Fundraising Through Development of a CIT Awards Program

Fundraising Through Development of a CIT Awards Program Debra Dillon, MA, RN-BC - June 7, 2012 Terry D. Smith, Patrolman

MISSION STATEMENT: NAMI Memphis is a grassroots, self-help organization dedicated to improving quality of life for individuals with mental illness, their families and communities. Our mission is accomplished through mutual support, education, and advocacy.

For many years NAMI Memphis advocated for specialized training for local law enforcement on mental illness • Unfortunately their pleas went unheard • Until….. tragedy struck, and a mentally ill individual cutting on himself with a knife was killed by law enforcement officers when he refused to drop the knife.

Finally, local government and law enforcement administration heard the pleas for training on mental illness. • A collaborative group of family members, mental health professionals, and law enforcement representatives formed to study the issues involved and to design a quality training program for officers. • The result?...............................

Birthplace: Memphis, TN Date of Birth: 1988

Today, NAMI Memphis remains an active part of the ongoing training of current and new CIT officers in Memphis and Shelby County.

CIT?

CIT? You are our Hero!

CIT? You are our Hero! And we want to say THANK YOU!

In 1989 NAMI Memphis wanted to say thank you to the CIT officers serving the Memphis and Shelby County community. We racked our brains.

We had a bright idea! We decided to hold an Annual CIT Awards Banquet.

Since we are a small non-profit agency, we realized that we did not have the financial resources to pay for an Awards Banquet. So…… We decided to raise the money through sponsorships. Our hope was to raise enough money to cover the costs of the trophies, the meal, speaker gifts, the sound technician, etc.

Our goal was to have : expenses = sponsorships

What we got was an effective fundraising event which yielded additional revenues we could use to help operate our education programs and support groups.

Our Brilliant Idea Took Flight And Became an Annual Event

CIT AWARDS BANQUET • Choosing a location • Picking a date • Planning the meal • Trophies • MC • Speaker • Offering incentives for sponsorship levels • Identifying potential sponsors • Last but not least………

CIT AWARDS BANQUET • KNOCKING ON POTENTIAL SPONSORS DOORS

CIT AWARDS BANQUET CHOOSING A LOCATION Before you pick your location, you must estimate the attendance. As CIT has spread to all law enforcement agencies within our County, our Banquet has grown. NAMI Memphis changed their venue this year because we had finally outgrown the original location. This year there were approximately 350 attendees to the Annual CIT Awards Banquet. Who attends?

Each law enforcement agency is invited to participate. In Memphis and Shelby County this includes: • Memphis Police Precincts: • Airways Precinct • Appling Precinct • Mt. Moriah Precinct • Old Allen Precinct • Raines Precinct • Ridgeway Precinct • South Main Precinct • Tillman Precinct • Union Precinct Airport Police Bartlett Police Collierville Police Germantown Millington Police Shelby County Sheriff’s Department Shelby County Jail Shelby County Corrections University of Memphis Campus Police University of Tennessee Campus Police Veterans Administration Police

Each law enforcement agency that participates designates a “CIT Officer of the Year”. Due to its size, Memphis PD designates a “Precinct CIT Officer of the Year” for each precinct. The overall “CIT Officer of the Year” for Memphis is selected from the Precinct CIT Officers of the Year by a committee consisting of NAMI staff and volunteers working with the CIT Coordinator for Memphis PD and several other MPD representatives,. Officers with 10, 15, and 20 years of continuous service as CIT Officers are identified by each agency participating in the banquet. These officers are also recognized at the banquet.

The past few years there has also been an award for a Memphis Police Departments CIT Officer with less than 1 year of experience, the Burl Gilliland Award. Dr. Burl Gilliland was one of the founders of the CIT movement and had a profound influence on the program, its core values, and how it was implemented within the Memphis and Shelby County community. NAMI Memphis is planning on expanding the Burl Gilliland Award to all participating Law Enforcement Agencies.

