Sponsorship Strategist

Time change

I don't know about you, but the Daylight Savings Time change has got me all mixed up. My sleep patterns are off, I feel groggy, and I'm racing to reestablish my circadian rhythm.

Just like our bodies' biological rhythms, sponsorship development has a rhythm, too. Are you in the optimum rhythm? Or do you feel a little off? Here are few signs to help you recognize that you're off-beat.

1. Stressed. You're feeling super-stressed about landing sponsors ASAP because your event is only a couple months away.
2. Conflicted. You really should be tending to other tasks and activities to ensure that you're event is successful, but you know you have to get sponsorship dollars pronto (hence the stress, see #1).
3. Disappointed and under budget. You've actually managed to confirm a few companies' committments, but you're disappointed because they're only agreeing to very low-level participation.

How do you fix it? Make a pledge to begin sponsorship development for the next year of your existing events as soon as you complete this year's. 

Your sponsors' abilities to achieve success, as defined by their metrics and the business results they seek, are contingent on having adequate time to implement. Usually sponsors have numerous internal steps they need to take to align internal departments to execute. Similarly, you need adequate time to sell, develop, and fulfill all aspects of your offerings.

A handy guide

Time needed to:

• Secure new sponsors for an existing event            1 year
• Renew sponsors for an existing event                   9 months 
• Secure sponsors for a new event                          18-24 months
• Launch a new sponsorship program                       1+ years

Do the best you can this year, and work now to adjust your sense of timing for 2014 and beyond.

The Banished 13: Corporate sponsorship practices we could do without in 2013

 

It's a new year and an excellent time to consider your sponsorship operation anew. Here are 13 practices by both corporations and sponsorship sellers that are a good place to start. Time to let these dated, ineffective behaviors or operations go.

Suggestions for corporate sponsors.

1. Online forms. The conundrum is that you receive tons of proposals that don't begin to meet your objectives. I get it. My company receives enough off-the-mark sponsorship proposals to make the extrapolation easy. But here's the thing: you're turning away good opportunities and the potential for meaningful relationships with organizations that won't waste their time.
2. Logo + cash only ≠ sponsorship results. The key characteristic of corporate sponsorship is the experiential opportunity it offers your product, service, and/or brand. Failing to take advantage of this attribute wastes money and will not generate results. It's the equivalent of buying a TV schedule and not sending the station the spot.
3. Poor relationship management. Many factors contribute to successful and enduring sponsorships. Trusting relationships is key among these factors. Participate in these relationships, even when the situation is rocky. Need to make changes? Say so. Facing budget or strategic changes? Say so. Not getting what you need from your partner? Say so. 
4. Devaluing the qualitative. Sponsorship is a qualitative medium. This is old news. Every person writing about sponsorship has written this since the beginning of (sponsorship) time. It's what makes sponsorship valuable. Don't confuse qualitative with no results. How do you put numbers around improving relationships with key clients?
5. Nonprofits don't do your dirty work. While it's true that partnering with a nonprofit can have numerous image-enhancing benefits, turning around your tarnished image is not the sector's job. I'll never forget the look on the face of a young development officer at an organization that preserves Pennsylvania farmland when she asked me whether she should build a relationship with a real estate developer that was persuing her. She was relieved when I recommended she explore the developer's motives and to feel free to say, "No, thank you," if they were not aligned with her organization's.
6. Fads and the faded. Can 2013 please be the year that the gold rush of crowdsourced funding (fad) and every company thinking they'll celebrate their women customers by sticking a pink ribbon on their products (faded) ends? Thanks.

Suggestions for sponsorship sellers.

1. Gold, Silver, Bronze, and other generic levels. Generic sponsorship packages are all about you and not your partner. That means they're not designed to get results, and you're leaving money on the table. Lots of it.
2. Blanket mailings. Blasting an email or letter with a generic sponsorship proposal is the opposite of how to sell sponsorship. Focus on building relationships. Focus on results. You'll see your own results. I promise.
3. Poor sales techniques. Being successful selling sponsorship is about two key areas: (1) being creative and strategic in your recommendations to sponsors and (2) having excellent business development skills. If you're not constantly honing these two areas, others will outperform you and your organization.
4. Entitlement attitude. This suggestion is for the nonprofit sellers. Yes, the nonprofit sector provides immence value to our communities — services that neither the business nor government sector is willing or able to provide. However, this important role does not entitle your organization to expect dollars and donations automatically. You're competing in a marketplace. Provide value. Deliver results. Be a great partner.
5. Plan with enough time. Sponsorship development requires 9 to 12 months and longer for a new event or if you're new to sponsorship. Relieve your stress and build that time into your schedule.
6. Poor structure. As noted above in #3, you need a healthy dose of creativity and strategy to make sponsorship work for your partner's organization and yours. Are your sponsors really engaged in your events? Are they shouting from the rooftops that they're part of your event or initiative? If not, one reason might be that you've not structured your arrangement well for you.

