How to balance the friction

Nonprofit organizations tend to fall in one of 4 categories when it comes to corporate sponsorship:

1. Embrace marketing-driven corporate sponsorship and weave it into their overall resource development plans.
2. Are a little tentative, unsure about the possibilities, have had some success, but mostly unsure about the viability of partnering with the corporate sector.
3. See the world of corporate sponsors as a sort of utopia where people are just giving money away.
4. See the corporate sector as one big evil, greedy, horrendous ill on society. They'd like the money they may have to offer, but they're not so sure it's safe to accept it.

Except for category 1, folks in any of the other categories may not have the full picture of corporate sponsorship. It is neither heaven nor hell, though certainly we may experience both good days and challenging ones in our pursuits partnering with corporations.

To expand your understanding of corporate sponsorship, especially if you're unsure or mystified about corporate sponsorship, please join me on Friday, October 16, 2009, for a one-hour teleseminar, Getting Started in Sponsorship: Is corporate sponsorship right for your organization or event? My goal is to share the realities, the pros and cons, the benefits and requirements so nonprofit leaders can make informed, strategic decisions about whether partnering with the corporate sector makes sense.

If you have a burning question that will make all the difference in your expectations of this teleseminar, please submit a comment and let me know what it is, OK?

Thanks!