TIGHAR
Amelia Earhart Search Forum => General discussion => Topic started by: Rafael Krasnodebski on July 23, 2012, 12:37:30 PM
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Any sound ideas out there to help raise the money needed to continue this research?
Corporate sponsorship is of course the most obvious and it looks like Ric and his colleagues have done a great job over the years, but can we help them further? The problems associated with getting corporate sponsorship in my mind are as follows:
Corporations are inundated with requests. What can TIGHAR do to make their's stand out from the crowd?
There has to be something 'in it' for them. Either cash, postive media recogntion or brand related pay-back. What's our 'value proposition' to the potential sponsor?
Corporations are risk averse, particularly in today's uncertain commercial world. They are reluctant to invest unless the chances of success are high. Perceived (rather than real) failure can have a negative brand effect. How can we mitigate that fear?
The issue in question (in this case AE's disappearance) has to be foremost in the public mind. If no one cares, neither will they. This is fine for now, but it needs to be kept there. How do we go about maintaing a high level of interest?
Even if one or two corporate key decision makers are positive, there will always be dissenting voices, so one needs to lobby as many key individuals in the sponsoring organization as possible (it's called 'multi-point selling') to get a positive response. To do this you need people with the right access. Have we got the resources to do this? (Hilary Clinton's pretty good, but the more the merrier).
The corporate first response to any request for funding is almost always 'no', but corporations can be ground down ... if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Have we got the resources, paid or voluntary, to do this?
Managing negative publicity: TIGHAR gets some pretty venomous criticism from various unfriendly quarters which can make current or potential sponsors nervous. TIGHAR needs to keep it's head and shoulders above the squabbling crowd by being (and being seen to be) a high quality, objective and responsive organization. Ric has been particulalry good at this, but it's all too easy to be dragged down to the level of others when under fire. We need checks and balances to guard against this.
Keeping these in mind we need a 'target list' of potential sponsors with names and key decision makers names and relationships we can focus on. So far all of Ric's sponsors are US based. That's patently the most obvious place to start given that this an American project looking for American heroes, but what about major foreign corporations, particularly those looking to penetrate the US market?
Over to you guys ....
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Hollywood? I know, I know. but they have $$$. Bieber---if he can rent the Staples center for diner and jet set around the world, then whas a coupld mil for publicity. Besides---he a Selena could go to Nike with out the paparrazi! ok bad example. John T does have a 707---Some have G5's. Hum----no runway to Niku.
Ok---Popcorn or cookie sales. NAAA a pain. Ok---I'm out of ideas---
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Holywood may belong to the nuttier ideas .. but film rights to the hypothesis must be worth something. It's one of the most romantic stories I've ever heard of ... it's a tragedy, a detective story, it's many things. The trouble is that Holywood doesn't care if it's true or not ... AE's dramatic take off with a drunken FN (I know he wasn't, but he will be in the movie), losing the antenna, a gruelling flight over the Pacific with dreadful navigation by a hungover FN (I know he wasn't, but he will be in the movie), botched radio contact with the poker playing crew in the radio room of the Itasca (I know they weren't, but they will be in the movie), then a dramatic landing on a Pacific island, desperate post-landing messages, a pretty little Shirley Templesque Betty listening in horror back in Florida, cut back to a marooned AE with a mortally injured FN, she buries him, learns to cook crabs whilst fighting them off, gasping with her last breath for help to an English gentleman officer (Bevington) who doesn't notice, the compact slips from her hand and she expires, lonely and dejected ... bones being discovered by a dashing British/Irish colonial officer ... they couldn't make it up ... but they'd twist it beyond all comprehension anyway. Still I'm sure Ric has copyright to the hypohesis (story in their parlance) via his book, so the film rights could help .... if you can stand what they'd do with it.
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All,
Regarding fund raising ideas;
Let’s carefully go through all the artifacts that have been returned and identified from Niku. For example the Cat’s Paw heel, the zipper, the bottle mfgr’s, etc..
Set up a presentation with responsible representatives of these various companies, that are still in business today, with the main objective of convincing them that without their products being found the fate of AE/FN will remain a mystery. However, with their cooperation through financial support and the robustness of their products could very well lead to a solution.
