Finding the right community program or event to sponsor is not easy. Considerable time, effort, research and money is involved in making sponsorships work — on both the “buy” side and the “sell” side. Putting themselves in the “buy” side mindset will give organizers of not-for-profit events greater success in attracting and retaining corporate support. Companies that sponsor an NFP project should realize that a company cannot be all things to all people, so less is often more in sponsorships.

The right sponsorship commitment can be a powerful marketing communications vehicle that proclaims and enhances an organization’s customer care, employee care and community care priorities.
But few firms effectively measure their sponsorship success. Gut feeling, best guessing and wishful thinking are often the responses to the question posed by senior management: “What is the ROI of our sponsorship investments?”

Before you can measure what you’re getting out of a sponsorship investment — ideally, before you get involved in one — you will need to understand why this is an important opportunity. You’ll need to invest time to find out if and why your key stakeholders care about a particular sponsorship investment.

Then, you need to craft a sponsorship selection model for choosing not only property rights, but also the right partners who will enhance your company’s reputation and image, and financial commitment.

To help corporations create such a selection model, and to help NFP organizations put their best feet forward, I did some research into what matters most to businesses that take on corporate sponsorships.

Too many event organizers approach corporations at the last minute, looking for quick-hit financial contributions but leaving little time to build relationships. The PBK Community Partnership Effectiveness Checklist will help NFPs evaluate their approach. It will also help people on the “buy” side to critique sponsorship proposals and clarify the expectations of potential partners.

The key areas of the evaluation checklist are: “Agreement between the partners;” “Implementation of the sponsorship,” and “Measurement of satisfaction and performance.” Each section has 10 items for consideration.

Agreement

> Our organization has a good reputation for attracting and satisfying the right sponsors, enabling them to make a meaningful community investment by supporting our cause.

> We did research to determine what our prospective sponsor wants to achieve.

> We had a personal contact plan in place for getting to know a prospect.

> We asked key contacts to help us reach the right sponsorship decision-maker.

> We focused on “friend raising,” before asking for financial support.

> We understood our prospect’s business goals, brand positioning and target audience.

> We allowed ample time to establish a strong strategic “fit” with a sponsor.

> All partners in the sponsorship were clear about objectives, roles and expectations.

> A contract was signed with plenty of time to deliver on all promises.

> We focused on desired outcomes and the event audience’s needs and benefits.

Implementation

> We developed an audience-centric sponsorship policy with our sponsor’s input.

> We developed an integrated action plan for fulfilling all our promises.

> We followed a well-defined risk-management policy, with backups for everything.

> We encouraged our sponsor to work closely with our event organizing committee.

> We organized an advisory council, involving people from our sponsor company.

> We secured media sponsors to help raise profile and promotion.

> We ensured that sponsor logo recognition was applied to our sponsor’s satisfaction.

> We proactively looked for ways to leverage our sponsor’s name and association with us.

> We stressed professionalism, and gave our sponsor regular updates.

> We spent quality time with our sponsor,
and met others supporting our work.

Measurement

> We measured what matters most to our sponsor and its key stakeholders.

> We explained what our sponsor’s role
means to the event and to our audience.

> We frequently asked our sponsor if it was
pleased with the value they were receiving.

> We thanked our sponsor one-to-one and
publicly for its contribution.

> We optimized promotional investment and
publicity efforts, keeping within budget.

> We produced a summary report,
measuring and evaluating results against plan.

> We valued our sponsor’s total contribution (name, expertise and money).

> We shared feedback from our audience, volunteers, employees and customers.

> We celebrated success, and recognized important personal and team contributions.

> Our sponsor was pleased, and plans to continue supporting our work.

For a copy of the PBK Community Partnership Effectiveness Checklist©, e-mail pbk@cogeco.ca IE