Chamber Income Generation A Private Chamber Perspective

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Chamber Income Generation A Private
Chamber Perspective
Czech Republic Prague, Plzen 6th to 11th June 2004

• Presentation by
• Peter Byrne MSc Business Mgn (Organisational
  Behaviour) BSc, Dip Mkt, Dip Finance.
• Chief Executive Officer
• South Dublin Chamber of Commerce

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Chamber Income Generation

• Youre a Chamber of Commerce You Must Have
  Money
• (This is a popular and widely held misbelieve)

www.sdchamber.ie
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Chamber Income Generation

• The Following Reasons,
• Are Often Put Forward For Not Getting Funding
• It competes with our member companies
• We have no expertise in this area
• It was done before and did not work
• I heard those activities dont raise money
• We cannot ask assistance again
• Thats the Governments Job
• Other organisations are better at that

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Chamber Income Generation Roadblocks
Pitfalls

• Other Points Put Forward
• We are more focused on raising money than on
  looking after our members.
• New funding projects are central not our Mission.
• We are in debt to the funder and cannot now be
  independent.
• We are so busy raising money that we are not
  carrying out activities.
• I did not join this organisation to be raising
  money I want to be a Captain of Industry.

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Chamber Income Generation Exercise 1.
Please consider aforementioned statements and in
groups of four identify the ones you have
encountered and outline their effects. Feedback
Discussion
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Chamber Income Generation Driving lesson How
to get around Roadblocks avoid
Pitfalls.
I will now outline some of the Income
Generation methods employed by Private Chambers
and discuss with you some ways they have used
these to achieve success. Remember Private
Chambers receive no direct subsidy from
Government for their operation.
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Chamber Income GenerationThe Old Reliable's

• Annual Dinner/Gala Ball/Corporate Lunch
• - Sponsorship of the event- Sponsorship of
  speakers- Sponsorship of wine/food- Sponsorship
  of menus/music/backdrops- Auction donations
• What does the sponsor get how to keep everyone
  happy?

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Chamber Income GenerationThe Old Reliable's

• Publications - Newsletters, Annual Reports,
  Directories, Diaries.- Seek Advertising Do it
  yourself or contract out.- What are the real
  costs publishing, design, printing, postage-
  Will it ever be read, whats its value? - Get it
  sponsored or create a joint venture with a
  member?- Stand out from the crowd sell or
  freebeeSome comments made by people about their
  publicationsWe have a little committee that
  looks after that The editor has not changed in
  many years he said he is doing a great job
  

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Chamber Income GenerationThe Old Reliable's
Membership Subscriptions - Direct Debit,
Annual Membership, Rolling Collection (getting
the money in).- Annual Increase or Increase in
line with Inflation. (no increase going
backwards)- Good Database key to Membership
Management.- What do I get for my membership
selling the product.- What does the Chamber do
with all that money?- Increasing your fee and
numbers some approaches
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Chamber Income GenerationThe Old Reliable's
Patrons/Corporate Members - Higher Income can
be less work in supporting these members.- Why
do they join for twice/triple the fee?- Selling
the Chambers Community/Business Role.- Exclusive
Club of Players.- Altruistic generosity.-
Corporate Social Responsibility/Corporate
Governance.
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Chamber Income GenerationThe Old Reliable's
Donations- Office furniture, equipment
supplies.- Employee secondment.- Money, Shares
Bonds. Is it possible to use member companies
offices to host events. Beneficial as it should
have little or no cost and it lets everyone see
how good that member Is. For the member they get
to highlight their product/services.
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Chamber Income GenerationThe Old Reliable's

• Affinity Deals
• Buying as a large corporation of SMEs
• Some areas that affinity deals could be
  considered in include
• Insurance both personal and company.
• Computer IT equipment and services.
• Telecommunications.
• Health Services
• Recreation
• Transport
• Issues How do I tell some members that the new
  affinity deal competes with their business? What
  if the deal does not deliver? What if problems
  arise with the deal? What if the company walks
  away?

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Chamber Income GenerationThe Old Reliable's
Partnerships It can often be beneficial for the
Chamber to enter into a partnership.
PossiblePartnerships might be assisting students
further their studies. This type of
Schools/Business Partnership is helping both the
finances and the young people in the
area. Partnerships may exist with local Hotels in
promoting tourism or at the national level with
the National Tourism Board in promoting the
country as a whole. Issues to be considered In
every partnership we are all equal just some are
a little more equal than others. Maintaining your
independence in the partnership is important.
Ensuring the parts remains stronger than the sum
is critical!
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Chamber Income GenerationGovernment Funding

• They dont fund us but we do take their money
• The following are ways in which Private Chambers
  access money from the
• Government
• Provision of Training In many cases the Chamber
  has access to sectors of business that the
  Government agencies cannot reach.
• They can often operate on an economy of scale and
  with a flexibilitythat State sector providers
  cannot.
• It is often more acceptable for funding to be
  channelled through a Chamber than a purely
  private enterprise.
• Training often covers the following
  areasE-Commerce Communication
• Starting your own Business Finance Accounting

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Chamber Income GenerationGovernment Funding

• Training continued
• Am I competing with my members. Am I providing a
  service that is needed
• and what are the implications for my
  organisational structure.
• Alternate Funding
• Other sources can be related to Government
  bureaucracy for example
• Certificates of Origin or Quality Control Marks
  or Produced locally symbols.
• Providing Services for the Government
• Meeting facilities for local companies.
• Operating on their behalf for Advice
  Information Services.
• Providing an Arbitration service on behalf of the
  State.
• Acting as anEmployment referral service,
  subcontracting on behalf of the Government,
  services, such as Street Cleaning or Security.

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Chamber Income Generation

• Alternate Funding continued
• Organising Festivals and activities such as the
  Christmas lights for the town.
• Organising Trade Fairs Exchanges.
• Chamber Employees on Government Employment
  Schemes the quick fix or the long term solution.
• Some Questions
• Can I still challenge the state if the state is
  now a primary funder?
• Is it a level playing field if the Chamber is
  State subsidised and our members providing the
  same service are not?
• Are we dependent on the State to survive and is
  the provision of theseservices more important
  than our core work?

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Chamber Income Generation

• Its Worth paying for Events
• In many cases the Chamber is the only agency that
  can provide some events
• and for that reason people are often willing to
  pay. These can include
• Networking Events such as Human Resources
  Managers Forum providing networking, key note
  speakers and Resources. The possibilities here
  are quite large they include IT Managers Forum,
  Hotel Network, Distribution Managers Forum etc.
• Golf Classic A chance for members to enjoy a
  game of golf at the companies expense whilst
  supporting the chamber. Funds available from this
  event include Green Fees, sponsorship and
  donation of prizes so the raffle is an extra
  contribution.

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Chamber Income Generation
A Case Study South Dublin Chamber of
Commerce SDCC How a Private Chamber Generates
Revenue Property Company Membership
Fees Events Services
Sponsorship Training
www.sdchamber.ie
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Chamber Income Generation Exercise 2.
In different groups of four , outline your key
source of funding and explore what possibilities
exist for your Chamber to generate more
funding. Feedback, Clarification Discussion
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Chamber Income GenerationProblem?
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Chamber Income GenerationChallenge?
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Chamber Income GenerationSummary
Today we have examined the main ways in which
Private Chambers raisemoney. We have explored
the barriers or roadblocks to the success of
these ventures and examined some of the solutions
to these. In groups we have expanded these
concepts to see if they work for our own Chamber
and reflected on what barriers might be
encountered in achieving success in this area. In
conclusion I would like to wish you success in
your venture in Income Generation.
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