Sponsorship is a marketing tool and it’s there to help you promote your products and services.
 
There are two parts to sponsorship:

• Property
• Sponsor

 
You have your property, which is your activity – it could be an event, conference, venue, webinar series, a concert, etc.
 
And then you have your sponsor, and your sponsor is the person that is paying to get access to the audience that is attending that activity, or the audience that it’s promoted to.
 
A sponsor could be paying in cash, or they could pay with products and services in kind.

Sponsorship in Canada
In Canada there is a study that’s done every year, called the Canadian Sponsorship Landscape Study.  The results for 2017 have just come out. They found that 1.98 billion dollars is spent on sponsorship, for 2017 in Canada. 
 
It also found that corporations typically spend 21% of their marketing budget on sponsorship. 1 in 5 marketing dollars is spent on sponsorship. Meaning there is a lot of opportunity for small businesses can capitalize on this budget, for their own businesses.

So why would a small business use sponsorship?
There are so many great things that can be achieved by using sponsorship. Here are four that I think are the most important:
 
Revenue
Who doesn’t want more revenue? If you’re running a webinar series and you don’t have the software tools to help you run them, by getting sponsors, that will cover that cost for you. If you’re hosting a conference and you need to put down deposits for your venue, then sponsorship will help you cover those costs. So sponsorship can bring in revenue for you.
 
Resources and Value Add
This one I love, sohow can it bring value add and resources? If, for example, your community has a common issue that you’re not able to solve – it’s not something that you focus on but they all have this issue – if you’re able to bring a sponsor on that can solve this issue for them, that provides you with more value add for your organization. Maybe it’s education, maybe it’s the tools they need, but if you’re able to make their life easier, that provides you with more value add and that’s better customer service from you to your community. 
 
Increase brand perception and trust
This is a very interesting tool – Sponsorship can leverage your sponsor’s brand perception and trust in the marketplace on to you. Sponsorship brings with it trust. A lot more than if you were just to do an advertising campaign. Trust is something that’s built up over a long period of time, but if you’re a new organization that’s just coming on, by getting sponsors that are way more established than you, you can leverage the trust that the community has for them onto you, just from that association with sponsorship.
 
Increase in Awareness
By bringing on sponsors, you can get access to their customer base, and they’re able to promote your event or your activity to their customer base. So you’re generating more access to potential customers. It is a great tool.
 
Those are four really great things that you can do with sponsorship. If you’re an organization that is looking to explore sponsorship a bit more – maybe you’re getting requests for sponsorship and you’re not sure how to manage it, or you’re looking to run an event and you would like to get sponsors, then please check out our workshop coming up next week

Check out our blog post on www.themompreneur.com on 7 tips to create a follow up strategy 

Sponsorship is a fundraising tool – Myth
Sponsorship is a marketing tool – a two-way partnership that trades resources for brand awareness and/or engagement with potential customers.   If you are being asked/asking for a donation, this should come under community giving/donations. It is not sponsorship unless there is a benefit to the property, sponsor, and attendees.

Sponsorship is a marketing tool that small businesses can utilise effectively - True
Sponsorship is a powerful tool when used correctly.  Sponsorship can provide sponsors with new leads, increased exposure, engagement opportunities, customer feedback, and an increase in brand awareness and perception, just from one event.

Sponsorship is only for large corporations – Myth
Small businesses can benefit from sponsorship just as much, if not more, than large corporations, both as the property (asking for sponsors to sponsor your event or activity) and the sponsor (sponsoring an event or activity).

Small businesses need to set criteria for approving sponsorship opportunities – True
For any sponsorship to be successful, you need to have criteria for approving sponsorship opportunities. As a marketing tool, sponsorship is there to support you by creating awareness and engagement with potential customers. You will need to evaluate each opportunity to ensure it is helping you reach your marketing goals.  The first question to ask is, is your target audience going to be at this event?  Then how will it support your marketing goals? Will there be an opportunity to get people to sign up for your newsletter? Or try your product? Get feedback on a new service? Build trust, etc.?  Sponsorship is a vehicle to help you grow your business and reach your goals.

Gold, Silver, and Bronze Packages offer the most value – Myth
Gold, Silver, and Bronze Packages provide little value to both large and small businesses. They are fixed activities that, most of the time, don’t help you reach your marketing goals. Don’t be afraid to negotiate and only commit to the activities that you have the resources to support and which provide the most value to you.
I have paid for my sponsorship, now I don’t need to do anything – Myth
As a sponsor you have a role to play, to ensure you maximise this opportunity given to you.  Sponsorship is not a guarantee, it is an opportunity.  That means you still have work to do – that may be submitting blogs, setting up booth space, speaking, running workshops, etc.  Schedule the deadlines for when everything is needed: logo, artwork, copy, set up, staff to man the booth. 

Sponsorship will cost the sponsor more than asked for – True
Once you have paid for sponsorship, you will need to plan for an activation budget.  This is the cost for additional branding materials, such as postcards, leaflets, giveaways, branded pens, t-shirts, staff to man booths, etc. Make a list of everything you are committed to and calculate the activation cost. Activation budgets should be no more than the value of the sponsorship.

There is no ROI with sponsorship – Myth
Sponsorship is a wonderful marketing tool when used effectively. There are several ways to measure ROI but all will depend on if your target market is there, what your objectives are, and what you are trying to achieve. Look at impressions, new subscribers, new followers on social media, how many people sampled your product or service, how many attended your workshop or read your blog post, etc. There is also the unmeasurable, such as the elevated trust and brand awareness gained from other sponsors/events. 
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Sponsorship has so many benefits and opportunities for small businesses, but if you don’t manage it correctly with a simple criteria and reporting tools, you are setting yourself up for disappointment and failure.  If you need help adding sponsorship to your marketing plan, contact us at the Moores Group for a Sponsorship Review to make sure your sponsorship dollars get you more return on your investment.

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! 
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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

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