Bank of America Sponsorship Report by Advancement

WINTERLIGHTS

INVESTING IN COMMUNITY

Geordan,

On behalf of Newfields, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you for Bank of America’s generous support of Winterlights. Your partnership not only brings this event to life but also strengthens our mission of enriching lives through exceptional experiences with art and nature.

By supporting Newfields, you are investing in one of Indiana’s largest and most influential cultural institutions – a premier destination where art, nature, and community converge. Our presence plays a critical role in driving the economic vitality of Indianapolis. From direct and indirect spending, and increased property values to enhancing the city’s cultural appeal, Newfields’ impact is far-reaching. But beyond economics, we take pride in fostering a vibrant, inclusive cultural environment that touches lives and uplifts our community.

Your sponsorship of our signature festivals, like Winterlights, directly contributes to key initiatives that make a meaningful difference. With your support, we are able to:

• Care for and preserve our world-class art and living collections, ensuring they inspire future generations.

• Offset the costs of educational field trips, giving Marion County students enriching learning experiences they might not otherwise have.

• Provide tickets to organizations that serve at-risk families, making art and nature accessible to those who need it most.

Your investment is vital to our success as a non-profit and to the health of our shared community. Thanks to partners like you, we can continue creating unforgettable moments, nurturing creativity, and making Indianapolis a thriving place to live, work, and visit.

We are deeply grateful for your support and look forward to growing this meaningful partnership.

With warm appreciation,

Le Monte G. Booker, Sr. President & Chief Executive Officer

LeMonte Booker, CEO and President of Newfields

THANK YOU

At Newfields, our mission is to create inspiring and unforgettable experiences for our community, and Winterlights has become one of the most cherished celebrations of the winter season. Thanks to your generous support, the 2024 festival was a resounding success.

Your contribution helped us transform the Newfields campus into a twinkling winter wonderland, where family, friends, and visitors connected, created memories, and celebrated the magic of the season. Winterlights has become Newfields’ most popular festival and Indy’s favorite holiday light show, bringing guests back year after year to take part in this tradition with those they hold dear.

From fan favorite displays like the Lilly House Landscape of Lights to the hot cocoa and tasty treats from our culinary arts team, your sponsorship helped fill the grounds with holiday cheer. Your support also ensures accessibility, removing financial barriers to attending this event and helping to underwrite 5,000 tickets shared with community members so that all families can experience the joy of celebrating together.

Thank you for being an integral part of this winter tradition that brings people together in art and nature. You helped create a shared experience that fostered moments of joy, wonder, and connection that will be remembered for years to come.

A couple enjoying the Finale Tree at Winterlights

Attendance & Financial Impact

Ticket and sponsorship revenue are vital to Newfields’ financial stability. This year’s festival was hugely successful and is essential to helping us meet our $40 million operating budget. Thank you!

120,000 TICKETS were purchased for Winterlights 2024.

10,000

GUESTS

took advantage of our Premier Package and Winterwonder Passes, which offered buyers an elevated experience with a higher purchase price.

5,000 COMMUNITY TICKETS

were shared free of cost with organizations in the neighborhoods surrounding Newfields.

AUDIENCE DEMOGRAPHICS

We understand that target audience metrics are a crucial component in considering partnerships with festivals like Newfields’ Winterlights. These metrics provide detailed insights into the composition of our attendees, enabling you to assess the alignment between the festival’s audience and your marketing goals. By leveraging this data, you can make informed decisions to maximize your return on investment and achieve meaningful engagement while supporting a beloved community event.

Over 45% of visitors were repeat visitors in 2024, and 10% of surveyed guests have attended every year since the event began! Winterlights proves to be an effective platform for reaching a concentrated, geographically relevant audience, further confirming the festival’s power to attract a loyal and local audience.

Percentage of ticket sales by county with the darker blue representing a higher concertation of ticket sales. 84% of our attendees come from the Indianapolis Metro Area.

60/40

FEMALE SKEW

For brands targeting women, such as family oriented services, lifestyle brands, or consumer products, this festival provides an opportunity for tailored messaging and engagement.

