Once you have researched your potential sponsor’s target audience and goals, you are ready to reach out, though it can be difficult to identify the decision maker.  Here are 3 things to remember:

1. Sponsorship is a marketing tool, so the marketing department is always a good place to start.
2. If you are approaching a small company that doesn’t have a marketing department, speak with the owner(s).
3. Always confirm that the person you are speaking to is the right person to help you, before sending over detailed information.  Keep your ask short/quick and make it easy for them to respond.

At the Moores Group, we specialise in helping small businesses be successful in securing sponsors.  Here are 4 tips we use to find the decision maker:

1. LinkedIn is a great tool for checking job titles and names you find online.  Check out their current roles and objectives.
2. Press Releases, especially those for new product or service releases. They usually include a quote from the Brand/Marketing Manager. Also the PR contacts at the bottom are good people to ask on who would be the right contact.
3. Websites are a great place, too. Check out the About pages. Meet the Team is another good place, along with blogs/articles, too.   
4. If all else fails, call the switchboard and ask for the Marketing Manager.  Once you get hold of them, remember to confirm they are the right person to speak with.

If you would like more sponsorship tips, sign up for our monthly newsletter

It is less than a week until we start our Free 5-Day Sponsorship Challenge, on how to get started and how to find sponsors. We hope you can join us.

Here are 10 reasons why we think you should.
 

1. This challenge will take you through the basics of getting sponsors for your next event or activity.
2. You will have a strategy for communicating with potential sponsors, knowing what to send and when.
3. Part of that strategy will include a follow-up plan, so you can follow up without being a pest.
4. Feedback from previous training Grace has offered via the Moores Group: "It was easy to understand and a great way of putting it together. Very interactive, I loved it!"
5. You won't be doing this alone; you will be part of a group.
6. There is also a Facebook Group for you to ask questions and get access to additional information.
7. For the last 4 years, the Moores Group has been helping small businesses build partnerships with large corporations.
8. Grace has an entrepreneurial background and over 8 years experience using sponsorship as a marketing tool.
9. It is FREE and only 20 minutes a day for 5 days.
10. You will learn a lot and be more confident in your offering.

What are you waiting for? 

Register today and join us on Monday, July 24th for 5 days, with 5 emails and 5 activities, each activity taking approximately 20 minutes a day! More information about the challenge can be found on here

Let’s do this! 
​

Knowing where to start with sponsorship can be difficult, especially when you have never dealt with it before.  Here are 3 tips on where and how to get help:

1. Make use of your existing team or recruit a new member of staff to help with research, engagement, and managing sponsors.  Finding sponsors can be time consuming due to the amount of follow-up involved.  Paying an outside broker or agency to only find sponsors has a few downfalls:
   1. They are the ones building the relationship with the sponsor; when they leave, the sponsors leave.
   2. There will often be a conflict of interest.  They may be approaching the same sponsors for multiple asks.
   3. It is expensive due to the time it takes, plus they don’t have the passion or drive for the activity that you and your company do. Paying someone just to find sponsors is like paying your lawyer to do filing. It is a huge waste of resources and cash flow.  Your money is better spent recruiting someone to join your team or splitting elements of sponsorship internally.  It won’t consume as much time as you think if it is done right and you are consistent.
2. Update your knowledge of sponsorship.  Get clarity on what your value is and don’t use outdated techniques to approach sponsors, otherwise you will just blend in with 100’s of other people asking for sponsors.  Sponsorship is not difficult and there are lots of resources both in person and online that can help you, such as workshops, webinars, blogs and infographics.  In fact we will be running a FREE 5-Day Sponsorship Challenge on July 24th – Sponsorship Basics, How To Get Started. To register, sign up here.
3. Have a plan for approaching sponsors – include follow-up and how to make your communication consistent.  If you don’t you are setting yourself up for disappointment.  When you have a strategy/process that you take potential sponsors through, other members of your team can step in too, so it doesn’t have to all fall on you.

If you would like more help on how to get started, sign up for our 5-Day Challenge on July 24th –Sponsorship Basics, How To Get Started.

It is never too EARLY to start looking for sponsors. 70% of large corporations decide their annual sponsorship budget between Sept-Dec, so the summer is the perfect time to start building relationships with potential sponsors, to ensure you are included in their budgets.

Sponsorship takes time to approve and activate for most large corporations.  Make sure to confirm the approval process during the discovery stage.  Activation may require help from other departments, which will require extra time to plan and implement. Don’t forget the time it takes you to develop your proposal and research a potential sponsor’s needs.  It all takes time.

In our experience, the smaller the asks (less $), the less time required for sign off, though there are always exceptions to the rule.

To avoid disappointment, give yourself 6 months to a year depending on your ask. The bigger the ask, the longer it will take.

Here are some tips on how to speed up the process and why it is important to engage potential sponsors earlier

1. Identify the Decision Maker.  This can take time initially to confirm, but will save you time in the long run. Be prepared to be passed to several people before you connect with the right person, but once you find the decision maker, the approval process will be shorter.
2. Budgets. As mentioned above, 70% of sponsorship budgets are set between Sept –Dec.  If you are not included in their budget, depending on your ask, you may have to wait another year, so start building those relationships now.
3. Target Market. Be clear on who your community is so your potential sponsor can identify their target market instantly. This will speed up the sign off process, making it easier to justify internally.
4. Needs & Goals. During the discovery meeting or call, you will want to identify your potential sponsor’s goals & needs. If you can support them in reaching these goals for the year, you make their life easier and yourself indispensable.
5. Check List. Provide a checklist of everything you need to commence the partnership - everything from logos, company background, graphics, dates, etc. Give your sponsors time to collate.

