Part of the process, raising funds

When I first started working with Stuart Hamilton, AKA Goal Guru, we set out some aggressive goals from physical, mental, score, technique and financial standpoints.  Almost a year after our inaugural conversation, Stuart and I were plotting out progress points a couple of weeks ago and he mentioned that my financial goals were falling behind.  I figured that out of all of the goals the financials are the least important as the goal of the project is to become a world class athlete, but he reminded me that it is important to address each piece of the puzzle in order to be successful.

Unsolicited, three days ago Stuart emailed me a guest blog piece encouraging followers to reach out and help.  I thought about whether or not to post it for a couple of days and have decided that it’s best to let Stuart say what he has to say.  All of the support to date has been amazing and kept the project floating and I truly appreciate everything.  This is a team effort and I am lucky to have such an awesome one pushing me along.

Stuart has helped keep me on track in all of my goals and now is trying to get me back on line with my financial goals.  I appreciate everything he does as well as all of the readers out there.  The third anniversary of The Dan Plan is approaching, as is tournament season, and it’s going to be a great year.  Stay tuned for a lot of exciting stuff in 2013!

“””When Dan canvassed the community for what they would like additional detail on, there seemed to be two main themes: more video and more information about finances.

As part of the process of running The Dan Plan as a program, it means we get to make sure that all aspects of this journey are adequately monitored. In one of the first meetings I had with Dan I asked not just about his golfing progress but also fitness, mental strength, and finances. Regarding finances, it turns out Dan is a cheap date! He doesn’t need much but he does need some assistance to fund the long term stability of The Dan Plan.

Right now, there seems to be three avenues for funding this remarkable experiment.

• Direct donation
• Corporate sponsorship
• Speaking engagements

There may be other avenues to follow but these seem the three that best align with the overall aim of the program. That’s not to say that if “Dancing With The Stars” came calling, I’m guessing Dan might consider it!

Firstly, donations – There is a “Donate” button on the website where people can directly fund The Dan Plan. While you may think a $50 donation may not be great, this is a sizable funding help, especially if enough people were to contribute. $50 would almost fund the program for a day.

Corporate sponsorship – Dan is already in discussions with companies that might fund the program. Some companies have given equipment and support, but there has been little progress in direct funding.

Speaking Engagements – This can be quite lucrative. Ten years ago when I was consulting at a company they would get in “motivational speakers” through an agency that had a lot of interesting (though not necessarily famous) speakers on their books. I believe the lowest cost was about $7000 per engagement. The lower level workers got one of these speakers. However, the VPs and above got Lew Holtz, the former college football coach to raise their spirits. Holtz cost 10 times as much!

When you are looking for a job, the most important advice you will be (repeatedly) told is “Use your network”. The Network is incredibly powerful since it multiplies your effort out through so many channels. Now that I am trying to broaden the financial support for Dan’s journey, I’d like to ask this network for some help.  I would like to ask the community to think if there are opportunities that they can assist in getting “The Dan Plan” Corporate sponsorship or a Speaking engagement. I’ve tried myself; I know my old client has an annual sales kickoff to about 500 people and they always get in a keynote speaker to gin up the troops. They usually look for something a bit original (2012 was an artist that put on a good show) but this year they fell back on a fairly pedestrian choice. I think it is just hard to continually come up with an interesting speaker. That is where Dan comes in!  As we know, his story is interesting, motivational, and intriguing because it is still happening. I’ve asked this company to consider Dan for the 2014 Sales Kickoff. May happen, may not, and is why we need the network to provide as many opportunities as possible and hope that some will come to fruition.

I feel we are all passengers on this remarkable journey, and if we could extend ourselves for Dan, it will be enormously helpful in seeing this program go the distance. Please reach out to any corporate contacts that you know that might be interested in having Dan speak about the journey so far, the ethos of hard work, and the life lessons the Plan has taught him. Regarding corporate sponsorship, Dan’s story is only going to get bigger so getting in now might be a good tactical decision.  Perhaps sponsorship would include Dan coming to the company and doing some demo or clinic.

In fact, as I was writing this blog post I wondered how I could do more to advance the reach (and thereby finances) of The Dan Plan, so I just submitted Dan’s name to be a TED speaker! (TED is the globally famous organization that showcases the most interesting and innovative individuals that are out there.)

I hope “The Dan Army” gets some hits and Dan will be journeying to your company soon. Good luck!

Stuart”””