This potentially comes to: 12 CIT Officers of the Year Awards 9 Precinct Officers of the Year Awards 12 Burl Gilliland CIT Rookie of the Year Awards ?? 10 years of continuous service ?? 15 years of continuous service ?? 20 years of continuous service

NAMI Memphis provides free tickets to each officer receiving an Officer of the Year Award, the Burl Gilliland Award, or a Continuous Service Award. Free tickets are provided for the immediate family members of each of these officers. Free tickets are provided for three command staff of each officer. We also provide free tickets to each Chief of Police for the various local agencies, the Director of the Memphis Police Department, and the Shelby County Sherriff. Free tickets are also provided for the local and County mayors. NOTE: Memphis PD likes to have 4-5 additional Chiefs attend. There is usually a sponsorship by the Memphis Police Association which more than covers any ticket costs not covered.

NAMI Memphis also provides tickets and reserved tables for sponsors of the event. Either 8 or 16 depending on the size of the sponsorship. Tickets are available for advance purchase as well to other officers, mental health professionals, extended family of the officers, NAMI Members, consumers, and the general public should they choose to attend, etc. Once you have an approximate estimate of how many will be attending, you should look for a suitable venue to meet your needs for the number attending, and cost of the meal. Make sure you talk to people who have eaten at events there and have good comments about the food. NAMI Memphis has found that Churches are more open to sponsoring our event, and more reasonable in cost, than local hotels. Find a venue that can accommodate the number of individuals you anticipate attending and……. BOOK YOUR DATE!

CIT AWARDS BANQUET PICKING A DATE Once you have your venue, you can check on the availability of the dates you are considering. The availability of your location to accommodate your event will largely determine when you will hold your Banquet. However, there are other considerations as well.

CIT AWARDS BANQUET PICKING A DATE You will need several months lead time to allow for visiting law enforcement agencies and soliciting their participation in the event, as well as for soliciting sponsors. You will need to allow for a date and time to accommodate your schedule, that of your employees (if you are lucky enough to have some), and your volunteers. Remember, there will be a LOT of work to do the day of the event. Choose a date that fits these guidelines, is available at your venue, and does not conflict with a major local event.

CIT AWARDS BANQUET PLANNING THE MEAL • What will your meal consist of? • What to serve? • Sit down dinner or buffet? • If you have a buffet, will some things • already be on the table? (salad, rolls, • desert) • Head table or no? • Beverages

CIT AWARDS BANQUET What Will Your Meal Consist Of? Things to consider: Vegetarians, Religious Restrictions, Allergies It is almost impossible to accommodate everyone’s dietary restrictions with a small menu and limited budget. Chicken is usually a safe choice for meat eaters and if you have vegetables and salad the vegetarians will usually be happy.

CIT AWARDS BANQUET CHICKEN? It’s Not NAMI Chicken Anymore. NAMI Members will know what we’re talking about here. Almost every NAMI function serves chicken. But chicken doesn’t have to be just “plain old chicken”. Chicken can be YUMMY! Talk to your venue, chicken can have a variety of delicious toppings: spinach and artichokes, cheese and mushrooms, cream sauce, barbecue sauce, the options can be endless.

The 2012 Menu: • Chicken with Spinach, Artichoke, Breadcrumb and Parmesan Topping • Stir fried fresh vegetable mix of zucchini, summer squash, onion, and • multi-colored peppers • Green Beans with garlic and onion • Roasted potatoes • Spring mix salad with strawberries and homemade strawberry vinaigrette • Rolls and butter • Homemade Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Cream Cheese Icing • Homemade Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting • Homemade Apple Cobbler and Vanilla Ice Cream • Unsweetened Iced Tea and Sweet Tea • Lemonade • Coffee

CIT AWARDS BANQUET Buffet? Seated Dinner? Head Table? In the past we have had buffets, seated dinners, a head table, no head table, a head table with seated dinner and a buffet for the rest of the attendees. In short, we have done it all at one time or other. What we have found is that a buffet works best for everyone. BUT….. We have found that letting the head table go first, and the rest of the attendees go after in pre-determined groups works best for the following reasons:

Having the head table go first allows the speakers and MC to finish eating before the rest of the attendees. This allows the Awards Program to start while the remaining attendees are having coffee and dessert and helps keep the time of the event down to a more comfortable length. Dividing the remaining tables into groups which go to the buffet at staggered times helps eliminate long standing times in line and facilitates a smoother process of being able to go to the buffet, get your food, and make your way back to your table. We typically have two or three buffet lines and at least two drink stations given the size of our event. It is helpful to have the salad, rolls, and desserts already on the tables as well but it is not necessary.

