PRIDE GUIDE 1998 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE B-33

Corporate sponsors believe in the power of Pride

by Mike Flickinger

Cleveland-It takes about $50,000 to put on the Cleveland Pride Parade and Festival. This includes everything from advertising and promotion to the rental of Voinovich Park, from colorful streamers in the parade to the entertainment provided on stage.

Cleveland Pride is funded from a variety of sources, including your donations, fundraisers at various bars and restaurants, booth rentals, individual and community sponsors, and corporate sponsors. It is the corporate sponsors that provide the major seed money that enables Pride to rent the park and underwrite the entertainment and other expenses.

In order to expand and grow, Cleveland Pride started a major effort to increase corporate sponsorships. Assigned with this task, I started calling both local and national corporations. Never will I forget my first call. What would they say? Would they hang up on me when I mentioned the "G" word?

Luckily, my first call was to Jack Knox, Cleveland manager for United Airlines. Jack's response was an enthusiastic, "Yes, we want to be involved in the festival and the community." United Airlines' commitment has been so strong that they have also signed on as a major sponsor of the Cleveland Lesbian and Gay Center's annual Garden Party.

Armed with success (and a little more confidence), I then tackled my employer, Ameritech. At every company you need to find an individual to support the proposal. At Ameritech, that person was Sharon Glaspie director of external relations for Cleveland.

The Pride sponsorship was not just a request for money, it showed how corporations like Ameritech can become involved and

market their products to the lesbian, gay and bisexual community We described it as a "win/win" arrangement for both organizations. Ameritech signed on as the exclusive telecommunications sponsor of Pride, and is also a major sponsor of the Garden Party.

Cleveland Pride would also like to welcome Subaru and Roche Laboratories as new corporate sponsors. Subaru supports Pride festivals in Minneapolis and Toronto, as well as their new support of Cleveland. They are the founding sponsor of the Rainbow Endowment, which benefits community health, civil rights and cultural interests.

Instead of us coming to them, Roche Laboratories came to Pride and asked to be a sponsor. Roche is at the forefront of developing new medicines and treatments for AIDS. They have taken a major role in providing

Pittsburgh

this information to doctors and the community and in the sponsorship of events.

That is not to say that every company said yes to becoming a sponsor. There was the local bank whose representative responded, "That is not a market that we target." But that was the exception.

Instead, I found that we had many friends who assisted in getting our requests approved. Ward 13 council member Joe Cimperman was one of those friends who helped to arrange meetings and enthusiastically championed our cause with local companies. Can you imagine how far we have come! Just think what the response would have been several years ago.

United Airlines, Ameritech, Subaru and Roche join American Express Financial Advisors and Northern Ohio Coalition Inc. as

our major corporate sponsors. These companies and organizations have made a significant commitment to Cleveland Pride and our community. I urge you to visit their booths at the festival, to thank them for their commitment and to consider them when you are making purchasing decisions..

The next time you purchase cellular service, buy an airline ticket, buy a car, need prescription information, require financial `advice, want to help the community or need a gay-friendly merchant, look to our sponsors. And most importantly, enjoy the tenth annual Pride celebration, and believe in the power of Pride.

Mike Flickinger is a member of the Cleveland Pride Committee.

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