Sponsorship levels: Love ’em or leave ’em? Part 1

Research
by IEG over the years shows us that about a decade ago, corporations that work
with nonprofit organizations began asking for “benefits” in exchange for their
“gifts.” This request effectively conflated philanthropy with the marketing
medium known as corporate sponsorship and continues to confuse both nonprofit and corporate
leaders.

Nonprofit
development officers, on whose shoulders it fell to figure out what their
corporate funders were looking for, were stumped. Ultimately, what emerged were
the generic “sponsorship levels” that many organizations put forth as corporate sponsorship
— today’s Gold, Silver & Bronze packages.

Calling Gold, Silver & Bronze levels "sponsorship" is like someone thinking he's experienced New York because he visited New York-New York in Las Vegas.

However,
calling Gold, Silver & Bronze packages corporate sponsorship is like
someone saying that he’s been to Paris or Venice or New York City because he
went to Paris, The Venetian, or New York-New York hotel in Las Vegas. It is not the same thing.

You can
say I’m splitting hairs and arguing semantics. Afterall, if a company sends
your event or initiative money, aren’t they technically “sponsoring’ it, in the
dictionary version of the definition, and isn’t that a good thing?

My vote? No.

In the next three posts, I will provide you with as fair and balanced a picture
for and against as I can develop, and I welcome your discussion and comments. So far, I have 10 cons, 2 pros.

Here are the first 5 reasons to consider moving beyond and even abandoning Gold, Silver, &
Bronze (or other named but equally generic) packages. 

1. Generic. The biggest problem with
   Gold, Silver & Bronze is that they are generic. Every business is
   unique. You can take five banks and each will offer personal checking
   accounts, business checking accounts, mortgages, commercial loans, and
   other offerings, but each one does so differently. Each has its own
   strategy, brand identity, goals, talent, level of innovation, and other
   distinctions. By offering a business something generic, your proposal
   fails to take this differentiation into consideration.
2. Claustrophobia. Business leaders feel
   claustrophobic looking at generic offerings. It says, “take it or leave
   it.” Imagine walking into a boutique that only sells red clothing, with
   the shop owner smugly sitting behind the counter, with a “take it or leave
   it” attitude. How inclined would you be to shop?
3. Misses the point. Most Gold, Silver &
   Bronze packages are a bullet-pointed list of inputs (as opposed to
   outcomes) and almost never offer the most important characteristic about
   corporate sponsorship — that it’s experiential.
4. Undervalue. Because these packages are a
   collection of inputs, they are filled with low-level and even no-value
   “stuff.” Therefore you’re undervaluing what your organization really has
   to offer, which, in my experience with clients, is usually considerable.
5. No focus on ROI. These packages also are the antithesis of what corporations are looking
   for — to generate a return on investment. They want to increase sales, build
   traffic online or to a retail store, encourage product trial, build thought
   leadership, influence opinion, build client relationships, or accomplishing
   myriad other significant business goals. By their very
   nature, generic offerings are not focused on outcomes.

Stay tuned for the next 5 and the 2 reasons for.

In the meantime, what are your experiences with Gold, Silver & Bronze levels of sponsorship?