What is Sponsorship?

Sponsorship has grown into one of the most powerful tools within the marketing spectrum. When implemented strategically, sponsorship can provide a massive boost for both properties (the ones making the sale, e.g., sports teams or non-profits) and brands (sponsors).

But have you ever wondered what sponsorship actually is?

It’s a question that, although everything suggests otherwise, doesn’t have a straightforward answer. That’s primarily because there are numerous types of sponsorship, each coming with its individual definition and nature.

In this guide, we’ll explore everything there is to know about sponsorship. You’ll learn:

• what sponsorship is;
• common misconceptions about sponsorship;
• different types of sponsorship;
• what ‘practicing’ sponsorship means;
• how sponsorship works;
• what sponsorship packages are (and how to use them).

Most importantly, though, you’ll learn how to leverage sponsorship to your advantage and how the Sponsorship Collective can help you with that.

Let’s start with the basics, though…

The Definition of Sponsorship

Sponsorship is the act of reaching across the entire marketing spectrum and borrowing the tactics that will get the desired outcome, whether it be product sales, branding, lead creation, etc.

These tactics typically include advertising, branding, content marketing, exhibit space, media exposure, logo placement, employee engagement, and more.

What’s vital to remember is that sponsorship does not change based on the sponsorship seeker.

In other words, whether you are a sports team, charity, association, college, university, or athlete has no impact on the sponsorship sale and fulfillment process.

What Sponsorship Is Not

People often use the term “sponsorship” to describe activities that are, in fact, not sponsorship at all. That’s because sponsorship is about marketing, not philanthropy, meaning that sponsors aren’t:

• Donors
• Investors
• Interested in “awareness”
• Looking to buy levels
• Happy with a few logos on signs

Sponsorship is demanding, and so are sponsors with their investments. They are buying marketing assets, and so expect a marketing return on investment.

If you can’t provide it, they won’t continue working with you. This misunderstanding of sponsorship is one of the primary reasons why many sponsorship-seeking organizations fail.

The Different Types of Sponsorship

Any gathering (in-person or virtual) of a well-defined group of people that advertisers and brands want to connect with is a sponsorship opportunity.
However, depending on the size and nature of the event, sponsorship opportunities can come in distinct forms. Typically, we can distinguish between the four primary types of sponsorship:

Financial Sponsorship

This is the simplest form of sponsorship, where a sponsor provides financial support to the organization or an event. In exchange, they receive recognition, promotion, or other sponsorship benefits.
For example, suppose you organize a festival or an event. Financial sponsorship for such an event could include a specific company making a direct payment for a venue or covering catering costs. In exchange, they might want you to promote their services or products.

In-Kind Sponsorship

Another popular sponsorship form is the so-called in-kind sponsorship. In this scenario, a sponsor doesn’t provide you with financial support but offers their services or products.
Typically, this type of sponsorship includes:

• Prize sponsorship, where a sponsor donates branded products to event organizers, who then offer them to participants, typically in the form of activity-based prizes to boost engagement.
• Venue sponsorship, where venue owners (e.g., sporting arenas or conference halls) ‘donate’ their venues to event hosts; this way, they can get exposure while providing organizers with a great place for their event.
• Food sponsorship, where food companies and catering businesses offer their services and products at an event, boosting their recognition and helping event hosts improve attendee experience and engagement.
• Digital sponsorship, where tech-related companies promote their products and services by providing event-specific apps, media walls, or digital media coverage.

Media Sponsorship

Media sponsorship involves promoting an activity or event on a specific media platform. For example, you can ask for media sponsorship from a digital platform to promote your podcast or a local TV to cover your festival, providing you with a platform to gain more exposure.

Promotional Partnerships

Promotional partnership works similarly to media sponsorship. The difference is that sponsorship is provided by an individual influencer, blogger, or content creator who promotes your event or activity across platforms. For example, it can be a video creator covering a charity event or a conference to boost their digital presence.

How to Leverage Sponsorship?

We’ve all been there. At a gala, or a race, or waiting for a music act to take the stage, pretending to listen to a dozen sponsors talk about why they are sponsoring the property. 

Nobody cares, nobody listens… and yet we all do it. 