Ted Campbell
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My own personal view on this is.
Tighar needs to go global with it's image.
One thing i have noticed is most of the member's are either from USA UK or Ireland
We need to create a portfolio, That is going to jump out and grab a person's attention when they read it.
Look at all these billionaires around the world, who are buying football clubs to advertise there products to 40,000 odd people a week.
We need to make them see if they help fund Tighar's search, and help solve one of the last great mystery s.
Their company would be brought to the attention of the world and the money that would bring in would be phenomenal
That's my opinion anyway :)
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Another corporate issue that just crossed my mind: Even if you find a generous corporate sponsor, the price of sponsorship may be too high. Often, a sponsoring corporation will insist on taking control of "their investment". This, I'm sure is too high a price for Ric to pay and I wouldn't be at all surprised if he hasn't turned down offers like this in the past. Indeed, I suspect some of the venomous personal comments we hear from 'rivals' are precisely because TIGHAR was not up for sale. Again, this is a matter of integrity and should be "marketed" from the outset as part of TIGHAR's fundraising policy.
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... and going back to the idea of targeting foreign companies who would like to enter or boost their presence in the US market. I would target the middle to larger end of the foreign middle market. Companies seeking a US presence with a turnover of around $100 to $500 million who can't justify the huge costs of a nationwide market splash campaign in the US, but are looking for alternative ways of demonstrating their presence in the North American market. You wouldn't get millions from each of them, but if each contributed in the tens of thousands, I'm sure it would be welcome. Of course you'd have to vet each company carefully before you took their money, but that's not hard to do if they are listed corporations. The critics will, I'm sure be onto you like a shot for using foreign money for such a patriotic pursuit, but that just needs to be handled with a genuine display of respect and integrity. The good thing about targeting this sort of company is that they are unlikely to ask for unreasonable control over your work in return. Why not start with the Canadians, Brits, Australians, New Zealanders and Irish. Easy to talk to and easy to vet?
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One thing i have noticed is most of the member's are either from USA UK or Ireland
How many Brits (scouse and holders of a british passport but not want to be known as british) ?
Lets put it another way, how many non US residents have gone on Niku expeditions?
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One thing i have noticed is most of the member's are either from USA UK or Ireland
How many Brits (scouse and holders of a british passport but not want to be known as british) ?
Lets put it another way, how many non US residents have gone on Niku expeditions?
I tried looking at members list to get an idea but i couldn't find it, So at a guess about 15 different nationalities have been involved in the Niku expeditions.
Like i said if i could of viewed member list i would have provided a more correct amount :)
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All,
To add to my earlier post re getting more coporate spnoncers:
Cat's Paw heels - Biltrite Corp.
Lighter - Ronson Co
Aircraft Skin - Alcoa Aluminum
Window Glass - Rohm and Haas
Zipper - Talon Co
Lotion - Campana (now) Dow Chem
Glass Jar - Owens Corning ( now Dow Chem)
Get these companies in the same room and give a D.C. type presentation and I'll bet they will all sign on to some form of sponcership to get thier name out there.
Ted Campbell
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Got to be worth a try ... :)
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This just in,"Lost at sea: Hunt for Earhart's plane abandoned (http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/07/23/earhart-search-returning-to-hi-without-plane-pics/)"
Dave, I fixed the link and put it in the text above. Doc
I hate sesational and misleading headlines like this. It would appear, according to the headline, not the URL, that TIGHAR has given up on the 23 year project. I will give FOX credit for being generally accurate in the main body of the story, thanks to Pat. But the headline sucks and is detrimental to the cause of any fund raising or sponsor gathering efforts as most won't read past the headline. We need to keep our mission in the public forum to attract attention and funding to it if we ever intend to return to Niku.
Maybe I'm being over-sensitive to the ill effects of such a headline and I know it happens every day in any news item. And I'm sure I'll get over it. However, I don't think that a response by TIGHAR to FOX news regaurding the conflicting headline would be out of order or considered nit-picking. Little details like this add up. People remember and believe a headline. Not so much when it comes to the facts.
My appologies for not being able to post the link above. I guess I need remedial training!
