Top 10 Tips for Sponsorship Connection

After making it through another year of ups and downs, there are a few things on my mind as I look forward to a New Year.  How I’m going to lose the 10 lbs of turkey and seasonal treats, Christmas cookies and egg nog is probably not a unique item on the brain; but there’s more.  As a member of the sponsorship community, I’m well aware that this has been a unique season for sponsorship trends to say the least.

I seriously believe that more than ever, sponsorship opportunity representatives need to inventory best practices in sponsorship connection in order to do more than stay afloat for another year involving economic recovery.  I know it has been a rocky year for many, and while I’m sure there’s some things you’re really happy about, it’s likely that your wheels are already spinning in anticipation for a fresh year of new strategies.  The truth is, marketing decision makers are still big fans of innovative methods of getting in front of their target market.  They are still thinking outside the box, and of all the marketing medium, sponsorship is one of the only investments that hasn’t seen a staggering decrease.

While dollars going out has declined as a whole, sponsorship has not died.  It’s still a powerful method for a brand to get in front of their target audience and make a splash; it’s just that much more competitive in light of shrinking budgets.   I’ll say it again, now more than ever is the time for sponsorship opportunity representatives to inventory best practices and stay ahead of the competition.  I’m a big fan of actionable check lists of to do’s, and so today I’d like to share what we have come up with as our top 10 key tips to finding a sponsor.  My hope is that it helps to equip you for an even more successful 2010 in sponsorship.

1. Write a relevant initial proposal – This is not the final customized piece (which comes after you have already established interest).  The initial proposal communicates the most relevant information up front; which quickly established whether a partnership is realistic.  It’s no longer about whether the marketing director likes basketball (for example); it’s whether the investment is going to impact his bottom line.
2. Offer tiered packages / benefits – When you communicate the benefits of partnering to a sponsor, a quick way to kill interest is not to offer options, or worse, no insight at all as to what you’re asking price might be. Your tiers should also be cascading – make it worth a sponsors while to offer more support in exchange for a more extensive package of benefits.  A la carte sponsorships make it tougher to offer bigger sponsors a distinguishing value for their investment – and we know from research that exclusivity is tremendously valuable to a sponsor.  Don’t let less valuable sponsors cherry pick your offering until there’s no way to land a more valuable partner.
3. Cast a vision – Clearly as one who represents a sponsorship opportunity you have a passion for what you are doing, paint that picture for why it’s a big deal – tell your story. But be careful to pair feelings with thinking. Pair qualitative with quantitative reasoning.  Connect the dots for why your opportunity and your turnkey efforts are a perfect match for the goals of your sponsor (this does take knowing what they’re after as well).
4. Quantify your value in as many ways as possible – While there are some benefits you can’t assign a number to, such as popularity or the loyalty of your customer base; there are many things that you can, such as: target audience information, media and broadcast exposure, and category exclusivity you could offer.  The economy has made consumers more aware of corporate spending and required accountability with decision makers. Make it clear and easy to defend as to why they should partner with you.
5. Pursue those who have reason to be interested in you – This means you will need to do your homework and be sure to know something about what that company is doing and where they are going.
6. Build a strong network – If two equally beneficial opportunities are presented to a sponsor, they are going to pick the one that they have existing ties with. Connect with as many people as possible – a great time to start this is with current sponsors!
7. Consider using an agency or connecting resource – Agencies generally speaking get paid when you see results, so they are working harder than ever right now. Best of all, SponsorPark allows sponsors to use our outsourcing tool for free – present yourself where sponsors are looking!
8. Give yourself plenty of time – Sponsorship can take 6-9 months to connect with the most appropriate person for a small to medium sized opportunity – longer for larger opportunities; negotiate a partnership, and sign a contract. The larger the sponsorship deal the longer it can take to close. This is also why it’s a good idea to pursue more than one sponsor at a time. Work smarter not harder!
9. Don’t sell yourself short – Even in a world where you might have to add perks you wouldn’t normally add to sell the sponsorship, or consider additional assets to bundle for more package options, make sure your pricing aligns with the value you’re offering a sponsor.  When the economy bounces back, you don’t want to be stuck in a rut because you undersold your sponsorship previously.
10. Ask your sponsor what they want out of the Partnership – Once interest has been established and an initial meeting set, ask your sponsor what they want. At this point you have done enough research to know the basics about what they might consider a goal of the partnership, but stay on top of the ever-changing corporate world. Who knows, they might come up with even better ideas than you initially considered.  Remember that this is a mutually beneficial relationship – and if you want a sponsor to turn into a long term partner, you need to make sure their needs are being met as well.

Lace up those tennis shoes and get ready to hit the ground running in this New Year, we’ll be running too!

This post was written by Emily Taylor, Director of Business Development at Sponsorpark.com