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.
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.
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 […]
Representing sponsorship within your organization can be an exciting, rewarding and sometimes challenging role. You need to be creative to build beneficial partnerships that balance the objectives of your organization with those of your sponsors and external partners.
When you discover that a sponsorship prospect is clear across the world from you, you might feel disinclined to pursue them further. You’re worried about regional differences that could rear their ugly head, not to mention the annoyance of different time zones. Well, I’m here to tell you that geography does not have to be a major stumbling block when it comes to prospecting and obtaining sponsorship clients. I’ve done it personally and I have clients who do it and I can tell you, it’s absolutely possible! This post will be helpful to those who sell sponsorship in geographies outside of their head office location or aspire to soon begin doing so. Tips for Obtaining Sponsors Regardless of Location Sharpen Your Value Proposition What do you bring to the table? In other words, why should an international sponsor take a bet on you? Remember, it’s enough of a risk for a local sponsor within the same country as you to take a chance on you when you’re green and unproven. There is substantially more risk when seeking international sponsors regarding time, reputation, and money. That’s why your value proposition must be as sharp as a rock and as clear as […]
Unfortunately, our prospects can suffer from the same misconceptions about sponsorship as everybody else. I want to share this case study with you to outline how important it is to educate our sponsors and to make sure we fully understand the needs of our sponsors before we close the deal.
Once you’ve identified your sponsorship prospects, your next goal is to set up a discovery session. This first meeting doesn’t always take place in person, especially anymore. You can have the discovery session on the phone or through Facetime, Zoom, or any other popular video-chatting platform. After you break the ice with that well-timed and well-practiced joke, it’s time to talk business. The following eleven questions will help you pinpoint whether your prospect could be a viable partner. Who Is Your Target Audience? The first question pertains to your prospect’s target audience. As a note, if you’re not already crystal-clear on your own audience, then this question is as good as useless. The whole point in asking about the prospect’s target audience is to see if any of your audience segments match. You can’t do that without having priorly segmented your audience. You know me, I recommend niching your audience down as much as you can. Think of your audience as an ingredient that you’re putting through a strainer. If the sieve holes are large, that’s a broad audience segment. By using increasingly smaller strainers, you get very fine particles, which are akin to your segmented, niched-down audience. This post […]
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!
Following on from Chris’ excellent article on what boards need to know about sponsorship, here are a few extra tips on how you can make it much easier for your board members to become more comfortable with supporting your sponsorship efforts.