Hollister Independence Rally President Dave Ventura had a
proposal to increase his role in the Rally. He asked board members
to allow him to lure corporate sponsorship to Hollister’s signature
event
– an idea we have long promoted – and give him a commission for
doing so.
Hollister Independence Rally President Dave Ventura had a proposal to increase his role in the Rally. He asked board members to allow him to lure corporate sponsorship to Hollister’s signature event – an idea we have long promoted – and give him a commission for doing so.
While Ventura’s was a creative idea, and we don’t want to squelch creative thinking, the HIRC board made the right choice by voting against it because it would have created the appearance of a conflict of interest, though not unprecedented, to have a board member making money off the nonprofit event.
Undoubtedly, Ventura has spent a lot of time, energy and passion to making the Rally work year after year. But the ode to the biker spirit and tricked-out hogs walks a financial tightrope. Having a board member use the Rally for financial gain is unseemly for a nonprofit organization that gives to charities whatever cash is left after the bills are paid.
However, since the Rally has a hard time breaking even, Ventura’s proposal is worth considering in a different form. There is no doubt that the event needs to boost corporate sponsorship to bring in more money to secure its future. Ventura said the professional firms hired to do so in recent years have failed to deliver
There should be an open competition to find the best person or company to land corporate sponsors. And, because the Rally’s bottom line and it’s future should be its primary concern, HIRC should set a base amount of sponsorship money that needs to be secured before any commissions are given. That would allow the Rally to cover its bills before profits are made while providing an incentive to sell hard.
If Ventura is serious about selling sponsorships, he should compete for the job. Now that he has told HIRC that he won’t seek another term on the board, we think he would do the job well and would not have a conflict of interest. As Ventura notes, his connections in the biker industry, made over five years of organizing the Rally, give him an edge when it comes to finding sponsorships. And his hard work to make the Rally successful over the years makes it clear he is dedicated to Hollister’s signature event.
The Rally does more to put Hollister on the map than any other single even, and it would be great to end its ongoing financial struggles. If Ventura can help put it on firm financial footing for the future, we would love to see him do so.
