Sponsorships

[Chance09]

Has anyone looked for sponsorships to help cut the cost or provide something for their thru? I had a friend who suposidly got sponsored by Little Debbie and Hot Wheels (same company or something). I could definitly see how little debbie snack cakes could be appealing to a hiker lol.

I was just wondering what everyone/anyones experience with this was or how they went about it.

I may try and talk my current boss into sponsoring me for a hikes supply of tequila :D. I work for a company that ages their reposado in Jack Daniels casks so its extra tasty. Might make life in the shelter a little more interesting.

[CrumbSnatcher]

Has anyone looked for sponsorships to help cut the cost or provide something for their thru? I had a friend who suposidly got sponsored by Little Debbie and Hot Wheels (same company or something). I could definitly see how little debbie snack cakes could be appealing to a hiker lol.

I was just wondering what everyone/anyones experience with this was or how they went about it.

I may try and talk my current boss into sponsoring me for a hikes supply of tequila :D. I work for a company that ages their reposado in Jack Daniels casks so its extra tasty. Might make life in the shelter a little more interesting.
i think sponsership is ok,but people might not want to keep hearing about it when your on the trail IMO. i wrote to iams dog food once they sent me coupons for 80lbs(i think) of free dog food.

[Chance09]

i think sponsership is ok,but people might not want to keep hearing about it when your on the trail IMO

I had imagined as much. I'd just do some sharing of the tequila and if they asked about i'd be more than happy to share some info. I personally think the whole tequila process is pretty interesting and most people have no idea how much work it takes to make a bottle of tequila.

[Pepper Beard]

What bothers me is when I hear of hikers doing it for "charity"... then using the charity money to cover their own expenses and giving what's left over to "charity". Not just with hikers but with a lot of these cross-country things or stunts..... Or in case of a local man here, he was riding a bicycle for "charity" but also trying to get hotels to give him a free room for the night because he was riding for charity.

And I always notice when these hikes are done for charity, they want you to send the money directly to them or a PO Box, not the actual charity themselves.

I would like to know the stats of those who actually have hiked for a "charity" without using a dime of the money (using their own money) and finishing the thru-hike without yellow blazing.....

[Chance09]

ya i didn't mention anything about doing this for charity, nor have I any intentions of doing this hike for anyone else but myself. I just thought it would be nice to have some free tequila along the way and share it with anyone else interested in enjoying some tequila.

[fiddlehead]

My company gives 20% off on polypro long underwear sometimes for a thru-hike.
You have to somewhat prove that you are serious (to me)

I have been sponsored by: Go-lite, Merrill, and Patagonia for gear. Never money.
My old GF was sponsored by "Cliff Bar" (again no money)

[Cabin Fever]

[quote=Chance09;677524]I had a friend who suposidly got sponsored by Little Debbie and Hot Wheels (same company or something).
[quote]

I don't think they are the same company. Little Debbies are made by McKee Foods in Collegedale, TN - just outside of Chattanooga. I have a friend that works there.

I do agree though - Little Debbies could definitely be appealing on a thru hike. I think I smell a good thread popping up. What is your favorite Little Debbie?

[Mags]

Nowadays, the only way an average thru-hiker can get sponsorship is for charity. If you are not doing something unique (harder and harder to do. E.g.: CDT yo-yo (done!), a serious speed record of a trail, etc.), you probably won't get schwag.

An acquaintance of mine brought up a good point: If you think of the hours people put in to get discounts and/or free gear from companies, they are better off working a part time job for a few months to get their gear. :)

[wilconow]

What bothers me is when I hear of hikers doing it for "charity"... then using the charity money to cover their own expenses and giving what's left over to "charity". Not just with hikers but with a lot of these cross-country things or stunts..... Or in case of a local man here, he was riding a bicycle for "charity" but also trying to get hotels to give him a free room for the night because he was riding for charity.

And I always notice when these hikes are done for charity, they want you to send the money directly to them or a PO Box, not the actual charity themselves.

I would like to know the stats of those who actually have hiked for a "charity" without using a dime of the money (using their own money) and finishing the thru-hike without yellow blazing.....

Ever hear of Team in Training for marathons? Sure, money you donate to them goes to charity.. but it also may cover their travel expenses. wouldn't be more efficient to donate directly to the charity?

http://www.davidhays.net/running/tnt.html
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2004/04/18/run_for_the_money/?page=1

[Kirby]

I met a hiker this year, Pickle, who was hiking unofficially for charity. He had people pledging money per mile or just overall. He told all of them that he would match all the money he raised, which was somewhere around 7,000 dollars. He had the people send the money directly to the charity.

Kirby

[TwoForty]

I had an offer, but it would have affected some of my decisions so I declined.