As you can imagine, I could talk about a Total Resource Campaign (TRC) until ‘the cows come home,’ as the old adage goes. I could tell you about how TRCs focus on sponsorships, are led by volunteers from the business community, and invite businesses from across your community – both large and small – to participate in greater depth in the life of your chamber.

But today, in the midst of all that is happening around us, there is one benefit of a TRC that is so powerful that it cannot be overlooked.

If a chamber held a TRC in 2019 for 2020, that chamber’s entire budget for 2020 would already be funded. Money would already be in hand for all of 2020.

Think about that for just a moment.

If a chamber held a TRC in 2019 for 2020, that chamber’s entire budget for 2020 would already be funded. Money would already be in hand for all of 2020.

That chamber’s staff would certainly be looking at working from home, virtual staff meetings, and conducting board meetings via Zoom or other virtual meeting platforms. They would absolutely be reviewing their calendar to see what initiatives and events should be postponed and which should be pivoted to a virtual environment.

But they would not be frantically trying to determine how they would fund their budget for the remainder of the year in addition to doing those other things.

Total Resource Campaigns serve as strategic planning on a deeper level than what many chambers have done before. That planning allows chambers to have a greater knowledge of their members and community and a renewed sense of their mission. With that, they are better able to make sure their initiatives and events follow their mission.

Through that strategic planning process, chambers offer sponsorships in the TRC that meet the marketing needs of their members and of the businesses in their community. When chambers do that, businesses response enthusiastically. And successful TRCs allow chambers to fund their next year’s budget.

With those fully funded budgets, chambers have the freedom to focus on assisting their members, especially in challenging times like these.

Those chambers who have done TRCs in the past know the financial freedom a TRC can offer. If you are interested in information about how you, too, can conduct a TRC and experience that for your chamber, please contact us at: info@ygmtrc.com.

And yes, it is still possible to conduct a TRC this year, despite the uncertainty around us. We have a plan for a full virtual TRC, and we will be there to walk you through the process if conditions require that.

The TRC is built in such a way that volunteers talk to their business contacts in whatever manner they feel comfortable. Often, they are already dealing with those contacts virtually anyway – via email or text – regardless of the outside circumstances. Moving those volunteers and the campaign to an entirely virtual environment will be more of an effort for the chamber staff than for the volunteers or sponsors. It can be done and done well with a little extra effort on your staff’s part.

And those who have done a TRC in the past know it is well worth the effort. Consider this comment from Amy Britt in Seminole, Okla.

“Doing our TRC in October of last year for 2020 saved us from having to try to ask for donations or cancel events due to lack of funds. TRCs are the best thing we’ve ever done to ensure funding for our next year.”