Mm, Mm, Good

We have been courting Campbell Soup Company for sponsorship. They seem really excited about getting involved with us but nothing is decided yet. They definitely don't want to be outdone by Kraft.

We are trying to get them to sign on to our PALS program but they are more interested in painting barns.

We have flown out to Camden, New Jersey (just outside of Philadelphia) twice now. It is really exciting to work with them. The synergies that could be created are very positive.

There is a small side benefit that is slightly personal and selfish. If they sign on with us, I will have overshot my target goal of new money by two or three times for the year. That won't look too bad on the year-end report for me.

It is an interesting process to create a mutually beneficial partnership with these companies. Typically, companies will donate for one of three reasons:

1. Philanthropic ideals - Corporate responsibility is becoming a very hot topic. However, most companies haven't figured out how to manage this and don't know how to budget for it.

2. Investing in future employees and educated consumers - FFA is obviously producing top notch potential employees and well educated products consumers. It takes an admirable amount of foresight to invest in something that is very beneficial in the long run but doesn't provided an immediate benefit. Kudos to visionary leaders in the management positions.

3. Marketing - Want to reach half a million members? Donate to FFA and we'll make sure those students, parents, teachers, and alumni are exposed to your logo and message. We walk a very fine line because we are not selling hard advertising. Rather, we are selling soft messaging. It is a way to avoid selling ones soul to the devil and plaster the logo everywhere and compromise the integrity of the FFA program. It creates a win-win.