LTM, ( Who hates B.S.)
Dave
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Typical huh? But who was it that said "Any publicity is good publicity"?
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Dave. its the kind of reporting that the general public reads. Headlines only, no body. The quotes from Pat appeared basically the same in all the reports I saw. But the headlines are what gives the impression that all is lost. FAR FROM IT! As I posted earlier, KOK i still at sea. The footage has yet to be extensively studied.
How many trips to the North Atlantic did Dr. Ballard make before he found the Titanic? See----people dont know.
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http://blog.wepay.com/2012/02/02/a-few-very-specific-tips-for-getting-donations-to-your-good-cause/ :P ;)
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Hello all, I am very passionate about TIGHAR's work. It seems to me that financial support is the best way to help TIGHAR complete the work on Niku. Showing passion for a project like this can really go a long way with our friends and family. For instance when my parents, or friends hear me discuss the Niku hypothesis they can see the excitement in my eyes. They can really tell that I have a sincere passion for this project. Perhaps at family gatherings, or cook outs for instance, TIGHAR members can express there dedication and appreciation for TIGHARS work. This may entice close friends, and family to donate to TIGHAR. I know that personally I could talk about it for hours. What if we all made it a point to recruit (if you will) friends, or family members to make a contribution to TIGHAR. I have read where TIGHAR states that any contribution is significant, no matter how small. We all go back and fourth on this forum about this, that, and the other. But in all actuality TIGHAR needs the financial support to complete there work. I believe that I can gather some of my close friends and family, and explain the passion I have for this project. If each one of us avid TIGHAR forum members recruited one contributor, I believe it would help tremendously!!! If we explained to our friends and family how TIGHAR is a non profit org. and explained the Niku hypothesis, I bet we could all significantly help the cause. Perhaps if we all worked really hard on declaring our passion for TIGHAR, we could get TIGHAR out to Niku sooner than later. We all want that right?? Any thoughts??
Also, I saw on facebook today someone gave the idea of having live online feeds for the events that TIGHAR has. This would also be a great way to generate income for the project. I know that I personally wish that I could attend these events, and would be willing to pay to watch Mr Gillespie's presentations. I believe that is a fantastic Idea. When you are 500 miles away from the event, it gets difficult to attend. Especially when your working 40 hours a week, and have a family. It seems simple to me, MONEY is what TIGHAR needs.. Let's all make it a point to put a 100% effort into helping the cause, by working our butts off to get folks to click the donate button on TIGHARS web sight, or have them send TIGHAR a check.. I mean how much joy and happiness has this forum brought all of you? Lots Huh?? Let's do our part and help in the most beneficial way, financially..
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Corporate sponsorship is of course the most obvious and it looks like Ric and his colleagues have done a great job over the years, but can we help them further?
All the difficulties you list in attracting corporate sponsorship are true, but corporate sponsorships, although greatly appreciated, have been a minor source of funding for TIGHAR's work. The same is true of grants from big foundations. Large donations toward TIGHAR's research and expeditions have come mostly from private individuals and family foundations. Sometimes the donor wants to participate and our Sponsor Team Member program has been very successful in attracting good people who have the ability to make significant financial contributions. Sometimes the donor simply wants to help us move the project forward. Although you don't hear much about it, genuine philanthropy is alive and well in the 21st century.
Small contributions from the general public are increasingly important and obtainable through the growth of social media. I don't think we've even scratched the surface of what TIGHAR can do in this regard.
Managing negative publicity: TIGHAR gets some pretty venomous criticism from various unfriendly quarters which can make current or potential sponsors nervous. TIGHAR needs to keep it's head and shoulders above the squabbling crowd by being (and being seen to be) a high quality, objective and responsive organization. Ric has been particulalry good at this, but it's all too easy to be dragged down to the level of others when under fire. We need checks and balances to guard against this.
While it is true that TIGHAR gets some pretty venomous criticism from various unfriendly quarters, nobody seems to pay much attention to it. This past year we got slammed hard in three national periodicals and I'd be willing to bet that few on this forum even know what they were or what they said. In 2012 hundreds of stories about TIGHAR appeared in the media and nearly all of them were positive. Like the poor, the detractors will always be with us, but if we continue to do good, honest work I think our credibility and public image will continue to grow.