  
All of the above will speed up the sponsorship process.  Be prepared, sponsorship will take longer than a month or two before your event.  Respect your sponsor’s time; if you rush them they will automatically say no.  Start building your relationship with sponsors NOW - it is never too early.  Of course, there are exceptions to the rule and if you only need one sponsor, you might get lucky.

If you are looking for a more hands on approach to sponsorship, sign up for our workshop in Milton on June 14th.  This workshop is perfect for those not sure where to start or those looking to get more than one sponsor. Sponsorship takes longer than most people expect, don't be left short of time and revenue. Sign up today  http://www.mooresgroup.ca/services.html

You can also sign up for our newsletter for more great tips and advice.  http://eepurl.com/cDs9jX

Most major corporations get hundreds of requests for sponsorship daily, some even hourly.  To make sure you don’t destroy your chances of success, check you don’t do ANY of the following.

1. Sending over your sponsorship proposal in your introduction email. Why? There are several reasons, but the main 2 are: 1) How do you know they are the decision maker, and if they have the final sign off? 2) You don’t have confirmation on their goals for sponsorship, so how do you know what they are looking to achieve?
2. Not following up. If you don’t have a follow-up strategy, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. You are way down on their to-do list.
3. Sending the same Gold, Silver, and Bronze packages to all potential sponsors. You need to tailor to their needs. Gold, Silver and Bronze packages show you didn’t listen or are not interested in what they want to achieve.
4. Not knowing your community. If you don’t know who your community is, your sponsors have no reason to partner with you. You will need to match your community to their target audience.
5. Focusing your proposal on how great your event is going to be will not impress your sponsors. They are not interested in your amazing speaker (unless it is them), or that you have ordered these special decorations that will wow everyone there.
6. Focusing your proposal on the great work that you do.  Your attendees are interested, but your sponsors aren’t.  Sponsors are only interested in the marketing opportunities with their target audience. 
7. Posting on social media that you are looking for sponsors and expecting potential sponsors to start calling straight away.  This may work on a small, local level, but no major sponsors are scouring social media for sponsorship opportunities—they are trying to deal with the 100+ requests coming in daily
8. Approaching sponsors the month before the event and expecting them to sign up.  Now this will depend on your ask. If you are looking for a couple $100 then this is feasible, but major sponsors will require months of follow-up and prep, normally six months to a year
9. Not confirming whom the decision maker is before you negotiate the deal.  Nothing is worse than thinking they are about to sign off a sponsorship, only to find out that it has to go to their boss first, who has a different set of goals, and you have to start all over again
10. Not doing your research to make sure the potential sponsor is a good fit for your community.  A great sponsorship not only brings you funding, it also supports and adds value to your community.

If you would like to learn more about how to avoid these mistakes, then join us in Milton on June 14th, for a workshop on Successful Sponsorship. 

​Are you interested in exploring sponsorship, but not sure if you have what you need to attract sponsors? For sponsorship to be viable you will need 4 elements:
•    Reach 
•    Audience
•    Property 
•    Assets

Reach
This is your community, your followers, members, subscribers, or attendees – anyone that engages with you. If you don’t have a community, it is important to develop one if you are looking to acquire sponsors. Sponsors want to see numbers so they can calculate ROI and the value they will get.

Audience
Once you have identified your reach, you need to dig deeper and paint a picture of who your community is. What do they like? What are the demographics on age, gender, income, education, etc.? What challenges do they face?  The sooner you know your audience and can clearly outline them to potential sponsors, the easier the sponsor can identify their target audience/customers and see the value in what you are offering. 
Property
Your property is the big activity you are looking to get sponsorship for, such as a conference, gala, tradeshow, awards, etc. It could be an annual, multi-year agreement.

Assets
I often refer to these as your value add. These are the activities you will be doing to promote and engage with your community and sponsors, and to encourage them to participate in your property.  These are also the activities you do to support your sponsor’s goals and needs to engage with your community.

To become of value to sponsors you need to identify your reach, and provide an overview of who they are and what they like to do.  This is your hook and value to your sponsor. This is how you attract them to your property (your event or activity).
The property and assets are how you support your sponsor to reach their goals and engage with your community.
Look out for our next workshop where we take a deeper look at how to identify your reach and audience.

Are you looking to explore sponsorship and not sure what you are getting into? Here are 5 things no-one tells you about getting sponsors.

1. Time:  Finding sponsors takes time. Sponsorship is about building partnerships; you need to build trust, respect, and commitment on both sides.  As in any new relationship, this takes time to build.  Otherwise, it’s like asking someone to marry you on a first date!
2. Consistency:  When seeking new partnerships with potential sponsors, consistency is key.  If you want that relationship to grow, it needs consistent attention, so build that into the sponsorship process. It’s just like when you grow seeds and plants; you need to consistently give them light and water.
3. Rewards:  This is why I love sponsorship so much: the rewards are way more than extra income or services in kind.  Well aligned sponsors can elevate your brand perception in the market and open new doors for you.  Sponsors are like references.  They can also bring added value to the community or event, by bringing products, services and/or education that you don’t have the resources to provide.
4. Teamwork: Sponsors should become part of your team and you want to become part of theirs.  The amount will vary for each sponsor, but you can achieve so much together when you identify each other’s goals, and how you can support one another.
5. Management:  For small businesses, this is the one that most people miss.  If you don’t manage your sponsor’s expectations and keep them updated, you are going to end up with the sponsor from hell, who will hound you, question everything and complain non-stop!  Sponsors are your partners; treat them that way.  Record the results of everything you do, good and bad, and be transparent. If something isn’t working, let them know, give them a solution, get their feedback, then change things up.

Sponsorship is a wonderful thing for everyone involved when done well.  It is also easier to keep a sponsor than find a new one.  Don’t waste this opportunity!