Proposed Sponsorship Mandate
1) To serve as an investment in our Resort Tax collection practices, by supporting experiences that can verify Tourism initiatives with large hotel room blocks or confirmed tourist attendance.
2) To serve as a marketing / branding initiative by supporting experiences that place Miami Beach on the international stage via partnership and media / PR exposure.
3) To serve as a way to engage with our residents and act as a key component in their welfare by providing unique and engaging experiences that increase their quality of life.
4) To expose residents and tourists to greater Cultural experiences that would otherwise not take place without financial support.
In order to achieve the above, the Tourism and Culture Department would like to further elaborate on our existing guidelines, by implementing further considerations which will include:
1) Update definition of sponsorship
2) Mayor and Commission Discretionary Fund totaling $100,000.
3) Sponsorship Score Card
4) Sponsorship Term Limits
5) Sponsorship Step Down
6) Sponsorship Financial Limit
1) Sponsorship Definition:
A sponsorship will be considered any cash payment to an applicant via this process, but will also include Special Event Permit Fee Waivers, as well as rental waivers for use of City of Miami Beach properties (Miami Beach Convention Center, Fillmore Miami Beach or the Colony Theater).
2) Mayor and Commission Discretionary Fund:
In an attempt to allow the Mayor and Commission more ability to sponsor the experiences they feel are important to our community, the administration recommends implementing a discretionary fund for each of the Mayor and Commissioners, which will allow them to support any event requesting cash sponsorships or fee waivers between $0 and $25,000 dollars.
Event producers would be able to interact directly with the Office of the Mayor and Commission in order to secure this support, which will alleviate significant time (estimated over 100 hours of administration time is spent each year on executing sponsorships and fee waivers of less than $25,000.00).
The administration recommends allocations as per the below:
o Mayor - $50,000.00 fund
o Commissioners - $25,000 fund x 6 Commissioners
§Total - $200,000.00 budgeted sponsorship dollars and fee waivers for smaller, community-based events.
Once these funds were exhausted, applicants would need to go through the CAC or the VCA to receive support for sponsorships under $25,000.00 as the administration would recommend that sponsorships, or in-kind donations of less than $25,000.00 be covered by the Cultural Arts Council (CAC) and the Visitor and Convention Authority (VCA).
This discretionary funds would allow the Mayor and Commission to give out multiple sponsorships in smaller allotments to deserving organizations and producers, without taking up significant Commission, FCWPC, Administration, City Attorney and Clerk’s Office time preparing agenda items, agreements, etc., for minimal sponsorship amounts.
To outline the time savings, on average, a sponsorship item of less than $25,000.00 takes appx 8-12 hours of Tourism and Culture administration time to execute:
Researching initial agenda item
· 3-5 hours (calls, emails, company research)
Preparing Commission Agenda Item
· 60 minutes (writing, revising)
Preparing / Presenting Committee Agenda Item
· 2-3 hours
Preparing / Presenting Final Commission Item
· 30-60 minutes (if no revisions required from Committee)
Execution of Item
· 2-3 hours (calls with entity to inform of Commission decisions, writing contract / agreements, revisions, execution of contract).
Total: 8 – 12 hours per item
The above discretionary funds would allow the Mayor and Commission to sponsor worthy community initiatives in a much more timely manner.
3) Sponsorship Score Card:
For all sponsorships $25,000 or greater, applicants would submit proposals between March and June for the following year (Example: if funding is needed for an event between October 1 2020, and September 30, 2021, an applicant would need to apply by July 2020 to be considered as part of the FY 20/21 budget process).
This sponsorship score card clearly outlines the initiatives of the City of Miami Beach as it pertains to event sponsorship via our Sponsorship Mandate and will score applications accordingly to ensure they meet the guidelines of funding through a municipal government.
In order to qualify for funding (either cash sponsorships or fee waivers) via the City of Miami Beach Sponsorship, you must meet the following criteria:
1) Have applied to the CAC or VCA for funding. If funding was denied, then the applicant could qualify for a CMB Sponsorship with proof of denial, however, if funding was received via the VCA or CAC, the applicant would not be considered for a cash sponsorship, but WOULD be eligible for fee waivers.
2) All applicants for a City of Miami Beach sponsorship in excess of $25,000 would need to identify a 1 to 1 corporate sponsor match in a value equal to or greater than the amount being requested (this includes fee waivers).
a) If the entity is not able to clearly identify a 1 to 1 match, via signed contracts or a Letter of Intent with a corporate sponsor(s), the administration would recommend that this is not an event the City should be sponsoring, or that the applicant has not done the legwork required to produce a successful event.
b) The 1 to 1 match cannot be a sponsorship, or in-kind donations from the CAC, VCA, City of Miami or Miami-Dade County – it must be a private entity.
c) The City of Miami Beach should not be the sole supporter of any event, unless that event is being produced by a City of Miami Beach department (Tourism and Culture, Parks and Recreation, etc.)
3) The applicant must submit their request in writing to the Director - Tourism and Culture. The administration recommends that sponsorship requests come directly to the office of Tourism and Culture for initial consultation rather than being placed directly on an agenda, to ensure that agenda items have been vetted and approved by the administration.
