Sponsorship Opportunities
Each year over 100,000 students in over 30 countries participate in the Odyssey of the Mind school program. Since 1978, students around the world have benefitted from this unique, once-in-a-lifetime program by helping students master science, technology, arts, engineering, and mathematics (STEAM). Organizations like NASA, a long-time sponsor of the Odyssey of the Mind program, realize the benefit of investing in such an important educational opportunity for students. Odyssey equips students around the world with the skills, expertise, and training necessary to solve tomorrow's problems. The mission of Creative Opportunities Unlimited is to help bring Odyssey of the Mind to as many students, teachers, schools, families, and communities around the world as possible, and to do so, we could use your help as a sponsor -- no donation is too small to help set a positive trajectory for the young minds of today who will be the bold leaders of tomorrow.
COMPANY, ORGANIZATION, AND INDIVIDUAL SPONSORSHIP...
HOW CAN I BE A SPONSOR?
The are many ways you and/or your organization can partner with the Odyssey of the Mind school program. In years past, individuals and companies have partnered with Odyssey of the Mind to sponsor Long-Term problems, provide travel grants to domestic (U.S.) and international teams, purchase new memberships for specific special-interest groups, donate resources for tournament events, fund association shirts, pins, and other merchandise, organize workshops pertaining to acting, set construction, and other useful skills, and much more. There is no "one way" to be a partner with Odyssey of the Mind. With new strategic partnerships being developed all the time, the best way to figure out how you and/or your organization can best help bring Odyssey to as many students as possible is to simply reach out to us. We'll help get the conversation started and figure out some possible solutions!
HOW DOES ORGANIZATIONAL SPONSORSHIP WORK?
Organizations partnering with Odyssey of the Mind have endless possibilities when it comes to sponsorship. Some years, organizations sponsor one of the Long-Term problems produced by Odyssey of the Mind. In other years, those same organizations have a presence at the international Odyssey of the Mind World Finals and even at local tournaments. The exact details of an organization's sponsorship within Odyssey of the Mind are coordinated between the organization and Odyssey of the Mind but always result in a win-win partnership that, most importantly, results in more students experiencing the benefits of creative problem solving!
As an example, NASA has worked with Odyssey of the Mind for several years. Some years, NASA has sponsored full Long-Term problems - often those incorporating Earth sciences - and has provided resources concerning ecosystems, the atmosphere, biological and geological sciences, and more to all participating Odyssey participants. In addition to sponsoring a problem, NASA has had a presence at the annual Creativity Festival attended by thousands of participants at the World Finals competition. Plus, NASA provided classroom materials in the membership packets sent to every participating Odyssey of the Mind team. In this way, NASA was able to have direct access to hundreds of thousands of the brightest young minds around the world, while Omers were able to benefit from the education of Earth science that NASA provided in a variety of ways.
For more information about how your organization can partner with the Odyssey of the Mind school program, please contact us using the contact form located at the bottom of this page.
CAN I DIRECT MY DONATION TO A SPECIFIC CAUSE OR ASSOCIATION?
Of course! When you make a donation, you can choose how you want your donation to be directed. In some instances, people prefer to make a general donation to Creative Opportunities Unlimited. In other instances, people prefer to donate to a specific initiative - travel grants for teams (domestic or international), new memberships, college/university scholarships. You have full discretion as to where you money goes when you donate with the assurance that every single dollar goes to bringing Odyssey of the Mind to more students around the world!
Some donors also prefer contributing money to their location association. When you donate, you will also have the option to identify which association(s) you would like to receive your donation. Thus, if you are based in Illinois and would prefer that your contribution go to Illinois teams, simply select Illinois from the list of associations provided. You can also select more than one association! Of course, if you prefer to just make a general donation, you can leave this association field blank.
If you are interested in donating to a specific team, the best way to do this is to simply make a donation directly to the team. Most schools have tax identification information such that your donation to the team is tax deductible. Creative Opportunities Unlimited is focused on handling donations to associations and participating Omers, in general, via scholarships and travel grants, but we do welcome individual donations to specific teams if that is your preferred way of giving back to this wonderful program.
In short, we want to make sure you have every option available to you when it comes to how your donation is directed. If you have any questions about this process, please feel free to contact us directly using the form located at the bottom of this page.