interests were at the forefront of discussions.
Let’s all work together in promoting Idaho. It not only sends a unified message in look and feel, but we look forward to sharing exciting new opportunities with you! And this works both ways. If you have a co-op idea we would like to hear about it too. We love matchmaking!
P.S. Have to give a big shout out to Show Me the Money. This Idaho Department of Commerce electronic newsletter highlights funding opportunities for communities and nonprofit organizations. Each newsletter features grant opportunities covering a wide array of topics; arts, education, environment and recreation to name a few. In addition to the funding opportunities, the newsletter promotes upcoming events that may be of interest.