Sponsorship Strategist

Remember jumping jacks?

About 7:30 this morning, I was on my balcony, sipping coffee, and reading my old-fashion newspaper. I happened to glance around, scanning the view, and noticed a guy in navy blue sweatpants tucking in a white polo shirt while standing in the middle of the parking lot of a long-abandoned but available for rent convenience store. 

I watched him for a second, curious about what he was doing. And suddenly, once he was all tucked in, he started doing jumping jacks, followed by a brisk walk around the parking lot, in a big loop.

I returned to my newspaper, convinced he was simply waiting for someone, maybe to go for a run – why else would he be in this parking lot? Though fairly well kept, it is hardly scenic.

The next time I looked up, he was completing a set of push-ups, the low kind that don't look like they would be of much value, that you can do really fast (well, some people can, though I, apparently, am not one of them). But try to do them. They're hard!

Next he went through a set of toe touches, the fancy ones. Remember them? You bend at the waist and touch your toes, and as you stand upright again, you reach for the sky and repeat, but with brief pauses for your hands to touch your waist. 

"He's old-school," said my partner, who'd since joined me with his coffee on the balcony. 

While we reminisced about those old-school exercises, wondering whatever happened to them, why we now have gym memberships, stores that sell nothing but fancy clothes to do "calisthenics" in, and even entire vacations at fancy places called spas, Mr. Navy Blue Sweatpants had turned the abandoned parking lot into an open air gym. By 8:10 a.m., he was joined by eight followers, who all looked pretty fit doing a round of calisthenics with him. 

Besides marveling at the cost-effectiveness of his business plan, it got me thinking about the basics. Isn't that an underlying consideration of the recession, a reconsideration of the basics, literally or figuratively? Couldn't we do some jumping jacks, toe-touches, and push-ups, even the sissy ones, and accomplish our goals?

Translated to sponsorship development, could you go back to the basics to figure out why you incorporate sponsorship into your marketing plans (for corporations) and among your revenue sources (for properties)? Have you lost sight of how sponsorship works? How it fulfills your or your sponsors' objectives? What you have to offer? What you need to accomplish?

Give me ten. And think about these questions.

Corporate Sponsorship is Not Dead

If you were in Philadelphia today and needed an inspirational experience to revive your sponsorship selling efforts or to inject some creativity into your own corporate program, the Arts & Business Council's annual luncheon and awards presentation was the place to be. Story after story about the super heros who make the business of the arts an art form inspired everyone. (It was also a fine example of elegant corporate sponsorship integration and activation.)

And for those of you disheartened by media reports about the state of our economy and what it means for sponsorship, take heart. Sponsorship is not dead. 

You can read more in this article in Time magazine. I had the opportunity to speak with the reporter about how corporations and communities benefit from corporate support of the arts, themes echoed at today's luncheon.

Even better, seek communities, like the Arts & Business Council's, that are talking about positive initiatives, programs, and collaborations. It will help you look for and think about opportunities in a fresh way.

Over the Top

One metric properties and corporate sponsors must monitor for sponsorship efficacy is oversaturation. Though thrilled for their success, I've long believed the adoption of breast cancer organizations' pink ribbons by what seems like every business in their communities had reached that point.

Today was the annual Mother's Day Race for the Cure. When I woke up and saw pink sky, I knew things had gone too far.

Become a Sponsorship Strategist

Welcome to Sponsorship Strategist, Gail Bower's blog designed to support your efforts to conceptualize, develop, sell or buy, negotiate, execute, and evaluate your sponsorship program through a more strategic lens.

The corporate sponsorship industry has become increasingly sophisticated since my first forays in the mid-1980s with both buying and selling sponsorship opportunities. And though the tools and techniques have evolved, some things haven't changed at all: the sense of creativity, the power of the medium, and the effectiveness in engaging new and existing audiences.

As more nonprofit organizations, events, festivals, sports entities, and even individuals attempt to garner corporate sponsorship participation and dollars, the playing field broadens and competition grows.

How do you know if your opportunity is of value? How do you know if your approach is the strongest? How do you know that you're not leaving money on the table? How do you build a culture that supports corporate involvement?

If you're on the buying side of the table, how do you making buying decisions? How do you know that the opportunities on the table are worth your investment of both dollars and energy? How will you make the best of your resources to execute and follow through with impact? How do you galvanize internal and external support for your initiatives?

These questions linger through time.

My goal with Sponsorship Strategist is to explore the answers together. With you. I invite you to jump in, participate. Ask questions. Suggest answers. Challenge me. Challenge other readers. And in the process, become a sponsorship strategist.

A couple thoughts as we begin:

1. I welcome your participation in the community I hope this blog will create. 
2. Feel free to post your comments; however, please note that I reserve the right to remove posts that are inappropriate or not in the spirit of this blog. For example, this site is not the place to pitch your sponsorship offering, no matter how fabulous it may be.
3. Have fun and feel free to contact me with your suggestions, questions, or topic ideas.  

Ready? Off we go.