Where's the money?

College fests are no longer the small-scale get togethers they once used to be, with a few competitions and a sparse crowd.

These days, institutions are pulling out all the stops to trump each other and conduct their fests with pomp and fanfare.

Most of the responsibility falls on the shoulders of the core team, and the number of tasks this select group of people have to deal with during that critical, once-a-year time is rather staggering. But of all the issues, perhaps the trickiest is scoring sponsorship and funds.

Convincing a firm to part with their cash is tough at the best of times but the task becomes near impossible during the time of an economic slowdown.

Achuthan Anil, who is a part of the core team of Acharya Institute of Management and Sciences, explains that the trick is to approach the larger companies, since they actually have cash to give.

 “Chances of getting sponsorship are higher with them. With the smaller companies and shops, getting money is much tougher — so they are more reluctant about parting with it,” he says.

When collecting funds, he recalls approaching shops which are located near the college, since they are more familiar with the inflow of students during the fest.

 “We have to personally approach them and convince them to help us out. With shops located nearby, the task becomes easier because they know that they can get a lot of visibility during the fest. But it’s still easier with the bigger companies,” he reasons.

Aditya Narayan, who is part of the team that organisers lecture discussions and seminars at Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, says that he follows a fixed model while approaching companies for sponsorship.

“Firstly, we use the name of the speaker in front of the company, explaining to them that by sponsoring our event, they can actually further their association with him or her. Of course, this approach depends a lot on the stature of the speaker,” he reflects, adding, “This usually works in getting sponsorship for panel discussions and single lectures.”

Vismita, from Mount Carmel College, explains that there the core teams of different colleges in the City actually keep in touch with each other and exchange notes about potential sponsors.

 “We make it a point to talk to the unions of other colleges, and check with them about where they get their sponsors from. In fact, we stay in touch with practically every member of their core team,” she says.

An alternative, she adds, is to approach students who have parents in the corporate world.

“There are so many such students in our college, so it’s another way for us to get contacts,” she sums up.