PARENTS

KEY AUDIENCE

With a significant proportion of attendees being parents, the festival presents an ideal opportunity to offer familyfriendly products, experiences, and/or services. Parents seek memorable, high-quality activities that they can share with their children, and your sponsorship positions you as a facilitator of these shared experiences.

20-51

AGE MAJORITY

The age demographic of 20-51 year-olds represents a coveted and dynamic audience segment. This age range includes young professionals, growing families, and established individuals, all of whom possess strong purchasing power and varied consumer needs.

Guest Satisfaction

Newfields is interested in understanding guest satisfaction in terms of the experience overall and compared with previous years including their overall satisfaction with the event and the specific pieces of the experience.

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE 2024 SURVEY

77% INTEND TO RETURN

77% of surveyed guests intend to return in 2025, indicating that Winterlights has become a favorite holiday tradition.

92% GUEST SATISFACTION

Guests cited overall satisfaction with the event, at a level that increased over last year.

SOCIAL MEDIA PROMPTED 34% OF VISITS

Our social media promotion prompted 34% of our total Winterlights visits.

This survey was open from November 18, 2024 – January 7, 2025. 31,156 surveys were delivered for Winterlights. 4,038 were returned for a 13% response rate.

AUDIENCE FEEDBACK

“It’s so magical! I’m in awe of the work that goes into creating this beautiful event. I could often smell fresh pine and cedar from the trees and landscaping and that was an added bonus to the beauty and magic of the evening.”

“Love coming here. It’s become an annual tradition!”

“Beautifully decorated. So much more than we were expecting!”

“Being with my family at this event. We go every year and it means a lot to us as a family.”

“Everything put me in the Christmas spirit! Thank you very much for a wonderful evening.”

Guest and dog at the inaugural “Dog Night” at Winterlights.

Marketing Campaign

For Winterlights, the marketing campaign utilized multiple strategies to drive attendance and elevate your brand alongside ours. These efforts put your logo in front of 120,000 guests at the event, and even more visitors online and in the community. These performance metrics demonstrate that the marketing campaigns for Winterlights not only capture attention but also encourage meaningful interactions, ultimately enhancing Bank of America’s visibility.

Our marketing campaign for Winterlights ran from October 28, 2024 through January 5, 2025 achieving the following results:

22,006,135 TOTAL IMPRESSIONS FOR WINTERLIGHTS

• 5,950,545 DIGITAL IMPRESSIONS

• 30,028 CLICKS ACROSS OUR PAGE

0.5%

CLICK THROUGH RATE

Our click through rate was a 0.5% for the Winterlights campaign, with the industry average being 0.03% - 0.06%.

EVENT RECOGNITION

RECOGNITION IN THE COMMUNITY

As the presenting sponsor, your logo was on display in the community in many ways. The Newfields’ design team created digital and print billboards located around Indy Metro area.

RECOGNITION AT THE FESTIVAL

As the presenting sponsor, your logo was visible on campus during the run of the festival, at the entrance and exit of the festival, and on signage throughout the festival.

*Additional examples of this years creative campaign, as well as full list of sponsor recognition signage, please see appendix A

Bank of America was promoted on signage across our campus at all Winterlights events.

Wayfinding tower cube located at multiple points throughout the event.

The 2024 Winterlights logo lock-up that was utilized on all signage and promotional materials.

The 2024 Guest Experience Winterlights check-in plinth that was found across the festival.

FESTIVAL PROMOTION

TRADITIONAL MEDIA

The marketing strategy for the 2024 Winterlights included the utilization of Newfields’ internal assets: organic social media, on-campus digital billboards, event web landing page, and email in conjunction with a paid advertising campaign that included radio spots, coffee sleeves, YouTube advertising, and paid social ads.

Highlights

• Total Hits: 35+ Articles and Segments Across 23+ Outlets

• Average UVPM/Outlet: 249,002 Viewers

• Estimated Ad Values: $12,470

Other Earned Media

Jonathan Berger, Vice President for Marketing and External Affairs at Newfields, promoted Winterlights presented by Bank of America on air on multiple stations

Inclusion on community calendars and media comps were provided for inbound reporters.

EMAIL COMMUNICATIONS

Two of Newfields’ most valuable internal promotional assets are our weekly Things You Can Do email communications and our weekly Member Monday e-newsletter. Recognition in these communications is a benefit of your partnership. You can see below the impressive results of these targeted festival promotions.

