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27 Things You Can Do to Bring in More Sponsorship Dollars Right Now (Without a Sponsorship Package)

 

Our sector has an outright obsession with the sponsorship package! Of course, sponsorship packages have their place and play a role in sponsorship sales, and I’ve written about the subject extensively here.

If you find yourself focused on building the perfect sponsorship deck before you start talking to sponsors, you’re in big trouble.

Here are 27 things you can do right now to move the needle on your sponsorship program, none of which require you to wait for final approval on your sponsorship deck!

  1. Create 5 “out of the box” activation ideas that you know your audience will love and offer them to your current sponsors!
  2. Update your valuation calculator to include an ROI calculator
  3. Stop thinking “philanthropy” and start thinking about the power of your audience
  4. Schedule your first Business Breakfast
  5. Start doing the Friday Five this week
  6. Create a fulfillment report template for your organization
  7. Schedule a follow up meeting after your next event and ask your sponsors for feedback
  8. Run an inventory building workshop for your team
  9. Make friends before you need them! Go for coffee with your prospects and ask them for nothing at all
  10. Conduct a valuation of your assets
  11. Make a list of the objections you hear most often from your prospects and find a solution (not a better pitch…an actual solution!)
  12. Survey you audience and stop guessing at who they are
  13. Book five discovery sessions with your prospects
  14. Invite your boss to a discovery session
  15. Hold a sponsor summit
  16. Do some prospect research and then research some more
  17. Run an education session for your board of directors
  18. Identify 50 sponsorship assets that do NOT require logo placement
  19. Write and send 10 emails to 10 prospects using no more than 3 sentences
  20. Go to a meeting with nothing in your hands and when you leave, don’t leave them with anything
  21. Define and research your competitors
  22. Schedule your cold calls first thing in the morning
  23. Set up a sales tracker using no more than 7 stages
  24. Define your social media followers
  25. Create an activation template for your team
  26. Educate yourself on current sponsorship trends
  27. Join our LinkedIn group and connect with other people just like you

Chris Baylis is an expert in sponsorship valuation and sponsorship strategy. Chris works with brands and sponsorship properties to define their sponsorship goals, determine market value of their sponsorship assets and create strategies that work.

Chris is the President and CEO of The Sponsorship Collective, a board member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and an international speaker and consultant on all things sponsorship marketing.

 

Connect with Chris via: The Sponsorship Collective | Twitter | LinkedIn