Destination Imagination® is a global educational non-profit that teaches the creative process to 200,000 students from pre-K to university level each year. Our program takes place across 48 states and more than 30 countries – including Canada, Turkey, Guatemala, Poland, China, Qatar, Brazil and Singapore. Each year it reaches a global audience of students, educators, families and volunteers of some 500,000 people; with local and national media exposure adding a multiple of that number. Motorola, IBM, Disney, Staples, PCG Education, and 3M are among the current global sponsors of Destination Imagination, Inc. In addition, Destination Imagination recently signed a four-year Space Act contract with NASA.
Destination Imagination of New York, Inc. (NYDI) is the New York affiliate of Destination Inc., and is responsible for marketing and operating the Destination Imagination program throughout the state of New York. The program has existed here in New York for over 20 years.
NYDI is offering up to 5 statewide sponsorships to Universities and Corporations for our 2016-17 season.
If you want to get right to the sponsorship itself, please see Section IV , below.
I. Who Destination Imagination reaches:
Student participants in Destination Imagination are highly conceptual and inventive thinkers typically bound for four-year colleges, post-graduate degrees and the highly skilled segment of our workforce. They come from increasingly diverse households from low income to high-income professionals who are highly educated in their own right and achievers in their respective workplaces.
Parents, Siblings, Teachers and School District Administrators tend to be highly involved and committed to the Destination Imagination program, in support of the student problem solvers who participate in this highly unusual program.
All in all, Destination Imagination in New York reaches an audience of students, families, educators and a volunteer network in New York State of roughly 5000 people. Each is exposed to our program materials, website and outbound communications multiple times during the year. Our ambition is to expand the program dramatically, doubling the number of participants, school districts and supporters in the next 5 years.
II. Our Central Activity: Problem Solving Tournaments
Our central activity each year is a series of local, state and international tournaments where student teams present competitive challenge solutions before a panel of appraisers and large audiences. There are seven new DI Challenges to choose from each year, each developed by a team of educators and industry experts who target a particular area of curriculum and the related standards of content and performance. The areas of focus include: Technical, Scientific, Fine Arts, Improvisational, Structural and Service Learning. There is also a non-competitive Early Learning Challenge that allows kids to build social and problem solving skills. The solutions to these mind-bending problems must be team created, with no assistance from adults. Teams presenting solutions for the Service Learning Challenge, our newest Challenge, take on ‘live’ problems in the realms of healthcare, food supply, education and communications, for example, that beg for new thinking and action.
In solving our Challenges, teams learn important 21st century skills that will prepare them for a brilliant future. Students have fun and gain confidence in their ability to solve any challenge.
III. Non-Profit Status:
Destination Imagination Of New York, Inc. operates exclusively for charitable, educational or other purposes permitted within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code.
IV. Our Statewide Sponsorships:
We are offering up to 5 statewide sponsorships of Destination Imagination of New York in the 2014-15 season, including 2 Universities and 3 Prominent Corporations. Our main sponsorship criterion is a strong commitment to the quality of education, the quality workforce and the strength of the economy of New York State.
We take our state sponsors with us wherever we go:
- Our website: http://www.nydi.org
- Live tournaments that take place locally and at the state level
- Specific New York Destination Imagination merchandise sold throughout the year
- Exhibit booths at several conferences which we attend each year, including educational conferences and Maker Faire (subject to any constraints specified by the conference organizers)
Moreover, we lend the Destination Imagination name and logo to sponsor websites for Corporate Communication purposes, events and press opportunities they might have during the year.
IV. Sponsorship Levels & Objectives:
Our Sponsorships were developed with dedicated purposes in mind: They either help us meet an immediate operational need, or they invest in expanding the impact of Destination Imagination and creative problem solving within the State. Each level of sponsorship is, to some degree, able to be tailored to particular needs of the sponsor organization:
Sponsorship |
Purpose |
Features |
Cost ($) |
Tournament Site Sponsor |
Underwrite the cost of running one of our 2 local tournaments or our state tournament |
|
100% of site costs OR Host our Tournament at your facility |
New Team Scholarship(Named for Sponsor) |
Underwrite the cost of new team registration fees; especially to diversify program reach |
|
$3500 |
Premiere Sponsor(Named for Sponsor) |
Expand NYDI conference schedule across the state of New York; raise awareness of Destination Imagination among education & workforce influencers |
|
$5500 |
V. Who to Contact:
Destination Imagination inspires and equips students to become the next generation of innovators and leaders. We hope that your organization will take action and become a Destination Imagination of New York sponsor – helping us to bring this amazing program to more students throughout New York.
To get started, or for further information, please contact our Affiliate Director:
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