E-NEWS

FESTIVAL PROMOTION

SOCIAL MEDIA

Newfields uses our social channels to actively promote festivals like Winterlights, utilizing primarily Instagram (59.4K followers) and Facebook (110K followers). Mention in our social media posts is a benefit of your sponsorship.

By utilizing our social media presence, Newfields can engage with people all across the state to promote the unique opportunities on campus.

SOCIAL MEDIA

87 Total Published Posts

296,163 Impressions

13,040 Engagements

150 Avg. Engagement per Post

6,751 Total Reactions

6,495 Total Likes

461 Total Shares

662 Total Comments

262 Total Published Stories

223,884 Story Impressions

844.53 Avg. Reach per Story

Instagram engagement report on one of the highest performing Winterlights posts

Free First Thursdays

FREE FIRST THURSDAYS

Thanks to your support, Free First Thursdays presented by Bank of America continues to be a success. On the first Thursday of every month, members and the public get free General Admission to the Indianapolis Museum of Art and The Garden, live musical performances, art-making activities, and docent led tours.

Free First Thursdays create the perfect place to discover something new and have an exceptional experience with art and nature.

2024 WINTERLIGHTS SPONSORSHIP

AUDIENCE IMPACT

Free First Thursdays bring in guests of all ages from the entire state of Indiana. Below are the number of attendees hosted during Free First Thursdays in 2024.

Museums on Us

Museums on Us® drew in 651 guests to Newfields in 2024, including 394 Bank of America cardholders. Your dedication to arts and culture has aided Newfields in making our museum more accessible, thank you!

Below are the number of Bank of America cardholders that joined us at Newfields in 2024, as well as additional guests that accompanied them, and any additional revenue generated from those guests.

THANK YOU, BANK OF AMERICA!

Geordan,

Please share our gratitude for Bank of America’s generous support with your entire team. Our relationship is a true partnership, where I feel like both parties work hard to utilize their assets to benefit the community. We are proud so many Bank of America card holders take advantage of your Museums on Us® program to visit Newfields. Your support of our Free First Thursdays has enabled the museum to open the doors to the community, helping us eliminate the financial barrier to visitation and provide access to our world class art and living collection. One of my favorite parts of our partnership is Bank of America night at Winterlights. After many years of partnership, it feels as though this continues to be a festive tradition for so many Bank of America employees. We love to be a part of that!

Thank you for being such a collaborative partner, invested in our role in serving the community. We look forward to exciting things ahead and are truly grateful for your support.

Stacy Clark Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations

Appendix A Event Assets

Appendix B External Event Mentions

Appendix C Sponsorship Benefits

Appendix D Festival Photography

A: WINTERLIGHTS EVENT ASSETS

Winterlights LCD sign on display inside the Newfields through the festival.

Winterlights sign on display at the exit to the event experience.

Winterlights sponsor signage at the Winter Market that highlights our festival sponsors.

Winterlights cube tower outside at the festival.

The Winterlights promotional poster that was shared on the Café and The Tobias Theatre LCD screens.

B: EXTERNAL ARTICLES

Winterlights at Newfields opens for the season (WISH-TV)

New Adventure Pass encourages you to explore holiday attractions across Marion and Hamilton Counties (WRTV)

Newfields enchants with Winterlights event (WISH-TV)

Winterlights now open at Newfields (WRTV)

Last-minute holiday light displays by budget | What's the Deal? (WTHR)

Time running out to visit Indianapolis’ holiday staples (Fox 59)

Radio

Winterlights Starts This Weekend (WIBC)

Newfields Enchants with Winterlights Event (WIBC)

Winterlights returns to Newfields (Indianapolis Recorder)

Newfields' Winterlights 2024: What to see and how to buy tickets (IndyStar)

December 2024 Best Bets (Indianapolis Monthly)

6 big Christmas light displays in and around Indianapolis in 2024 (IndyStar)

30+ Indy-area events, light shows and musicals to help make your holiday season merry (IndyStar)

33 Indianapolis holiday events under $25 (Mirror Indy)

Indy Pride Night at Winterlights (WISH-TV)

