Sidebar
Old School Sponsorship
9/8/08: If sponsorship makes sense for for-profit educators, why not for traditional nonprofit institutions, especially those trying to attract students for adult continuing education programs?
At least one of those schools, The University of Maryland University College, is giving it a try, coming on board as a sponsor of this weekend’s Nation’s Triathlon in Washington, D.C.
As part of the deal, the school will serve as presenting sponsor of the Military Challenge, an event-within-the-event in which active and veteran military personnel can compete as singles or teams.
The university took the sponsorship to promote its course offerings to that targeted market, said Chip Cassano, UMUC PR director.
“There are a high number of military personnel in the race, so we decided to execute the race-within-the-race and market it as an opportunity for more personal interaction with each participant,” said Armand Milanesi, founder and CEO of Precision Sports Entertainment, the sponsorship sales agency that sold the deal on behalf of the triathlon.
In addition to military personnel, UMUC was drawn to other participant groups in the triathlon:
• 22 percent of participants are government employees, a target for the school’s M.S. program in management and graduate-level certificate in project management
• 20 percent are financial and/or senior executives, a population served by UMUC’s Graduate School of Management and Technology and National Leadership Institute
• 11 percent are business owners, a prime demographic for UMUC’s undergraduate track in entrepreneurship, its Women in Business certificate program and its new Entrepreneur Development Center.
Precision Sports Entertainment initially pitched the idea to MGH Advertising, UMUC’s ad agency.
Sources
University of Maryland University College, Tel: 800/888-8682
Precision Sports Entertainment, Tel: 973/301-0770