Suggestions for corporations and sponsorship sellers.

1. Conflating corporate sponsorship and philanthropy. Folks, these are two separate functions. If you're contributing dollars to a nonprofit, don't expect marketing and sales results. If a for-profit event is calling you about a sponsorship opportunity, don't forward them to your philanthropy office. Nonprofits, be clear which support you're looking for so you have the right discussion with the right people and ask for and propose the best ideas.

Out with the old.

Happy New Year! I hope 2013 is an amazing year for your sponsorship results.

 

Control your sponsorship program

People often agonize about the presumably negative impact corporate sponsorship will have on nonprofit organizations or their municipalities or parks. A recent Huffington Post piece, The Eternal Non-Profit Dilemma: How Much Corporate Sponsorship?, summarizes a few of the concerns perfectly:

1. Corporations will take over and the nonprofit will have no control;
2. Sponsors' money may go away; and
3. A corporation most in need of an image boost would sully the nonprofit's name and reputation.

Stop the agonizing. Here's the good news. You have control over your sponsorship program, and you have control over these issues.

Control

You may think you have no control, but you do. You must set parameters and policies generally and with each opportunity you create. Your sponsorship operation should set an intention: "to partner." You know your event or opportunity inside out, and your sponsors know their businesses. You must guide them to developing a specific opportunity with your event or initiative that works for both of you.

You get to say how they may leverage the sponsorship on site. You get to develop ideas with them that bring their brand to life. You get to help them meet their business goals and at the same time educate them about sponsorship of your event. Sometimes you also have to say "no."

Build business

Yes, sponsors' investments may go away some day. The marketplace is dynamic. New strategies, new products, new leadership, and new realities all affect corporate plans. This piece does fall out of your control. However, three elements are in your control:

1. Developing sponsorship relationships should be an ongoing activity so you can diversify your revenue. Do not put all your eggs in one basket.
2. Keep each sponsorship relationship and execution fresh. Stay current with your sponsors' goals and develop ideas constantly to support them.
3. Strive to grow each sponsor's involvement and investment in their sponsorship.

No relationship will last forever, and you may find this to be a good thing.

Fit

Your organization should only partner with those companies that are very well-aligned with your organization or event's purpose or mission (among other criteria). If you don't, the sponsorship will not be successful, your credibility will be harmed, and the money will go away. Corporations want results from their sponsorship investments, and they will not derive results if your audiences and opportunities don't allow that to happen. It's in your best interest, therefore, to say "no" to a potential sponsor that is not the right fit than to take the money.

A few years ago, a young development manager at a nonprofit that preserved Pennsylvania farmland attended a workshop I conducted. With a pained look on her face, she asked whether agreeing to a partnership with a real estate developer who wanted to sponsor an event of theirs was something she should pursue. When I suggested she explore this developer's future plans, reasons for wanting to sponsor, and the firm's values and goals, she was relieved. So pressured to generate revenue at all costs, she knew that this company might not be the best fit for her organization's brand.

If partnering with a particular company is akin to partnership with your arch enemy, why are you having the discussion. A peace organization would not partner with a gun manufacturer or a defense contractor. An anti-obesity organization would not partner with processed food or beverage companies. An organization for older women would not partner with a company selling sneakers to 18-24 year old men.

Find companies that are aligned with your mission and who are seeking to engage with the audiences you reach. Develop great ideas for each other and build the relationship – and new ones – over time.

 

Creating new links in your sponsorship relationships

One of my Mentor Program clients called me today to let me know the results of advice I'd given. About a week or so after his event, he began a round of calls with clients to debrief. He told me how good it felt to speak with a key sponsor who was really impressed by my client's follow up.

The sponsor also was very pleased with their partnership and shared other feedback – ways my client could improve another component of his event. That led to a conversation about other ways the two might partner on this event next year and on other events the organization produces that the sponsor is also interested in.

Of course, my client is excited about the possibilities of developing this business. But he was more genuinely excited about the potential of this relationship. By just being himself – a warm, caring, generous person – he's easily building his sponsorship business.

And that's how it works with the right partners. 

Making that post event call is really important. He hadn't made those types of calls last year, so when it came time to contact sponsors for the 2012 event, he was uncomfortable, unsure, and nervous. But now he has closure to this year's event which already led to the opening of next year's.  Most importantly, he created another link on the chain of this relationship. 

Think like a starving artist, and you won't starve

One day last week, I left a meeting with someone who is under a great deal of pressure because of current budget squeezes that impact her nonprofit organization's funding. The physical sensations of stress she described were indelible, and I felt a great deal of empathy as I walked through the City towards my office.

