How to Get Sponsorships - Free e-Class

There's an easy formula for getting sponsors for your project, music, organization or event can be. It's Lesson 4 of my How to Get Sponsors e-Course and it's on the house! Using simple, proven tactics, I show you the process for obtaining sponsorships - including the technique for quickly receiving checks in the mail in as little as 3 days. This is just one lesson of an exciting, 12- lesson online course. To register for the entire course, visit http://getsponsors.8k.com

Fran

Greetings!

Welcome back. Today in Lesson 4 of your 12- lesson, How to Get Sponsors e-training, we will discuss several modules that should be of great interest. Again, it's huge, but not at all difficult to grasp. You're doing a great job so far. Today we address some very important questions including: The number one question a sponsor wants answered in the proposal.

How to Get Sponsors: Lesson 4

Creating a Specific Strategy for Securing a Sponsorship:

Experimentation time is over. Corporations are putting big money behind sponsor campaigns. For example, PepsiCo recently shifted $20 million of its Super Bowl TV ad money to social cause marketing. When setting up your strategy for securing sponsorships, make sure you have project goals and mission before even approaching a prospect.

"We look for organizations that have business in their mission statement."

- Patti Ross, IBM marketing executive

Client-focused Questions

Never go in just seeking to receive cash from a sponsor. Creating a reciprocal road map is imperative for sponsorship success. The following are some important questions that can assist you in your assessment:

-- What are my monthly, quarterly, and annual cash goals?

-- Are the sponsor and my product compatible?

-- What skills will I need to effectively implement my sponsor-seeking activities?

-- Who is my ideal sponsor?

-- How will I make my first list of prospects based on this criterion?

--When will I make my first list of prospects?

-- What system will I use to identify, one time, quarterly, and annual sponsorships?

-- What are the special events or initiatives that I plan to host?

-- What is my timeframe for each action?

Upon answering the questions, you will immediately have a written plan that gives you a timeline, identifies your target market and outlines your financial goals.

What Are You Conveying to Your Sponsor?

In your written and oral communications, always make a point to deliver in a positive and attractive light. What you send or give to people should project the image you want to convey: interesting, clear, concise, compelling, and descriptive. Be sure to proofread your work for spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

Sponsor materials such as brochures, flyers, and other documents are relatively easy and inexpensive to create. They should always be written on letterhead stationery and addressed to the appropriate individual. Additionally, they should describe the purpose of the sponsorship and the particulars of your effort. In the lessons to come, you will be provided with templates for several appeal letters and proposals.

In both your appeal letters and formal proposals, it is best to ask for a specific amount and to include as an enclosure a self-addressed envelope. There are many effective ways to present a proposal. Although there is no industry standard, there are certain fundamentals that should be executed. For example, make reference to current sponsors when appropriate.

When sending a letter asking for nominal sponsorship, you may consider enclosing materials which can assist you, including:

-- Your product or organization's history

-- Copies of press releases and feature stories

-- Testimonials

-- Photographs

-- Awards

Tips for Approaching Community Agencies and Corporations for Sponsorship

After identifying the prospect, it's time to hone in on the important elements for your initial contact. The key is to connect with the mindset and goals of your prospective donor. You can best do this by gaining a thorough understanding of the organization so you have an idea of the best type of contribution to ask for. Be sure to include achievements and milestones your group has attained in your initial contact as well as in your meeting. Enthusiastically present them with a portfolio or proposal and explain the benefits - or the "What's in it for me? - aspect they'll receive by being affiliated with you. Your sponsors want to know "What's in it for me?" Tell them. If you don't do that, you'll lose them before you have them. The following is a list of why corporations typically sponsor:

Media Promotion

Increased affinity with their consumers

Cause-related Advertising

Cause-related Marketing

Increased Database

Increased foot and web traffic

Increased Profits

Sponsorship Proposals Include a Solid Case for Support

The secret to securing sponsorships through your verbal and written communications is outlined in why you are saying what you do. To succeed, you must state your case for why a sponsor should support you. Your case for support is a viable. An excellent one will have your sponsor entering a partnership today. An effective case statement satisfies three criteria. It must be:

Credible

Your sponsor must believe that you have the resources and competence to do what you say you will do. They must agree that the money they contribute is a necessary component in the means justifying.

Clear

You must demonstrate a clear connection between the need you are addressing and how a sponsorship will meet that need. Remember: this is a sponsorship. Don't spend a lot of time identifying a "problem" or making a plea for a "donation." Sponsors need a reason to sponsor; and not necessarily a reason to give. The "bottom line" converts into money. The clearer you make this correlation, the more likely your sponsor will sign a contract.

Compelling

Your job is to help your prospect see that your goals and mission are compelling. Corporations become interested in you based upon how they perceive you. Your objective is to present yourself as an influencer who has the power to make an impact upon their consumers as well as their organization. Illustrate your vision concisely and persuasively and invest time in developing a solid case for their sponsorship. Sponsors often sign after reading a proposal if it's compelling, informative, entertaining and inspiring.

Never overlook the obvious. You must attain your sponsor by creating and using a powerful sponsor acquisition program such as this course. You cannot afford to simply mail to your existing donors only. You need to replace the donors who never renew. Without a steady influx of new donors, you will be moving backwards each year, not forwards.

Once you have a sponsor, work diligently to keep them. This is called sponsor cultivation. Upwards of 97 percent of sponsors acquired by an individual or organization never sponsor again simply because they were not asked to. Long-term, professional relationships are the most important variable in your program. A successful sponsorship program resigns the sponsor quarter after quarter, or year after year. Operate so you are consistently acquiring new, and resigning your current sponsors.

Raise Your Sponsor's Contribution

An important aim of your program is impress your sponsor enough so that they increase their commitment and loyalty to your program. If you delivered the deliverables, resign and raise the contribution when you approach your sponsor again. It shouldn't be difficult. When you successfully manage and implement per your agreement, your income will increase and your initiative will flourish.

Great job! That's it for today, I will see you tomorrow for Lesson 5. We'll talk about who are the best prospects for sponsors, the reasons why big corporations need you, and EXACTLY how a New Hampshire man snagged a $50,000 sponsorship.

All the best,

Fran Briggs

Creator of the

The How to Get Sponsors e-Course,

http://getsponsors.8k.com

PH. 206.279.0818