Who Sits at the Head Table? • Your Host/Hostess – In our case both the NAMI President and the Treasurer have shared • this function for the past several years, previously we had an Executive Director who • performed this task • Your Master of Ceremonies • Your Guest Speaker • Your local Mayors • The Chief/Director/Sherriff of each local law enforcement agency • Any special guests

CIT AWARDS BANQUET The Trophies Depending on your local law enforcement structures and size, you may find yourself in the position that NAMI Memphis is in with Memphis PD where we do a “Precinct CIT Officer of the Year” for each precinct and then an overall “CIT Officer of the Year”. If not, you will have one less layer of Trophies to be concerned with.

CIT AWARDS BANQUET The Trophies Continuous Years of Service Awards – smaller than your Officer of the Year Awards. Ours are Acrylic with a blue tint on the bottom which reflects up and we have them mounted on a blue acrylic base. They are engraved with “CIT Continuous Years of Service”, the number of years, Officer’s name, and the year of the Banquet (ex. 2012). Precinct Officer of the Year Awards – larger than the Continuous Years of Service Awards. Ours are clear acrylic with a Rosewood Base. They are engraved with “CIT Officer of the Year”, the Precinct name, the Officer’s name, and the year of the Banquet (ex. 2012).

CIT AWARDS BANQUET The Trophies CIT Officer of the Year Awards – larger than the Precinct Officer of the Year Awards. Ours are lighted clear acrylic with a Rosewood Base. They are engraved with “CIT Officer of the Year”, the law enforcement agency’s name, the Officer’s name, and the year of the Banquet (ex. 2012). NOTE: We have also used a clear acrylic with a Rosewood Base and a clock set into the acrylic in some past years.

CIT AWARDS BANQUET Cost of the Trophies Continuous Years of Service Precinct CIT Officers of the Year CIT Officers of the Year

CIT AWARDS BANQUET • The Master of Ceremonies • There are a number of possibilities for beginning your search for an MC. In the past we have had a variety of individuals serve as our MC. Some options which proved successful for our event have been: • Local news personalities (Radio or Television) • Local mental health figures (ex. Executive Director of a local State Mental Health • Institute) • Local Politicians • Local Attorneys, District Attorneys, Judges who advocate for the mentally ill or • involved in a jail diversion program such as Memphis’ Jericho Project, or mental • health court • Other ideas?

CIT AWARDS BANQUET • The Speaker • Just as with finding your MC, there are a number of possibilities for beginning your search for a speaker. In the past we have had a variety of individuals serve as our speaker. Some options which proved successful for our event have been: • Founders of the original CIT Program • Well known NAMI advocates involved in advocating for CIT across the nation • State Politicians known for their advocacy on mental health issues • State Commissioner of Mental Health • Other ideas?

CIT AWARDS BANQUET • INCENTIVES • Allow for graduated sponsorship levels • Make sure you offer larger incentives for those sponsoring at higher levels • Some incentives will cost you nothing – ex. reserved seating • Some incentives will have no up front cost to you, will decrease your profit, but the • sponsorship will cover the cost – ex. free tickets • Some incentives will have a minimal cost or no cost but will motivate sponsors to • fund at higher levels – ex. Free advertising (name and/or logo in website)

INCENTIVES FOR SPONSORS

INCENTIVES • Bronze Level Sponsor $800.00 • Reserved Table Seating for 8 • 8 tickets at will call desk • Sponsorship Listing on Program and Website for event sponsorship for 1 year

INCENTIVES • Silver Level Sponsor $1,500.00 • Reserved Table Seating for 8 • 8 tickets at will call desk • Sponsorship Listing on Program and NAMI Memphis website for 1 year • Logo included on Website for event sponsorship • Commemorative Plate with Company Logo hand painted by local consumer artist • NAMI Memphis tote bag for each guest at reserved table seating

Fundraising Through Development of a CIT Awards Program