Sponsorship Strategist

You know that hope is not a (sponsorship) strategy, right?

You had a great conversation with a prospective sponsor. They’re super excited about the ideas you proposed, and you spend a couple days writing a rockin’ proposal. Your colleagues add more suggestions. You finalize the document and want to pinch yourself—the ideas here are fantastic, and the dollar signs will take your event or organization to a new level. You hit send and count the days till you get to discuss the proposal with the sponsor contact. You just know they’re going to love it and that this is the start of a long-lasting partnership between your organizations. Did I mention all the money your organization is going to generate? Whew! Might as well kick back and wait for the money to flow in, right? Read more →

Don't ask about ROI if you're not really a sponsor

Several corporate representatives recently have asked me about the ROI of their nonprofit sponsorships. They’re wondering how they should be structuring these partnerships for the best results. Then they drop in an important detail. Read more →

Don't wimp out on sponsorship pricing

Here’s some good news and bad news about how to price sponsorship. Bad news? You probably aren’t charging enough for your sponsorship opportunities. The good news? You can change this. Wimpy sponsorship pricing only hurts you. Read more →

10 signs you have a great partner

You're overwhelmed with proposals. You may have success criteria for your sponsorship, but what about for your partners? Here are 10 signs of a successful sponsorship relationship. Read more →

3 ways to improve your sponsorship value

One of the 8 drivers of sponsorship success is the quality of your sponsorship program. When was the last time you took a good hard look at what you’re selling? If your sponsorship program lacks value, you’re propping up a façade, which ultimately undermines your confidence. It’s a new year and time to review and upgrade. Read more →

3 trends to innovate your sponsorship value

If you’ve worked with me or taken one of my workshops, you know that one of my mantras is that selling sponsorship is all about selling the future. If that’s the case, it follows that an important activity for you is to keep an eye on the future, at least the near-term future. You’ll want to pay attention to changes and shifts in the marketplace that present opportunities for your organization and sponsors. These shifts provide you with important information about brands, culture, your audiences, and about the business landscape in general. These patterns can influence new ideas for your sponsorship efforts and value you create. Read on to get started with three trends I see. Read more →

What to consider when you consider sponsorship of a nonprofit organization

If your corporation is going to be strategic about its support of nonprofits — via philanthropy and through sponsorship investments — you have to be intentional about your partnerships, not just accept any opportunity that comes along. Corporations that only think sports when it comes to sponsorship (70 percent of all sponsorship dollars go to sports entities) are missing huge swaths of consumers. Plus they are competing with a lot of other sponsors. Plenty of excellent nonprofit organizations can be fantastic partners, and you’ll stand out from your competition. Here are the essential questions I recommend considering at three stages of your relationship with a nonprofit organization. Read more →

Are you a sponsorship opener or closer?

How’s your sponsorship sales follow through? Are you proactively taking the steps necessary, from beginning to end, to complete sales and move your prospects to the next step, with recovery time in between? Or fizzling out before this important step? Read more →

Sponsor logo clusters and other marketing problems

You know how some marathon t-shirts or nonprofit event emails or hard copy invitations have a big jumble of logos, most of which are so small you can’t even read them? Have you ever wondered whether this glob of logos is valuable? Read Gail Bower's response to Kivi Leroux Miller's "When Sponsor Promotion Consumes Your Communications Channels," who likens this display to a Times Square billboard. Read more →

Sponsorship and relationships

Not all sponsorship deals work out. When they don't, things can get awkward. Learning from a personal experience what can happen when you don't continue to build a relationship. Read more →