October 12, 2007 update: The committee will accept sponsors at any time but opportunities to acknowledge your support decrease as time passes. The committee will also accept exhibitors until October 23 but please register by providing information requested to Maran Hilgendorf in an email message (mhilgendorf@swfrpc.org. Do not complete the online form found below. -- Maran Hilgendorf
April 2007
TO: Old and New Friends
FROM: The Planning Committee of the Eighth Annual Charlotte Harbor Nature Festival, a regional celebration
SUBJECT: We need your help! (This invitation is also available as a PDF file.)
The Eighth Annual Charlotte Harbor Nature Festival
will be held Saturday, November 3, 2007 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
at the Charlotte County Sports Complex located at 2300 El Jobean Rd/SR 776
in Port Charlotte.
Please help celebrate the splendor of the natural environment of Southwest Florida
by sponsoring, exhibiting, volunteering and promoting this event.
The Festival is a family-friendly event where people can learn about topics affecting the natural environment of Southwest Florida. This includes our estuaries, native plants and animals, fossils, wildlife rehabilitation, water conservation, marine life and much, much more. This is accomplished through a wide variety of activities for both adults and children, which include guided walks in Tippecanoe Environmental Park, guest speaker presentations, hands-on activities, exhibits and vendors, music, a Children’s Discovery Zone and more.
The Festival has had as many as 60 exhibitors and more than 4,000 people attending! From one review of the cars we know visitors included people from 13 counties in Florida, 17 states and Canada. (More festival history is posted on the website www.CHNEP.org.) This special occasion provides exceptional opportunities for environmental education and we need your help to make it a continued success. The Festival has become an indispensable showcase of our region’s activities and it is a great opportunity to spread your message, advertise your business, demonstrate your accomplishments, build your constituency, and sell your creations!
A committee of volunteers, who represent a diverse group of organizations, is dedicated to making this Festival exciting and informative. The committee has approved the following:
• Free admission and free parking to all.
• Exhibitors and vendors receive free exhibit space; however, we request that all exhibitors and vendors donate items for the on-site raffle.
SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES: Become a sponsor by completing an easy-to-print PDF file and send by email to mhilgendorf@swfrpc.org. Please keep a copy of your completed form for your records.
The Charlotte Harbor Nature Festival, a regional celebration, is possible because of the generosity of sponsors and volunteers. The Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program is pleased to again support the Festival as the event’s Bald Eagle level sponsor. To cover all festival expenses, $30,000 must be raised, which includes the cost of a new sponsor benefit – a tote bag that will be given away. The quantity of tote bags will be dependent on funds available after other festival expenses are met.
Sponsorship opportunities begin at $100. (If you choose to exhibit at the Festival, raffle items are a separate and additional donation from your sponsorship donation.) This year, the Planning Committee hopes to be able to provide everyone who attends the festival with a free tote bag. All sponsors who give $1,000 can have their company name added to the bag for an additional donation of $250 or their company logo added for an additional donation of $1,000.
Please respond by August 1, 2007, so that you will be included in the early promotional material. Final deadline for exhibitors, vendors and sponsors will be October 23, 2007, space permitting.
| Sponsorship | Sponsor Gift + Raffle Donations | Booth, Table & Two Chairs | Name on Event Program | Name on Promotional Material | Name Mentioned at Festival | Festival Area Named Promo for Sponsor | Logo on Material |
| EXHIBITOR/VENDOR | $0 | ü |
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| DOLPHIN | $100 | ü | ü |
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| SEA TURTLE | $250 | ü | ü | ü |
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| OSPREY | $500 | ü | ü | ü | ü |
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| FLORIDA PANTHER | $1,000 | ü | ü | ü | ü | ü |
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| +250 (total $1,250) | Have your company name printed on a festival tote bag. | ||||||
| +1000 (total $2,000) | Have your company logo printed on a festival tote bag. | ||||||
BALD EAGLE | $3,500 | ü | ü | ü | ü | ü | ü |
EXHIBITOR/VENDOR: Become an exhibitor or vendor by completing an easy-to-print PDF file and send by email to mhilgendorf@swfrpc.org. Please keep a copy of your completed form for your records.
An exhibitor or vendor can be any type of organization as long as it relates to the natural environment of Southwest Florida. Exhibitors and vendors with information on other topics are not invited to participate.
All exhibitors and vendors receive free space again this year; however, we request that you donate item(s) with a $25 minimum value to the Festival raffle. Exhibitors and vendors who donate items to the raffle will be acknowledged during the raffle. Guidance on how to make these donations will be posted on the website at www.CHNEP.org
Exhibitors and vendors may arrive for set up the day of the Festival as early as 7:00 a.m. All exhibitors and vendors must be set up no later than 9:00 a.m. and we require that exhibitors and vendors stay for the entire Festival. Due to stadium renovations, exhibits will not be placed around the stadium concourse. Exhibitors and vendors may bring their own tables, chairs and tents but tents must comply with county requirements.
VOLUNTEERS: As a volunteer you can join the planning committee, help promote the Festival, or volunteer the day before and day of the event.
WE NEED YOUR HELP! We need everyone to help promote the Festival and its goal of educating the public in the stewardship of our natural resources. Your promotion of the Festival may include coverage in your organization newsletter, website or correspondence – or any way that is available to you. You can access this information at www.CHNEP.org. The committee would like to recognize vendors who help promote the Festival so please send details to CHNEP.
MORE INFORMATION: The website www.CHNEP.org includes additional history about the festival, the planning committee, promotional material including this letter, sample press releases, and discount information on nearby hotels and other important information. The most up-to-date information about the Festival will always be available on the website. To ease communication for additional event information, participants are encouraged to provide an email address if available. If you wish to talk with someone about the festival, please contact Maran Hilgendorf with the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program (866/835-5785 x 240, mhilgendorf@swfrpc.org) Please note that there is no rain date. (Updates on the status of the festival due to weather conditions will be available by calling 866/835-5785 x 240.)
We hope that you will participate in the Eighth Annual Charlotte Harbor Nature Festival, making it bigger and better than ever.