The latest writings from our team
How to Get Sponsorship: Steps to Success
Sponsorship can seem complex and even random at times- sometimes technique A works, other times, technique B does the trick and sometimes, seemingly for months on end, nothing seems to work at all! There is, however, a way to change the odds, and it is surprisingly formulaic. If you want to know how to get sponsorship or how to keep the sponsors you currently have, try the following nine steps: Never go in Sponsorship Proposal First Sacrilege, I know! “Send me a sponsorship proposal” is code for “no thanks” and when you go in proposal first you go right to the no. You certainly shorten the sales cycle but you don’t get the answer you want. Making your prospects read a sponsorship package full of assumptions and hope they find something that appeals to them does not lead to a strong close rate. Instead, have a conversation with your prospects about their sponsorship goals and find out what makes them tick. Ask them what they want to see in a sponsorship package! Want to know how to get sponsorship? Ask your sponsors! Questions, Questions and More Questions! The only time to speak in a sponsorship meeting is when your sentence ends […]
Modern Obstacles to Sponsorship Sales (And How to Overcome Them)
The landscape for sponsorship sales and marketing has changed a lot in recent years. Previous generations of business owners clamored at...
Sponsorship Recruiting, The Cowboy Way
I know what you’re thinking: “Why do I need tips to grow my network? I love cold calling!” I’ve heard it thousands of times, sponsorship professionals and fundraisers want to spend all of their time cold calling giant companies and asking them for silent auction items or a CSR grant. Well, I hate bursting bubbles but there are better ways to sell sponsorship than the cold call.
The Sponsorship Package is an Outcome, Not the Starting Point
Most organizations start their sponsorship journey by creating a sponsorship package. They create beautifully designed proposals, edited by multiple levels internally, voted on by the board and written (and rewritten) with every single eventuality in mind. “If we create a sponsorship deck that covers absolutely every option for a sponsor, then every company we approach will see something for them” is the guiding logic. Then once all of the above is complete, and only then, does the organization reach out to sponsors, sending in the masterfully created sponsorship package and waiting for the sale.
Seven More Deadly Sins of Sponsorship
In this post, I talked about the Seven Deadly Sins of Sponsorship. I got a lot of great feedback on the post, as many sponsorship seekers...
“Just Send me a Proposal” The Five Words you Never Want to Hear in Sponsorship
Telling people “no” is an uncomfortable experience and people try to avoid it at all costs and so our prospects have come up with an ingenious way to say no without having to say no, and it sounds like this: “Just send me a proposal” Which is code for “no thanks.” The reason it works so well is that as sponsorship seekers we are obsessed with the idea that the sponsorship proposal makes the sale. We reason that once the sponsor hears about our great cause and sees how many benefits we’ve stuffed into the “gold level” of our package, they will jump at the chance to give us money. The sponsor asks for a proposal to get out of an uncomfortable situation and the sponsorship seeker happily sends over the proposal under the false impression that the sponsor has any intention of reading their sponsorship package. Just Say No to Stock Proposals The next time someone says “Just send me a proposal” I want you to use the most powerful word in the English language: “No” Take a moment to let that sink in! It should make you uncomfortable because it goes against everything you think you know about […]
Sponsorship Surveys Don’t Work (and other lies we tell ourselves)
Surveys are a very important part of your sponsorship program. Every organization should be surveying their attendees and their database if they want to grow (or maintain) their sponsorship program. I talk a lot about the power of audience data and cover the importance of surveys in all of my in person and online training and it is easily one of the most controversial topics that I cover. The controversy stems from the belief that surveys don’t work. Let me address this assumption now: Surveys work and you need to be doing them.
The Sponsorship Proposal and…Shark Attacks?
Because it rarely happens that we receive a sponsorship investment without submitting a sponsorship proposal it is too easy to assume that the sponsorship proposal causes the sponsorship dollars. This belief pervades all aspects of sponsorship sales but actually the sponsorship proposal is not where we should be putting our efforts.
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! Create 5 “out of the box” activation ideas that you know your audience will love and offer them to your current sponsors! Update your valuation calculator to include an ROI calculator Stop thinking “philanthropy” and start thinking about the power of your audience Schedule your first Business Breakfast Start doing the Friday Five this week Create a fulfillment report template for your organization Schedule a follow up meeting after your next event and ask your sponsors for feedback Run an inventory building workshop for your team Make friends before you need them! Go for coffee with your prospects and ask them for nothing at all Conduct a valuation of your assets Make a list of the […]