During their meeting Thursday, Aug. 28, the Visit Estes Park Board of Directors approved a new three-tier system that details the funding organizations can receive from the local marketing district to support entertainment efforts.
In the past, staff used an eight-step list to guide decisions about which festivals and events VEP would financially support. The new system adds some extra approvals to the process and also provides some flexibility for certain levels of support.
Staff can greenlight awards of up to $1,000. The VEP CEO must approve amounts up to $4,999. The Board must authorize events receiving support exceeding $5,000.
Why it matters to VEP
Since VEP’s inception 17 years ago, local organizations have received financial support to promote their events. With a nearly $4 million budget, the Estes Park Town Board and Larimer County Commissioners are requesting that some of the lodging tax revenue be used to support Estes Park-sponsored events.
Creating a clear system to guide financial awards objectively will help organizations assess the level of support they might get from VEP.
“We really wanted to create a policy to ensure that Visit Estes Park supports events that align with our mission, our operating plan, and help promote year-round tourism,” said Marketing Director Rachel Ward Opperman.
“We just really wanted to get an equitable framework that we could use as a guidebook to be able to approve or not approve different funding and marketing support requests,” she added.
What it means for organizations
To be considered for sponsorship, events are required to meet core values:
- Inclusive and welcoming
- Economic impact
- Seasonal support
- Advanced planning
- Community alignment
Under the new policy, applicants must complete a sponsorship form, submit financial information, use VEP branding, including the VEP’s logo in event marketing materials, submit the event listing to the VEP calendar of events, and sign an agreement.
Organizers must submit a post-event review within 60 days of an event, or they risk being excluded from future sponsorships.
In detail
“The main difference between the first two levels and the third level is the level of expectation of marketing support,” said Dana Paiement, destination development senior manager, who told the board that organizations are “asking for us to take on more from a marketing perspective than we do in the first two levels.”
“The first two levels of support integrate the event as something to do in Estes Park,” she said. “When you’re here, we’re marketing it as part of the overall destination experience in the content plans that we already have in place,” she said.
The highest level of support involves creating separate marketing plans for each event, like Frozen Dead Guy Days and SkiJor. In those cases, VEP developed and included ad campaigns specific to each event.
“We’ve learned a lot of lessons from the early days,” said Board Secretary Deb Gibson, who has served on the board for about eight years. Additionally, “there’s nothing to prevent you, when there’s an exception, to come to the board,” she said.
In discussing the policy, Board Treasurer Jerusha Rice emphasized the importance of evaluating all events for their contribution to VEP’s goals and ensuring that organizations requesting support for multiple years demonstrate an economic impact on the town.
The point system used for approving support determines whether the event supports the slow season, is inclusive and welcoming, is sustainable, is produced locally, is submitted 90 or more days in advance, is new, and supports the local economy, as well as how many people are expected to attend. It also considers whether it is a first-time event or if it is the first time sponsorship is being requested.
For the past two years, VEP has set aside $30,000 in community funding that did not have to be approved by the board of directors. By mid-year, more than 35 events received support in 2025. Ten running events and six of the town’s eight Signature Events were included in the list of recipients.