I passed the Merriam Theatre in Philadelphia, and a crowd spilling out onto the sidewalk, hours before showtime, piqued my curiousity. Then I heard drumming. Stomp was in town, and at this very moment, they were conducting a masterclass for high school-aged – and very enthusiastic – kids. 

With nothing more than plastic buckets, wooden sticks, and passion, this drumming circle crackled with energy. If you've ever seen Stomp, you can imagine.

It reminded me of a few things:

• The human spirit is a live wire of creativity, passion, and inspiration. Accessing that energy requires no budget.
• Anyone feeling stressed or pressured can find instant relief through the arts – music, visual art, performance, wonderful writing, beauty in some form. Our own internal creative energies can help us through a challenge.
• Shouldn't arts funding be as critical as human services funding? (Yes, that's rhetorical.)
• We have a mythology about the starving artist. The most creative and artistic people revel in the constraints of their craft. Sure, they spend lots of time fantasizing about what they'd do with piles of money. The best and most innovative push on, transcending the constraints and making the most of their resources.

And that's where you might be inspired. Rather than focus on what you don't have, perhaps you might think more creatively and bigger about what you do have. Perhaps you have more to offer than you might imagine, or can focus your sponsorship effort in a new way that yields bolder results.

Today I received a press release about the Blue Cranes, jazz artists from Portland, OR, about to launch a cross country/East Coast tour by train. They rallied their friends and friends' friends on a Kickstart fundraising effort, raising nearly $7,000 to cover their costs. They also sought a rail sponsor and found a promotional partner in the National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) which so far has written a blog post about the tour.

Blue Cranes' print publicist Matt Merewitz and the band members developed some great ideas for a rail partner. Blogging along the way. Performances by the quintet at station stops. Mentions to the group's audiences all along the tour. They're all great ideas which hopefully will come to life with a committed partner on the next tour. NARP, for now, is simply a promotional partner, and my hope is that they recognize the value of having an innovative band exemplify NARP's ideals, encouraging people to travel by train, and commit at more appropriate levels in the future. My hunch is that Blue Cranes' fans and audiences share the values of America's railroad passengers but who may not have considered train travel as an option.

"I believe in their mission," alto sax player Reed Wallsmith said about NARP. He looks forward to the collaboration. 

While I wanted to hear reports of a great partnership between the two and cash and/or inkind fees commensurate with the exchange of value, I remain hopeful that that will happen in time. What I am excited about seeing, which is exactly my point, is that the Blue Cranes are making things happen. They set out to accomplish a revenue goal and through lots of ingenuity on their part, they accomplished it. Next time, they'll have stronger ideas and new skills that they can use to secure a substantial sponsor or two. (NARP, you have a great opportunity, so I hope you're thinking big, too!)

If you're struggling with making your fiscal year-end or event budget goals, do what you need to do to shake the anxiety and stress. Shift your energy and reconnect with your own creativity. You need new ideas, fresh thinking, and a way to see your work, your event, your sponsorship offering from a new angle. That's when you'll think big and pursue big partners to leverage big results.

To check out the Blue Cranes and  learn more about their tour, watch their video below or visit their web site for dates near you. Blue Cranes photo credit: Jen Downer

 

At the heart of selling sponsorship

At the end of 2010, I had lunch with a colleague, a business development professional for a large investment firm. He told me that in 2010, he went on 750 sales calls. I almost fell off my chair. That is a huge number of people to meet, get to know, serve, stay in touch with, and synthesize into your business and professional life. And that's what he does. Pretty impressive. (He was also looking forward to getting some rest over the holidays!)

How many calls to and meetings with prospective corporate sponsors did you make last year? 

And sponsors, how many new opportunities with nonprofits, events, festivals, conferences, associations or regions did you explore?

It's a new year. Wouldn't it be a great idea to get out there and shake things up a bit? Go meet some new people. Talk to businesses you've never met with before or learn about a sponsorship opportunity you never thought about. Sponsors, you have no idea what great opportunities could be coming at you that your online system deters.

Selling today is pretty challenging. Besides budgets remaining pretty flat everywhere and ROI being an imperative, technology makes penetrating walls, having dialogues, connecting, finding common ground, and collaborating more difficult. 

And more necessary.

One way to rise above it all is to stick your neck out. Show your passion for something. Generate some good ideas. Use your ideas – as long as they're relevant and aligned with the other's priorities – as a way to gain access. Who can resist someone with a thoughtful idea they're passionate about?

If you need a little ammunition, a little inspiration, watch this TED Talk. Then, go for it. Take a chance! Happy New Year!

 

More on how NOT to approach potential corporate sponsors

I realize times may still be tough, but that does not mean you or your organization can abandon accepted business practices when selling sponsorship.

