USOF SPONSORSHIP POLICY
The United States Orienteering Federation retains ownership and jurisdiction over its name, championship events, teams, committees and programs. Sponsorship money obtained for any of these properties shall be distributed as follows:
-
75% to the
specific property (team, event, program, project or fund) being sponsored. The
money may be spent on the event itself or designated for another use. A
spending profile for this money must be submitted to the Sponsorship Director.
-
20% to the
USOF’s Operating Fund, with any specific allocation within this Fund to be done
in accordance with the instructions of the USOF Board of Directors.
-
5% to USOF’s
Marketing Fund.
The USOF retains ownership and sponsor jurisdiction over the following events:
-
The
-
The
-
The
-
The
-
The
-
The North
American Orienteering Championships when it is hosted in the
-
any other
national championship events established and sanctioned by the USOF Board of
Directors
The USOF club
successfully bidding on one of these events has won the right to host the
event, not own it. Obtaining sponsors for any of these events shall be the
responsibility of USOF’s Sponsorship Director, or his designate, and that only
he is authorized to enter into a sponsorship agreement for the event. For
championship events, as well as all other areas of the USOF, official
sponsor/supplier status may only be granted by the Sponsorship Director.
The host club of a championship
event receiving money from a sponsor may be required to carry out and pay for
specific duties (such as providing a sponsor hospitality tent, posting sponsor
signage, etc.)
The USOF Board of Directors may
designate other non-championship meets and events, which they intend to retain
ownership of, to be treated in the manner of a championship meet described
above. One example of such an event is the annual USOF Convention.
Non-championship ‘A’ and ‘B’ meets are property owned by an individual club that has received national competitive sanctioning from the USOF Sanctioning Committee. The club running an ‘A’ or ‘B’ meet may seek its own sponsors for the event. Since clubs hosting ‘A’ meets are USOF members, prior to signing any sponsor agreements, it must check with the Sponsorship Director to see that any proposed agreement does not violate any exclusivity rights held by another sponsor. Should another sponsor have an exclusivity or a right of first refusal clause, the Sponsorship Director, or his designate, shall negotiate with that sponsor to determine whether they wish to match or exceed any other offer made to the ‘A’ meet organizers.
International Championship events, such as World Cup events, the World Championships, the World Junior Championships, the World Student Championships, or the Veterans World Cup (in either orienteering or ski-orienteering)- which had been bid on by the United States Orienteering Federation and are, therefore, conducted under its auspices – must have any sponsor agreements approved by the Sponsorship Director, or his designate to avoid any conflicts with the rights of existing/potential USOF sponsors. Should a conflict exist, the Sponsorship Director will offer USOF’s existing sponsor the right to match/exceed the offer presented directly to the event organizers. Should a sponsor found by the USOF designated event organizers wish to sponsor other USOF programs/events/teams as part of a sponsor package, negotiation for all aspects of the agreement outside of the original event itself must be handled by the Sponsorship Director, or his designate. Official sponsor/supplier (of the United States Orienteering Federation) status may only be granted by the Sponsorship Director.
This section of the USOF Sponsor
Policy shall also pertain to any IOF ‘A’ and ‘B’ meets that take place in the
All sponsorship money for
international championship events shall be divided in accordance with USOF’s
standard formula.
The following teams are the jurisdiction of USOF and remain
their sponsor property:
-
The
-
The A, B, and
C squads of the United States Orienteering Team
-
The
-
The
-
Teams
designated and fielded by the USOF to compete at the World Championships, World
Cup events, World Junior Championships, World Student Championships, Veterans
World Cup or any other international event in orienteering or ski-orienteering
Sponsors/suppliers
for these teams shall be sought by the Sponsorship Director, or his designate.
Team members and supporters are welcome to help in the sponsor search. Any
sponsor offered to or obtained by a team or one of its members/supporters must
be approved by the Sponsorship Director, who is the only one authorized to
enter into a sponsor agreement on behalf of a USOF team or one of its members.
(This is to prevent an individual’s sponsorship from conflicting with
existing/potential sponsor agreements of the USOF.)
Sponsor money obtained for USOF
teams shall (if not specified by the sponsor) be divided according to the USOF’s
sponsorship formula. The specific team’s portion may be spent by that team in
accordance with the team plan approved annually by the USOF Board of Directors.
In order to assure this, expenditures of sponsor money by a specific team must
be pre-approved by at least two of the following: the Vice
President-Competition, the Executive Director and the Sponsorship Director – as
well as the Administrator of that team.
The division of funding by a sponsor
of the USOF who wishes to sponsor individual team members shall be negotiated
by the Sponsorship Director, or his designate, with the sponsor.
USOF member clubs seeking sponsorship for local events or club programs, are asked to check with Sponsorship Director prior to entering any agreements. This enables him to keep up to date with regional sponsor activity, advise the club of any potential conflicts with USOF’s sponsors, and to otherwise assist the club in their efforts.
Committees, Programs, Projects, etc.
The Sponsorship Director, or his designate, shall coordinate the search for funding/sponsorship for any USOF committee, program or project. Individual USOF members are welcome to assist in the search. Any potential sponsors must be approved by the Sponsorship Director, who shall be the only one authorized to enter into an agreement on the USOF’s behalf.
The Sponsorship Director, and his designates, shall act in accordance with the policies of the United States Orienteering Federation, as set by the Federation’s Board of Directors. Any disputes between clubs/committees/teams/USOF officials and the Sponsorship Director shall be resolved by a majority vote of the Executive Committee.
Appendix
I
A commission of 10% of the amount of the sponsorship will be paid, as sponsorship expenses, to the individual(s), organization or firm that secured the sponsorship contract. To receive the 10%, the individual(s), organization or firm must have given prior notice of their specific efforts to, and received approval from, the USOF President or the USOF Executive Director. Should the Sponsorship Director wish to enter sponsor negotiations that would qualify him/her for the 10%, he/she must give notice to, and receive approval from, the USOF President.
Appendix II
USOF will not allow sponsorship of USOF events by hard
liquor or tobacco products, nor accept money from companies or divisions of
companies primarily identified with the manufacture or sale of such products.
Updated & passed 11/28/2005