As part of this written request, the applicant will be required to clearly outline their request, with dollar amounts and clear explanations on how the money will be spent. No cash sponsorship from the City of Miami Beach can be spent on event infrastructure such as staging, barricades or security. Cash sponsorships must be spent on items that will enhance attendee experience (entertainment / programming, art installations, rides, etc.).
Example Sponsorship Request:
Cash Sponsorship - $50,000
$25,000 – Main Stage Performer
$15,000 – Site Performers (acrobats)
$10,000 – Art Installation
Fee Waivers - $48,000
Based on last year’s actuals.
Total Sponsorship Request - $98,000
The Tourism and Culture department will verify if this is a viable ask and will work with the applicant to alter any necessary requests.
Once the above has been submitted and approved, the administration will score the applicant via the "City of Miami Beach Sponsorship Score Card".
Should an applicant not be able to fulfill any of the above requirements, the Tourism and Culture Department would notify the applicant that their application is incomplete and no further processing can take place. Should an application remain incomplete, it would be considered null and void and no further action would be taken.
Score Card:
Successful applicants would be required to fill out the attached "City of Miami Beach Sponsorship Score Card" which adjudicates applications based on the following criteria (further explanation of each criteria can be found in attachment "Score Card Explanations".
Proof of 501(c)3 status
Length of Event (incentive to get producers to shorten load in / load out times)
History of Event
Hotel Room Blocks
Attendance (Local, National, International)
Resident Discount
Community Benefits (Education, Small Business, Seniors, Veterans)
Marketing / PR Exposure
Utilization of Multiple CMB Venues
Name / Brand Exposure
The administration recommends that no sponsorships be pursued from applications who score less than 65% of this score card, as it would be seen as the funds not going to worthy experiences as set forth in our Sponsorship Mandate. Applicants would be notified of their score, and would be given the chance to increase their score for each of the line items above to become more in line with the CMB sponsorship initiatives (more hotels, international marketing campaign, etc.).
Based on the score received from the Sponsorship Score Card, applicants would be able to received that percentage of their Sponsorship request:
Example: As per the example above, an approved applicant is requesting the following:
a. Cash Sponsorship - $50,000
b. Fee Waivers - $48,000
Total request - $98,000.00
After completing the sponsorship score card, the applicant received a 72% rating. The applicant could not receive more than 72% of their ask ($98,000.00 x 72% = $70,560.00*).
*That dollar amount is not guaranteed, it is just a quantifiable method to prove the highest amount that could be possibly awarded to this event.
4) Sponsorship Term Limit
No sponsorship agreement can exceed a five-year term and in order to be eligible for a five-year term, the event must have been produced within Miami Beach for at least five years prior to the application. All sponsorship contracts, no matter the term or dollar amount must include verbiage that requires an audit of post event data as per the Sponsorship Score Card, before the next year’s funding can be approved.
If a sponsorship is for a multi-year agreement, the applicant must prove, via audited statements, that all targets and goals were hit. If not, the administration reserves the right to re-evaluate the score, and reduce the sponsorship or cancel the agreement all together.
5) Sponsorship Step Down
All cash sponsorships must have a step down over the course of their duration equal to the number of years agreed to. Example: a $25,000 sponsorship over 5 years would have the following step down:
Year 1 - $25,000
Year 2 - $20,000
Year 3 - $15,000
Year 4 - $10,000
Year 5 - $5,000
Applicants who have been producing their events for a minimum of five (5) years within Miami Beach and who maintain a minimum sponsorship score card of 90% every year via verified documents, can be considered to continue their funding without the required step down. These will be on a case by case basis to ensure our best events continue to receive support.
6) Sponsorship Financial Limit
In FY 18/19, the City of Miami Beach has sponsored events (cash sponsorships and permit fee waivers) out of the Resort Tax Fund in the amount of $1,503.000.00. Note: this does not include $680,500.00 in City Wide Sponsorships and Grants that are administered through other departments (MDPL Grant, Boys and Girls Club, etc.)
The administration recommends that a sponsorship limit of $1,000,000.00 - $1,500,000.00 be set and that the administration not be allowed to sponsor or waive fees in excess of that amount to ensure fiscal responsibility of City dollars.
The administration believes that the above methods will help to manage the funds being spent and will force applicants to prove their worth and step up their approach to producing and promoting events in the City of Miami Beach, which will only have a beneficial outcome on:
WHY THIS WILL WORK:
1) Resort Tax Collection:
a. Proper use of sponsorship funds will increase Resort Tax Collection by ensuring we are supporting events that will bring tourists to our city, and fill hotel rooms.
b. Economic Impact on local businesses and cultural institutions through increased tourism will also be recognized.
2) Miami Beach Brand Equity:
a. Supporting High Quality events with international marketing reach, will only increase the way in which the world sees Miami Beach, and will help increase tourism year-round.
3) Resident Quality of Life:
a. Supporting experiences that our residents want to attend.
b. Supporting experiences that put tourists in hotel rooms, which will help to calm traffic and parking issues, as attendees will be able to explore our city on foot rather than by driving.
4) Cultural Exposure
a. Sponsoring Cultural events will expose more residents and tourists to experiences they would otherwise not be able to attend within the City of Miami Beach.