Santa Rosa BIA outlines scoring, outreach and reporting for event support funding

Meredith Knutsen, a staff presenter, told the Santa Rosa Tourism Business Improvement Area board that applications for event support funding close on Monday at 05:00 and that the selection panel will meet in April to recommend awards to the board. The funding is intended for events held within Santa Rosa city limits between July 1 and Dec. 31 and is financed by the City of Santa Rosa and Visit Santa Rosa.

The board was presented with eligibility and scoring guidance that prioritizes events that increase overnight visits. Knutsen said the program allows both free and ticketed events and requires recipients to document targeted marketing outside Sonoma County and neighboring counties. "The applications... close on Monday at 05:00," Knutsen said. She added that recommendations "will not just solely be based on the scores."

Why it matters: the SRTBIA event support program is designed to drive hotel stays and visitor spending during slower portions of the year by underwriting promotion and city services tied to events. That financial support is intended to leverage additional funding from other sources rather than serve as the sole funding source for events.

Key details discussed: - Applications and eligibility: As of the meeting, staff reported 11 submitted applications, with two judged ineligible because their events occur before July 1. Events must take place inside Santa Rosa city limits and meet program guidelines for eligible expenses such as city services, venue fees and advertising. - Scoring and selection process: The staff-recommended scoring rubric uses multiple criteria (including a 1-to-5 category structure) to evaluate how well an event promotes overnight visits, the plan to market outside Sonoma and neighboring counties, past performance for recurring events, and long-term sustainability through additional funding sources. A selection panel will complete one round of virtual scoring, followed by a panel meeting; staff will rank applications and present recommendations to the full board for final consideration. - Outreach and metrics: Staff described a targeted outreach ad campaign run March 3–21 that reached roughly 19,000 people and generated about 925 clicks to the event-support funding webpage at a cost of about $235. Staff said they do not yet know whether that outreach generated new applicants. - Post-event reporting and hotel tracking: The board discussed the requirement that funded events submit receipts and an after-event recap report; Visit Santa Rosa works with events to collect data, including hotel-room tracking. Staff said room-night capture is typically done via a promotional rate code or other tracking method included in post-event reports, and the information is used to evaluate event impact. - Repeat funding and sustainability: Board members discussed whether the program should provide multi-year seed funding or step down awards to encourage events to secure other revenue streams. One board member raised the idea of reducing an award gradually over successive years (for example, $10,000 the first year, $7,500 the next), but staff did not present a firm policy; the board left the question open for the selection-panel review. - Selection-panel membership: Staff confirmed that board members Renteria and Anderson will serve on the selection panel; additional panelists had not been finalized at the time of the meeting.

Items for follow-up: staff will finalize panel membership, complete the April virtual scoring and panel meeting, and bring funding recommendations back to the SRTBIA board. The board did not take any votes or adopt changes to the program during this meeting.

Reported figures and limits: 11 applications submitted (two ineligible), outreach reach ~19,000, clicks ~925, outreach cost ~$235, program window for funded events July 1–Dec. 31. Staff explicitly noted that whether an event is considered for continued funding will depend on both scores and subsequent board discussion.