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Small contributions from the general public are increasingly important and obtainable through the growth of social media. I don't think we've even scratched the surface of what TIGHAR can do in this regard.
Exactly right, Mr. Gillespie Sir. Which is why I send in what I can, when I can, via check. Yeah, I'm old fashioned, but it just feels better to write out a check for a good cause than to click your mouse.
LTM, who puts his money where his mouth is,
Monty Fowler, TIGHAR No. 2189 CER
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This past year we got slammed hard in three national periodicals and I'd be willing to bet that few on this forum even know what they were or what they said. In 2012 hundreds of stories about TIGHAR appeared in the media and nearly all of them were positive. Like the poor, the detractors will always be with us, but if we continue to do good, honest work I think our credibility and public image will continue to grow.
If you will permit me Mr Gillespie, what were the periodicals and what were their criticisms?
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If you will permit me Mr Gillespie, what were the periodicals and what were their criticisms?
There's a possibly apocryphal story that was going around when I was with the 1st Cavalry at Ft. Hood in the early 1970s. It seems there was a "firepower demonstration" at which high ranking brass and various dignitaries were invited to witness a staged air cavalry assault involving fire suppression by Cobra gunships followed by several formations Hueys ("slicks") full of troops converging on the landing zone (LZ) in front of the bleachers. As an added treat, the coordinating inter-aircraft radio communications were broadcast over loud-speakers for the audience. Things didn't go as planned.
"The snakes have finished. You can bring your flight in now."
"I thought the other flight was supposed to insert first."
"No, you go first. Where are you?
"I don't know. I'm all f---d up."
The commanding general on the ground grabbed a mic.
"The aircraft commander who just used profanity on the air will immediately identify himself!"
After a short pause:
"I may be f---d up, but I'm not THAT f---d up."
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Let me guess: MAD Magazine? ;D
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Let me guess: MAD Magazine? ;D
Sounds more like Dennis Miller to me. 8)
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Edit: Kickstarter is primarily for artistic/creative projects, but there are other crowdfunding websites that we could explore. I do believe that the project is a good candidate for crowdfunding.
There have been some amazing campaigns on Kickstarter recently - millions raised for various projects. Often it helps to offer a "benefit" at various funding levels, like a donor would get a color print at the $100 level, join the on-site ;)team at the $10,000 level, etc.
I think the next expedition would be a great candidate for Kickstarter. But you have to set a budget and actually do the project if you raise all the funds - so the number would be large.
We could also use Kickstarter for smaller projects like scientific testing, a trip to interview somebody, etc.
Jon Romig
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Let me guess: MAD Magazine? ;D
Sounds more like Dennis Miller to me. 8)
Nah, if I had to guess, it would have to be none other than National Enquirer. ;)
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Two thoughts -
First: See my post in this section - Membership renewal - let's all kick it up a notch this year! - for one good way for ALL of us to give a little more to both 1) Keep TIGHAR going and 2) Help the next Niku expedition along. Mr. Gillespie and his Chancellor of the Exchequer (aka Pat) have come up with some generous incentives for us dedicated forumites to assist in that regard.
I've said this before but it bears repeating: Talk is cheap. Answers are expensive. I for one am willing to put my money where my (at times considerable) mouth is by renewing my membership at the next higher level - and am challenging all Forum members, lurkers and non-members to do likewise. If you are a member, renew at the next higher level. If you're not a member, join!
Second: I would echo Ric's assessment of going after foundation money in general, having attempted to assist TIGHAR in this regard. Private or family foundation money is much more likely, and that only if someone on that foundation board personally likes TIGHAR and what it's doing. Foundations give to people, not causes. Fortuately TIGHAR happens to have some (relatively ;D ) likeable people as its public face, which helps immensely. But raising money this way is extremely time consuming and in no way a sure thing. Ever. BTDTGTTS.
Tapping into social media is starting to pay off, but it is paying off incrementally. Going to Niku ain't cheap. Social media funding might conceivable raise enough money to get us there, but then you need the money to do what you need to do and and have enough money left over to get back.
