Sponsorship
What is "Rolia"?
The Rolia Cultural Association (RCA) is a registered not-for-profit organization aimed at promoting the social and cultural interests of Chinese Canadians. Rolia.net is the on-line community used to facilitate communications and share information among Chinese Canadians. It is Canada's most popular online Chinese community! Every month, Rolia.net receives some 25 million hits from more than 90,000 visitors. People use Rolia.net to share job information, life experiences, personal stories, to ask for help and to help others. As Rolia grew in popularity, its users started organizing meetings, so they could meet face to face, and not just in cyberspace.Rolia users began volunteering their own time and energy to organize social events as early as 2001. In the fall of 2003, the Rolia Cultural Association (RCA) was established. This organization was set up to promote the quality of life and career development of Chinese Canadians. In the last three years, the RCA has successfully implemented more than twenty programs covering various aspects of immigrants' lives.
The Rolia Gala Event
The Rolia Gala, our New Year's celebration event, is one of the most popular events with Canada's Chinese community thanks to its outstanding artistic performances. This annual event is completely volunteer-driven: the organizers, directors, performers and staff members all work on a volunteer basis. The audience consists of Rolia users, along with their families and friends. The Gala is not just a New Year's celebraion. It also serves as a wonderful opportunity to promote community spirit. During six months of program rehearsals and preparations, the volunteers work as team to develop and produce the evening's program.
In 2001, the first Rolia Gala attracted an audience of 150 people. For the second year the number grew to 400. The 2004 and 2005 Rolia Galas attracted more than 1000 people and involved more than 200 volunteers! Last year, the theatre only had 650 seats, which led to a great disappointment for many many people who weren't quick enough to secure their tickets online.
The upcoming 2007 Rolia Gala will be held on January 13, 2007 at Sir John A. McDonald Collegiate Institute (Sheppard and Pharmacy Road in Scarborough). There will be two shows this time, one in the afternoon and one in the evening, each with a potential audience of 1,050 people. Along with more than 200 volunteers, there will be some 2,300 people attending the 2007 Rolia Gala!
Why the 2007 Rolia Gala is open to advertising/sponsorship
Using the Internet as its main communication platform, the RCA is a NPO running at the lowest budget level:- No paid employees, everyone volunteers their time and effort;
- No dedicated office space, so we save the money on rent;
- No dedicated telephones or fax machines - we use our personal phones to communicate;
- No government grants or subsidies. The RCA's funds come from donations, sponsorships, and event revenues.
Expenditures for the 2007 Rolia Gala mainly include the rental of the theatre and equipment, publishing the Gala programmes, supplies and materials for the performances, etc. Revenues include donation, corporate sponsorship/advertising and ticket sales (also another form of donation). The ticket prices are set at a very affordable level, allowing even those on a tight budget to take part in this wonderful community event. Revenues from sponsorships and advertising will help us to maintain affordable ticket prices, to improve performance quality by renting better equipments, booking more rehearsal time, and using better supplies and materials.
The financial status of the Gala, as well as the RCA, is completely transparent and open to the public. We periodically publish reports of the RCA's status on our web site. As always, any surplus funds from the 2007 Rolia Gala will be used by the RCA to organize additional community-based activities.
An excellent advertising opportunity for sponsors
The Rolia community consists of relatively "new" Canadians who came from China as independent immigrants. Most of them just arrived within the past several years. They feature high educational level, being in or or actively working towards professional career fields. They are active or will be active soon in the consumer market. In fact, more and more companies become aware of the market in the Mandarin Chinese community.The upcoming 2007 Rolia Gala is an excellent opportunity for sponsors to advertise in the Chinese community! Here's why:
- We are expecting more than 2,300 people to attend the shows;
- We have various forms of advertising, including:
- Advertising in the programme;
- Video clips, played right before the show starts.
- Desk space at the reception area; (Spaces are limited)
- The 2007 Rolia Gala web site will permanently display the logos or names of all sponsors. Sponsors' corporate image will be recognized in the Chinese community and recognized by all Internet visitors to the web site.
- For every person who actually attends the event, more than 10 are aware of and interested in it! The organization and preparation of the event are discussed regularly on the Rolia.net discussion forums.
How to become a sponsor
Please read the advertisement quotation of 2007 Rolia Gala. You will find the different forms of advertising. Please choose those fitting your needs most.If you are interested in sponsoring the 2007 Rolia Gala by placing advertisement, please click here to contact us.
Here is the procedure:
1. Potential sponsors submit an online form, providing contact information;
2. The RCA's Coordinator will call to confirm and discuss sponsorhip details;
3. Sponsors make out cheques payable to Rolia Cultural Association, mail them to the RCA (address will be provided by the RCA's Coordinator). Receipts will be mailed to sponsor upon receipt of cheques.
4. Sponsors submit advertising materials (i.e. graphics files, video clips) to the RCA via email. This step must be completed on or before December 1, 2006.