Leveraging Relationships - Crime Stoppers

First shown at 3 Wins Consulting.

On May 20th, I posted a few thoughts about Crime Stoppers USA and Non-Profit Revenue / Branding. Angie Meeker left a request asking if I could “…talk a little more about a specific example of how an individual Crime Stopper program can develop the relationships with their existing sponsors into something more valuable for each?” I’m more than happy to share a few ideas that might help the local Crime Stoppers group, but first, the obligatory preamble.

I draw a hard line between fundraisers and promotions. I tend to shy away from “fundraising” as it connotes a very one-sided relationship that is relevant only to the body needing to raise the funds. A “promotion”, however, can invoke emotion and, by definition, invites participation. Promotions create opportunities for others to share in the benefit. Fundraisers invite others to share in the cost.

In no particular order, and without knowing much about the specific local group, here are a few examples of how I might look to engage others with a Crime Stoppers program:

• With the proliferation of drugs in schools, I would look for ways to engage the students beyond showing up and explaining the Crime Stoppers program and the consequences of drug use. I’d look to the army of sports teams, band students, and extracurricular groups and give them ways to earn money for their programs…as well as Crime Stoppers (coupons, calendars, etc using both school colors and CS logos). Award the money earned with an appropriately large press conference and presentation and follow up with a full press release.


• I would engage some obvious sponsors (insurance agents, security companies, police, etc.) to provide a service to other businesses in areas of target hardening and reduce theft and break-ins. Crime Stoppers, in return for a fixed donation, could provide a security audit of a home or business and provide information (including local resources, a discount on insurance premiums, special pricing on monitoring, etc.) to the owner on how to rectify any shortcomings.


• At your next festival/fair/homecoming (anything else where a crowd will already exist), the following are worth consideration: Belt sander racing, Hometown Record for Frisbee Toss, Portable Hole In One Contest, Team Cheeseburger Eating Contest.

There you have a couple quick strategies to engage a number of sponsors simultaneously and four promotions that just scream for client participation. There are some obvious choices for partners in the last few items and a few that are a little off the radar. If you need more details, or help crafting a plan for your group….just let me know. We work with groups of different sizes, with varying inherent resources and thoroughly unique “wants” and “needs”. With the end in sight, we work backwards from what needs to occur (i.e. raise $300,000) and select a series of events and tactics to meet those goals. Along the way, we look for the opportunities to adapt our offer to create benefits for sponsors and partners. If we all play…we all win.

I hope that helps.