Sponsorship marketing is hard work! Nothing is more frustrating than spending countless hours crafting a sponsorship proposal, sending it out to your prospects and hearing…nothing in return. I see a lot of sponsorship proposals, good ones and bad ones (and some REALLY bad ones) but all of them suffer from one of these five issues, which are costing you money. Let’s dive in and see if we can make your sponsorship packages stronger and grow your sponsorship program!
Full disclosure: a fulfillment report didn’t actually save my life! It did, however, save me from a horribly embarrassing situation, saved a sponsorship relationship and saved me a lot of pain. Negotiating the Custom Sponsorship Proposal Let me set the stage here: I was selling sponsorship for an event…a big event. Our target audience was a group of professionals who had a lot of money and who had very specific needs to be able to participate in their profession. In other words, they had a lot of money and they had to spend a lot of that money to do their job. From a sponsorship valuation standpoint, this opportunity was an absolute gold mine! I negotiated a sponsorship package with a new company looking to increase their professional services business and our audience was their target audience. Excellent! We went through all of the assets, picked out the ones that made sense to them, and I created a custom sponsorship proposal based on that feedback. Sponsorship Fact: Good Fulfillment Starts with Good Activation The day of the event came and we were sold out! All of our sponsor logos were where I said they would be, we said all of […]
We have worked on literally thousands of events, valuing sponsorship opportunities and coaching event and conference organizers through...
There is one thing that every single sponsorship property has to offer that every single sponsor wants…and very few sponsorship seekers realize they have it. What is this magical thing that will make your sponsorship sales so much easier? I’m going to tell you…but first a story! From “No Thanks” to “Sign Me Up!”
Sometimes, sponsorship seekers approach sponsorship like they would winning the lottery. You know, how if you just had that million-dollar...
The Path to Big Ticket Sponsorship Sales: A Case Study Approach to $10 million in Sponsorship Transactions Over the last two years, we...
I’m not much of a country music fan, but I love me some Johnny Cash. Perhaps more than any other musician, Cash’s lyrics are just stuffed with life lessons. Usually of the hard-learned variety. You can even learn a thing or two about sponsorship from them.
When working with clients on their sponsorship sales goals and strategies, I see common themes come up again and again. Unfortunately, when I am working on the brand side and helping them assess their sponsorship marketing goals…I see the same trends from those seeking sponsorship dollars. I recognize that I’m in a unique position of being able to see things from both sides of the sponsorship coin, if you will. And what’s so interesting to me is that even though sponsorship seekers and the companies that give sponsorship operate from two different places is that they still run into the same issues. There are enough of these issues, and they’re so prevalent in my varied experiences working with those on both sides of the sponsorship equation that I’ve dubbed them appropriately. These are the Seven Deadly Sins of Sponsorship. You know, like the cardinal sins you’re supposed to avoid at all costs according to the Christian religion. Well, these are also cardinal sins that you should begin avoiding at all costs whether you’re seeking sponsorship or offering it. This guide with an infographic will illustrate the most common sponsorship mistakes and how to avoid making them yourself! The Seven Deadly […]
I have been getting a lot of questions about in-kind sponsorship lately. Not so much focused on getting in-kind, but how to get your in-kind sponsor to “upgrade” to cash. In my post “The Seven Deadly Sins of Sponsorship,” I speak out against in-kind sponsorship as one of the deadly sins. In a world where cash is king, I am not a big fan of in-kind sponsorship. There, I said it! I am also not a fan of the philosophy that you should use sponsorship to cover off your expenses and let ticket sales drive your revenue. The hard costs of your event or program have nothing to do with the market value of your assets. Getting “free” wine, AV, lunch, dinner, photo booths etc. is actually costing you thousands of dollars. Why? Because the value of the wine as a marketing opportunity is unrelated to its hard costs. Every logo placement, call out from the stage, and opportunity to connect your sponsors to their audience has value. Apply your valuation calculator to your wine (and all in-kind sponsorships) and sell it to companies who care about your demographic. Bonus tip: I never sell wine sponsorship to wine producers. Instead, […]