In part one of my corporate sponsorship gone wrong post I covered three examples of what NOT to do with your sponsors. If you liked those three examples, you are going to love these last two examples. Have a horror story of your own to share? Leave it in the comments!
The goal of this post is simple: learn from my mistakes! I have been doing corporate sponsorship deals for charities, private companies, and associations and not for profits for a long time and I have had some great successes but I have also had some disastrous corporate sponsorship deals gone wrong.
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I get this question or a variation of it every day, multiple times a day and at every speaking event, workshop and webinar that I run.
Many corporate entities make decisions for the following calendar year by the end of October/early November, which means that now is the time to act or you could leave some money on the table. Try these techniques and strategies for the next 30 days and you will be surprised at how much money comes in during the winter and spring as a result! Tip #1: Think Partnership, Not Philanthropy This one is less of a technique than it is a shift in mindset. Is your cause important? Absolutely! Will it come up in a meeting with a corporate prospect? Definitely! But if you spend the majority of the meeting talking about your programs and your cause, you may be in trouble. As a charity, you exist to achieve your mission. You mission and programs are your product and how you measure success for your shareholders (donors, board and volunteers). Companies exist to make a profit, that’s how they measure success and how their boards and shareholders measure their success. In all likelihood you are pitching to a marketing, business development or HR person, all of whom are being measured and held accountable for their budget. Good causes are important, but […]
Last week we looked at the first head of the hydra that can be corporate sponsorship in our sector. This week, we’ll look at vanquishing those other two heads, and set you on course to be a hero in your organization of Herculean status.
This two-part blog post series goes out to my warrior-friends in the non-profits and charities who identify as “small shops”. These organizations are typically under $500,000 in yearly revenue, and cringe at the thought of taking on additional tasks that will stretch their already scarce resources. Well, I’m here to help you succeed in obtaining corporate sponsorship for your next event, campaign or initiative…all while having to invest very little time or resources to make it happen….at least at first. How do I know this? Because I did it myself! I recently made the jump from a small shop, with a $0 sponsorship budget, but before I left over a year later I had raised over $130,000 in unrestricted revenues. All of these funds were also all renewable, and went right into funding work our organization was doing. All the while I only worked part time (15 hours/week or less) so believe me when I say I understand and sympathise with that under-resourced and over-worked struggle we all understand too well.
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.
The practice of sponsorship sales isn’t complicated, when you focus on the right activities. Unfortunately, the sector has become obsessed with the sponsorship package as the primary sales tool, which is definitely not the right activity! While the sector spends more and more time perfecting their standardized sponsorship packages, brands (ie sponsors) care less and less about sponsorship packages. In fact, most brands throw sponsorship packages in the garbage without ever reading them. There is definitely a disconnect between sponsorship properties (ie sponsorship seekers) and those looking to invest in sponsorship.