Seasonally Celebratory Events: Bring Your Pup to Winterlights at Newfields and More (NUVO)

Get Lost In Nearly 3 Million Lights At Indianapolis' Winterlights Holiday Spectacular (LEO Weekly)

I Found My Holiday Cheer in Indiana (Columbus Underground)

We went to Indianapolis for a weekend getaway to enjoy holiday entertainment (Louisvillle Family Fun)

Winterlights Sets Indianapolis Aglow (Global Traveler)

It's not too late to see Newfields' Winterlights. Here's the schedule and how to get tickets (Yahoo)

C: SPONSOR BENEFITS

Presenting Sponsor Benefits

Logo recognition as the presenting sponsor in all print and digital assets throughout the run of Newfields’ internal and external Winterlights marketing and advertising campaigns

• Print-at-home and digital/smartphone ticket (logo where possible)

• Promotional signage and materials, including LCD screens and posters

• Mention with logo in December monthly E-newsletter to donors and members

• Weekly mention in Things You Can Do email

• Newfields Winterlights web page listing as “presented by Bank of America” with logo and designation included at the bottom of the web page

External assets include but are not limited to:

• Opportunity to participate in on-site media interviews as available

• Tags across Newfields social media accounts when Winterlights is mentioned and promoted

• Presenting partnership recognition on Winterlights press release with option to add a quote

• External advertising campaign including digital, streaming, television, radio, etc

Internal assets include but are not limited to:

• Exclusive presenting recognition signage at the entrance of the experience

• Recognition on Newfields’ donor wall, annual donor publication, and FY25 annual report

Tickets and Opportunities:

• “Bank of America Night” on December 12, 2024 with five ticket times set aside for Bank of America-only tickets. All tickets complimentary. Any drink tickets, food tickets, food tickets, etc. would be covered by the Bank or employees

• Ten (10) complimentary tickets to Member Preview Night on November 23, 2024

• Six (6) complimentary Midnight Magic elevated experience tickets to Midnight at Newfields

• Twenty (20) complimentary Premier Pass tickets to Winterlights

• Additional 20%-off Winterlights tickets purchased online through a unique discount code

• 25%-off Newfields Memberships for Bank of America employees

• Four (4) complimentary family-level memberships to share with executives or staff

• Free general admission for all local Bank employees + 1 additional guest (through December 2024)

Presenting Sponsor Benefits

Hospitality:

• Invitations to donor events throughout the year

• Opportunity to host a staff group volunteer day at Newfields for up to 30 people

• Opportunity for Bank staff to volunteer directly at Winterlights

• One (1) annual complimentary space rental for any of Newfields’ premium event spaces for client, staff, or partner entertainment (valued at $3,200)

• Must be used or reserved before November 1, 2025

• Available Monday-Thursday, subject to availability

• Discount is applied to room rental fee and does not cover security, catering, floral, entertainment, A/V, etc.

• Available spaces: Randolph H. Deer Special Events Pavilion, Sutphin Fountain Room, DeBoest Lecture Hall, upper Efroymson Entrance Pavilion, The Beer Garden, and The Playhouse. THE LUME is not included

• Work with Rachel Hudziak to schedule (rhudziak@discovernewfields.org)

• One (1) small private reception for up to 30 bank clients/employees with catering (light hors d’oeuvres and beer and wine) inside The Playhouse or Fountain Room (valued at $3,000)

• Must be used or reserved before November 1, 2025

• Available Monday-Thursday, subject to availability

• The Bank will be responsible for security, additional catering requests, rentals, floral, entertainment, A/V, etc.

Exclusivity:

• No other banks or financial institutions will be solicited for any Winterlights sponsorship this year (November 2024-January 2025)

• Exclusivity as the Free First Thursdays presenting corporate partner

• Credit Lines and Naming Rights

• Subject to the terms of this Agreement, the credit line and associated naming rights of the Sponsor will last for the duration of the event. The official credit line as a result of this Agreement will be listed whenever possible as follows:

• “Winterlights presented by Bank of America”

• Bank of America’s logo will be used when space permits

• “Free First Thursday presented by Bank of America”

• Bank of America’s logo will be used when space permits in headers