Love to Mother, who needs more coffee this morning,
Monty Fowler, TIGHAR No. 2189 CER
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I have some thoughts about fundraising that I'm eager to share but, at the moment, I'm working up a research bulletin on the sonar anomaly for the TIGHAR website and that has to take priority. Film at 11.
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There's a radio show I listen to occasionally late at night called Coast to Coast AM, it has millions of listeners. The other night, I caught part of one guest being interviewed--he was talking about his research into Amelia Earhardt and his research into the "getting captured by the Japanese" theory. I haven't listened to the whole show yet but I didn't hear them discuss TIGHAR's hypothesis. Could be an avenue to publicity. Just a thought.
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Laura, I hope I don't offend you but that radio show is not a forum Tighar should choose if they want to be treated seriously by the wider community, it specializes in sasquatches, space aliens and the more bizarre conspiracy theories, I listen occasionally when I can't sleep and it is kind of fascinating in a train wreck/freak show kind of way.
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Just for completeness the person on that radio show last week was Rich Martini and expert on reincarnation, the afterlife and a documentary maker about AE, his blog does take a couple of cheap shots at Tighar
http://www.flipsidethebook.com
http://earhartmovie.blogspot.ca
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Hi Matt--no offense taken. I don't tend to get offended very easily so feel free to share your opinion. I agree that C2C might not be appropriate venue, but let me present a counter argument. First, despite the often strange, non-mainstream topics (and some guests, yes, for sure), there are often excellent scientific guests on the show. Many are highly respected in their fields of study and highly educated. Those are the C2C shows that I really enjoy. There are plenty that I find odd or don't care for the guests etc and just avoid altogether or turn off, but when you have a renowned physicist doing a 1-4 hour in depth interview on theoretical physics, THAT I'm interested in. My point is that just being interviewed on the show does not necessarily equate to "no respect". There are PhDs from schools like Princeton, Dartmouth, UCLA, Cambridge etc etc that appear on the show and who still maintain respect in their communities because they give thoughtful, educated, non-sensationalistic interviews. Yes, C2C does also have very bizarre guests on at times and the hosts will let them (and callers) freely give their opinions as well. But it doesn't mean there's not a place for groups such as Tighar who are conducting legitimate research to further air their hypothesis and try to gain more interest and funding.
As I listened to that gentleman discussing his Amelia research and the lack of depth and evidence given, it made me frustrated because Tighar seems to have a much larger and stronger database of evidence. I wanted Tighar's hypothesis and evidence discussed and presented.
Perhaps there are a couple part time hosts who are a bit more in depth with their questions and interviews than the main host, George Noory. I tend to favor George Knapp's guest interviews myself.
I am inclined to think of an interview with millions of listeners, some of which I'm sure are able to listen to and appreciate intelligent discussions, could not be harmful if the guest (in this case, say for example, Ric), was reasonable, intelligent, and presented a well-rounded presentation of the evidence. (I work in a scientific field, by the way--medicine--as well as being the daughter of a mother who has a PhD in a scientific field and is constantly working on research---and I am not one to just naively believe what someone says without them having a good base of evidence.)
Anyway, just my two cents. If the show is ok for the likes of scientists such as Dr. Mikio Kachu, and Neil deGrasse Tyson, Dr. Robert Zubrin, etc etc etc, then I think it's at least worth a post mentioning it as a possibility for more publicity and fundraising.
I appreciate your opinions! Love coming to this forum and reading the current findings and thoughts by forum members. Been reading here off and on for a long time but just rarely post.
Laura
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Has anyone reached out to places like National Geographic, Discovery Channel, History Channel, etc? If the project were tied in with a documentary film project, I'd have to imagine there would be some interest. Sort of like what Bob Ballard and, more recently, James Cameron have done with their Titanic expeditions. People would tune in for a History Channel program about "The Search For Amelia Earhart", and the network/production company involved could fund the actual expedition...??
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Has anyone reached out to places like National Geographic, Discovery Channel, History Channel, etc?
The Discovery Channel helped fund the last two expeditions, I believe.
At the bottom of the home page (http://tighar.org/) you will see a list of the major corporate sponsors who help to keep TIGHAR afloat.