Sponsorship requires that every party has to win. The sponsor wins by engaging with their target audience, the audience wins because they receive an amazing benefit or experience, and the property wins because their opportunity is made better by sponsorship. 

If your attendees do not walk away saying, ‘isn’t it great the XYZ sponsor was involved in this event?’ then you are not practising sponsorship.

The Importance of Audience

Sponsorship is a verb. And like any other verb, it requires action in order to work. The question is, who should take action? This question is central to sponsorship because sponsorship is entirely focused on the audience. Without an audience, you do not have a sponsorship opportunity.

Remember, companies use sponsorship as a means to a specific, measurable end. Brands want your audience to do something, think something or buy something. Sponsors want their target audience to take action toward the ultimate goal of the brand, which is usually a purchase.

How Does Sponsorship Work?

Everyone assumes that sponsorship is different for their particular opportunity, thinking that their situation is unique. They treat it as an excuse to stray from the ‘typical’ sponsorship sales process. 

That’s another common mistake. The truth is that while the mix of assets and available opportunities might change slightly, the goals of sponsorship and the process used to engage audiences remain the same. 

Sponsorship has several distinct stages, outlined in more detail in this blog post. To give you some idea, though, this is how this sales process usually works:

#1 Inventory Building and Valuation

The first step is to identify everything you can offer a potential sponsor. This is usually based on audience feedback, your pre-defined goals, and determining the market value of each asset. 

#2 Prospecting

Once you know what you have to offer and how much it’s worth, only then can you begin to identify companies who have an interest in marketing to your audience. Without the first step, you risk ending up with sponsors who don’t fit your audience, and that doesn’t help anybody. 

#3 Getting the Meeting and Discovery

The first rule when meeting your sponsorship prospect for the first time is not to bring anything with you. This means no proposal, one-pager, or any other information about your organization. 

This might not make much sense, but it’s the one thing every sponsor wants. Trust us on this one. Treat the first meeting with one goal – gather information and get the second meeting, not make a sale. 

That said, when you go to the meeting, only ask questions. Don’t try to tell your prospects anything at all about what you do unless they ask. Remember, you aren’t trying to make a sale here but to gather information.

Sponsorship has several distinct stages, outlined in more detail in this blog post. The sponsorship sales process is as follows:

#4 Building Activations

Activations, or leverage, is a fancy term for an experience or bundle of assets designed to bring your sponsor closer to their audience in meaningful ways. The process of identifying activation opportunities is very simple:

Step One: Identify an audience niche or specific target market

Step Two: Ask your audience:

• What about their experience is positive?
• What did they not enjoy?
• What do they want more of? Less of?
• Why are they involved with your property?

Step Three: Brainstorm ideas that improve audience experience based on that feedback

Once you’ve done all of the above, you can move on to developing a sponsorship package.

#5 Developing the Sponsorship Package

Although some claim otherwise, from our experience, one-size-fits-all sponsorship packages are not helpful and should be discarded in favour of creating custom packages for each sponsor based on the process outlined above. The gold, silver, bronze (and any variation of that theme) sponsorship package rarely works and always leaves money on the table.

Some important notes about using sponsorship packages:

• You should never submit a sponsorship package to a prospect until both parties agree that it fits the needs of the sponsor;
• The only way to know if your proposal meets the needs of a prospect is to meet, talk and e-mail before you submit anything;
• Never assume your prospect wants logo placement as the main focus of the sponsorship package.

Key Takeaways

Sponsorship is a powerful tool, but only if you use it properly. To ensure you do just that, we want to leave you with these key takeaways:

• Sponsorship is about marketing, not charity;
• Always look at different forms of sponsorship to choose ones that best suit your event or activity;
• Remember that in sponsorship, every party has to win;
• Your audience is your most significant asset when attracting sponsorship opportunities;
• Follow the sponsorship sales process outlined. 

Use sponsorship to connect brands to their target market in meaningful ways, and always build your sponsorship programs based on audience feedback. When done in this way, sponsorship can be a lot of fun, producing outcomes that brands, audiences and properties love.

Learn how to leverage the power of sponsorship with the Sponsorship Collective. Book your free call and craft a sponsorship strategy that guarantees results!