Racers speed through team time trials on Sunday. Photos by Jonathan Spiers.
As cyclists finally rush through the city’s streets, the group that brought the bike race to Richmond is hoping funds will surge this week, as well.
Richmond 2015, the nonprofit that organized the event, entered race week just below its $21 million fundraising goal.
About 98 percent of the money toward that goal has been collected, and the group expects to gather the rest from concessions, merchandise and other event-related revenue, according to Lee Kallman, Richmond 2015’s vice president of marketing and business development.
“That will definitely get us over the top,” Kallman said in an interview last week. “There are a number of different revenue streams associated with the event from concessions to merchandise sales. We also have a travel program, and we realize royalties from that program on the tail end.”
The group needs the $21 million to cover “all facets associated with putting on the event,” including infrastructure, broadcasting, marketing and staff – essentially the budget for the entire event, Kallman said.
On Tuesday, Kallman said: “We’re three days in and certain elements of revenue have exceeded expectations, so we have a plan and we’re tracking that plan pretty well.”
WestRock was a local corporate sponsor of the event.
He declined to go into details about what revenue has exceeded expectations, nor did he share what percentage of concessions or merchandise sales goes toward Richmond 2015.
While revenue from sponsorships was collected before the event, Kallman said that does not necessarily mean payments have yet gone out to every vendor or contractor, “but anybody that is supposed to be paid is earmarked to be paid.”
Richmond 2015 is also getting some revenue from its travel program, in which licensed organizations throughout the world sold travel plans to visitors. It includes various VIP hospitality features, Kallman said, such as hotel packages or caravan rides on the racecourse. He declined to share how much the organization may get from that program.
Sponsorships from corporate and civic organizations have provided the largest chunk of revenue, Kallman said, with about 55 percent coming from Richmond-based companies. The largest local corporate sponsors include Genworth, WestRock, Dominion, Altria, TowneBank and VCU Health.
“From the very beginning this was never just about cycling or the sport of cycling, but how to take advantage of this event for bigger reasons,” he said. “For the community, from the government to tourism to all our corporate sponsors, that has really resonated with them and has gotten us to where we are.”
He said there was no minimum donation amount required to become an official sponsor of Richmond 2015. Different donations, though, allowed for different benefits.
Markel Corp. gave enough to gain naming rights of the organization’s volunteer program, while Owens & Minor was given naming rights to the Race Daily newsletter. TowneBank was named the “Official Bank Sponsor,” and Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer was named the “Official Commercial Real Estate Sponsor.”
The city of Richmond also contributed $2 million, plus in-kind services such as the police force. The state gave a total of $4 million. Both are considered civic partners.
Kallman declined to share how much each individual corporation gave to Richmond 2015.
“The business community has stepped up in a major way to make this happen, companies like Dominion and Altria and WestRock,” he said. “It’s not so much a straight-up marketing play, as to why people generally might sponsor a big sporting event, but it is also about employee retention. A lot of the community efforts for big companies focus on the question of: ‘How can we contribute to making Richmond a cool place to live and work?’”
Other local sponsors include Anthem, CarMax, ChildFund International, Davenport & Co., Hourigan Construction, Hunton & Williams, Kings Dominion, Lansing Building Products, McGuireWoods, PIASCIK, The Community Foundation, University of Richmond, Virginia is for Lovers, and Williams Mullen.
The organization has several out-of-town sponsors that also pushed Richmond 2015 toward its goal, including Lexus, Martin’s Food Markets, Michelob Ultra and Norfolk Southern.
Racers speed through team time trials on Sunday. Photos by Jonathan Spiers.
As cyclists finally rush through the city’s streets, the group that brought the bike race to Richmond is hoping funds will surge this week, as well.
Richmond 2015, the nonprofit that organized the event, entered race week just below its $21 million fundraising goal.
About 98 percent of the money toward that goal has been collected, and the group expects to gather the rest from concessions, merchandise and other event-related revenue, according to Lee Kallman, Richmond 2015’s vice president of marketing and business development.
“That will definitely get us over the top,” Kallman said in an interview last week. “There are a number of different revenue streams associated with the event from concessions to merchandise sales. We also have a travel program, and we realize royalties from that program on the tail end.”
The group needs the $21 million to cover “all facets associated with putting on the event,” including infrastructure, broadcasting, marketing and staff – essentially the budget for the entire event, Kallman said.
On Tuesday, Kallman said: “We’re three days in and certain elements of revenue have exceeded expectations, so we have a plan and we’re tracking that plan pretty well.”
WestRock was a local corporate sponsor of the event.
He declined to go into details about what revenue has exceeded expectations, nor did he share what percentage of concessions or merchandise sales goes toward Richmond 2015.
While revenue from sponsorships was collected before the event, Kallman said that does not necessarily mean payments have yet gone out to every vendor or contractor, “but anybody that is supposed to be paid is earmarked to be paid.”
Richmond 2015 is also getting some revenue from its travel program, in which licensed organizations throughout the world sold travel plans to visitors. It includes various VIP hospitality features, Kallman said, such as hotel packages or caravan rides on the racecourse. He declined to share how much the organization may get from that program.
Sponsorships from corporate and civic organizations have provided the largest chunk of revenue, Kallman said, with about 55 percent coming from Richmond-based companies. The largest local corporate sponsors include Genworth, WestRock, Dominion, Altria, TowneBank and VCU Health.
“From the very beginning this was never just about cycling or the sport of cycling, but how to take advantage of this event for bigger reasons,” he said. “For the community, from the government to tourism to all our corporate sponsors, that has really resonated with them and has gotten us to where we are.”
He said there was no minimum donation amount required to become an official sponsor of Richmond 2015. Different donations, though, allowed for different benefits.
Markel Corp. gave enough to gain naming rights of the organization’s volunteer program, while Owens & Minor was given naming rights to the Race Daily newsletter. TowneBank was named the “Official Bank Sponsor,” and Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer was named the “Official Commercial Real Estate Sponsor.”
The city of Richmond also contributed $2 million, plus in-kind services such as the police force. The state gave a total of $4 million. Both are considered civic partners.
Kallman declined to share how much each individual corporation gave to Richmond 2015.
“The business community has stepped up in a major way to make this happen, companies like Dominion and Altria and WestRock,” he said. “It’s not so much a straight-up marketing play, as to why people generally might sponsor a big sporting event, but it is also about employee retention. A lot of the community efforts for big companies focus on the question of: ‘How can we contribute to making Richmond a cool place to live and work?’”
Other local sponsors include Anthem, CarMax, ChildFund International, Davenport & Co., Hourigan Construction, Hunton & Williams, Kings Dominion, Lansing Building Products, McGuireWoods, PIASCIK, The Community Foundation, University of Richmond, Virginia is for Lovers, and Williams Mullen.
The organization has several out-of-town sponsors that also pushed Richmond 2015 toward its goal, including Lexus, Martin’s Food Markets, Michelob Ultra and Norfolk Southern.