Comments on: What exactly is corporate sponsorship?

By: Why Our Phone Rang Off The Hook With Potential Sponsors

Why Our Phone Rang Off The Hook With Potential Sponsors — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 09:19:12 +0000

[...] you’ve read some of my past posts here and here or seen my tweets you know I have a lot of passion and opinions about sponsorship. I, [...]

By: tracibrowne

tracibrowne — Mon, 24 May 2010 20:00:23 +0000

Thanks for the comments Lalia. I think you brought up another good point. That is, you should have a strategic plan in place. That makes saying no to certain requests a bit easier…it’s not personal…it’s business.

By: Lalia Helmer

Lalia Helmer — Mon, 24 May 2010 19:00:23 +0000

You raise some great points here, ones that apply to any business/non-profit partnerships. What one often sees with sponsorships is just a name on a banner, a t-shirt, maybe a big ad for the event, or a name in a program. These small donations may be alright if they are part of a philanthropic plan that includes miscellaneous giving, but are better if they are part of a business’s strategically planned giving program. An essential component of the strategic giving plan should be defining the partnership between the business and the charity, a partnership that creates growth for both parties.

By: tracibrowne

tracibrowne — Mon, 24 May 2010 14:03:32 +0000

Hi Mati, I’m definitely not saying that charity does not have its place in for profit or non-profit events. Many organizations have an in-service day where attendees spend a day helping our in the community where the meeting is held. We often include ways to raise money for charities in our events. We have even offered sponsors the ability to choose a non-profit organization to exhibit for free at our events. So yes, I do believe a market driven sponsorship can include a donation.

By: Mati

Mati — Sat, 22 May 2010 21:03:23 +0000

Okay coming from an event and marketing background I totally understand the frustration here. At the risk of overstepping the subject a bit and maybe making matters worse (marketing or philanthropy dept.) I have a question.
Would you if you could combine value partnerships with philanthropic opportunities? Somewhat like combining show sponsorship with cause marketing. Of course done in a manner that continues to serve the goals of the company and the show.
I ask because of a client I’m working with that has the opportunity to offer an interesting option to shows and sponsors as well as exhibitors. It’s a charity gift that can take many forms and can creatively be used to offer multiple marketing opportunities and do good. A “Feel good sponsorship” opportunity.
Your pointing out the confusion that has occurred sparked a dilemma or possibly a solution as to the approach my client should take when presenting their option.
So what if a “marketing driven sponsorship” could include a donation? Thoughts?

By: tracibrowne

tracibrowne — Thu, 13 May 2010 15:57:10 +0000

I think everything you have said in your comment here is true Benjamin. What you have described is to our point. These are not sponsorships or partnerships.

I start the post immediately with “I contact the head of marketing to propose a meeting to discuss their potential sponsorship of the event. The purpose of the meeting is to see if there is a partnership fit on both sides. ” Of course we research the companies we target to see if there is any kind of fit between our goals and their marketing goals. The meeting is to discuss that potential further. We do not even present a sponsorship proposal until we have met with them and received the go ahead they would be interested.

I think your comment is a perfect example of how companies misunderstand what sponsorship is. Your post addresses development directors and you talk about there being a variety of things you’d love to support. This indicates you think, like those I am calling, that sponsorship is a charitable donation. So I guess I thank you for giving a real life example of the misunderstanding. Now the reader can understand the frustration.

I encourage you to go back and read the post again and check out the links provided. You will see that I and Gail are the biggest advocates out there for creating custom sponsorships that add value to both parties. Oh, and also, our events are for profit events so we are in no way asking for a charitable donation.

By: Benjamin Slayter

Benjamin Slayter — Thu, 13 May 2010 15:43:28 +0000

Jenise asked me to comment on this after responding on twitter, “the problem comes from the host organization NOT supplying the value they claim and our bosses wanting results, not unicorns.”

My perspective on this is as follows. We are an event rental company and every organization (local, across the country, you name it) seems to think that just because we rent stuff that they want that it would be a “Great partnership”. They offer logo placement, they offer “a whole table for your employees” and they offer all sorts of stuff that we don’t need, and in the end we usually have to decline because 1) it’s not in our budget to donate for every “great” cause out there and 2) the “value” of the partnership to us isn’t anywhere near what it is to them.

To all of the development directors out there who get this, thank you for not hounding our company to provide first class service, products, and most importantly our time for your event for free. Understand that there are a variety of things that we love to support, but can’t afford to do them all.

To those who haven’t been able to “get it” yet, don’t worry. In an industry roundtable discussion with corporate sponsorship heads from Delta and Coca Cola last year at a conference, what they told the audience was have a unique goal in mind. Don’t offer a sponsor a list of things that they’re most likely not interested – try to create – and find – value for them in what you’re trying to do. If you’re asking someone to come in and do something for you for free or at a reduced cost, spend more than five minutes printing out what you did for your last event, and thinking that they’re somehow going to want to get involved.

The scope of this discussion is huge, but hopefully my comments will either enl9ighten or inflame someone to respond, and then we can really start looking at the issue.