Here are several examples of what not to do:

1. Spam selling. Sending a mass email to a list of strangers is not only spam but also highly ineffective. Ditto for mass mailing. I've written about this before and others have posted the article on their sites: Fender Music Foundation, Sponsorpitch.com. This approach is exactly the opposite of what to do.
2. Yelling at a corporate representative. A representative from a retail-driven corporation told me about an experience with a customer, who also sought sponsorship. The customer yelled at her, telling her that she'd just spent $600 at the retail establishment, and therefore this corporation ought to sponsor this customer's organization. Uh, no.
3. Just invoice. Yesterday I met a businessperson who told me that she'd received not one but two solicitations from nonprofits that essentially skipped over the selling process entirely by including an invoice. "What did they think? That we're stupid and would just pay it?" she said. A former nonprofit leader herself, this woman hoped this was not the start of a trend, dismayed at the sense of "entitlement" and eschewing of "please and thank yous."
4. Bidding. During the last year, as the impact of the recession worsened conditions for many municipal and state governments, reports appeared that quoted civic leaders' intention to put new sponsorship opportunities up for bid. Would that it were so easy.

Developing sponsorship opportunities that work, that are effective, that generate results requires collaboration, partnership, trusting relationships, and lots of ingenuity. (A note to corporate leaders: requiring nonprofits to fill out online forms also falls under the "what not to do" category. I realize you've created this electronic submission process to insulate yourselves from a deluge of off-target requests. But know that you may be weeding out some good opportunities who just don't have time to waste on a generic form.) Resist the urge to follow one of these other approaches.

Don't force the fit

A participant on a webinar I presented today asked me an interesting question, and I'm guessing other nonprofit – and corporate – leaders may be wondering about the same thing.

The individual wanted my opinion on how to overcome possible negative perceptions or stigma associated with the cause. (Not the organization itself, but the issue that this and hundreds of other organizations worldwide address.) Diverse audiences attend events held across the US and Canada to help raise a lot of money for a cause that affects a lot of lives.

Here's what I told this person:

1. Destigmatize. As the sponsorship seller of the event or property (or even internally at the corporation), it's your job to educate your corporate partners. (In doing so, you also fulfill your mission.) Help corporate leaders understand the truth, the pervasiveness of the issue, and why fear (which is what a stigma is rooted in) is unnecessary and unhelpful.
2. Audiences. Provide good data on who the audiences are, why they care about this cause, and how, by participating in this event, the corporation will actually reach a broader audience. That the corporation will be aligned with addressing or fighting this cause may be a positive to this particular audience.
3. Stop beating your head against the wall. Don't expect every corporation to get it. This may not be a fit for them or for you. That's OK. Move on to a prospect better matched for your organization and event.

Have you dealt with this issue? What other suggestions have you found to be effective?

Wondering why corporate sponsorship for your nonprofit is confusing?

Even if you can't, you'll have to get used to the new handle. City officials yesterday announced that Wawa Inc. is the new title sponsor of the July Fourth festival, replacing Sunoco Inc., which had been associated with the multi-day event since the mid-1990s.

via www.philly.com

Congratulations to Welcome America! and Wawa on a new partnership for Philadelphia's 4th of July festivities. You can read all about it at this link.

Take particular note of Sunoco's comments. It's not unusual for corporations to take a different approach with their marketing dollars, especially in times of changing market conditions, which the oil industry has definitely encountered in the last 5+ years. Sunoco's current interests make sense, and I look forward to seeing how they invest those funds.

What concerns me is the confusion around "community resources" and marketing dollars. From what I could see, Welcome America! provided Sunoco with considerable marketing exposure, yet Sunoco seems to have considered these dollars "community resources," subject to new philanthropic direction.

I'm wondering about a few questions. Has Sunoco valued the marketing opportunity it has had? Has Sunoco's marketing team really seized the partnership and integrated it fully throughout its business units?

Why does Sunoco feel that sponsoring one of the country's biggest US birthday bashes is mutually exclusive from its new philanthropic interest? After all, Mayor Nutter has made a commitment to being a green city, and the festival touches a broad base of Philadelphians, who contribute to or benefit from enhanced educational and workforce development efforts.

Corporate support of nonprofits should not remain in one corporate silo. Indeed successful corporate sponsorship execution involves integrating and fully leveraging the sponsorship through multiple business units. (A great example of this McDonald's and their ties to the Olympics.)

To nonprofits and corporations: you co-create your partnership. Think big, collaborate, and incorporate multiple strategic interests.

The art-making of this year's Olympic medals and torch

Thanks to my friend and colleague Myriam Siftar, president of LinguaSoft, for sending me this article from Innovation Philadelphia's newsletter about design showcased at the Olympics. I encourage you to have a look.

Here is a video that I also highly encourage you to watch (it's a great way to spend about 7 minutes) on the story behind the beautiful design and creation of this year's gold, silver, and bronze medals. Works of art with an incredible story.