Sponsorship

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Sponsorship committees are in charge of soliciting donations from local, regional and national businesses for the purpose of supporting ventures. Donations may be cash, in-kind merchandise or food.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Sponsorship Documents 3 How to Talk to Sponsors 4 Sponsoring Ventures

[edit] Overview

At its root sponsorship is about creating added value. If you have a poker tournament or a cooking competition or any sort of event you need to find a way to get prizes and food. You really have two choices, you can buy it yourselves or you can find someone that wants to buy it for you in exchange for something else. It is finding out what that something else might be which opens up the opportunity for sponsorship. While the primary focus of your event is to provide value to a ticket buyer you are also creating value for businesses trying to market their products to college students. Businesses love large captive audiences and the stronger your brand is in the community the more value you can provide. Thinking about sponsorship as added value instead of simple charity forces you to adopt a strategic mindset.

[edit] Sponsorship Documents

Sponsorship Letter The sponsorship letter, written by the director of the venture, outlines the mission of Nourish International and gives a description of how awesome the event you want them to sponsor is. In the letter you should explain how gaining access to your market will add value to their organization and back it up with some of Nourish's past success.

Sponsorship Brochure The sponsorship brochure is essentially an enhanced version of the sponsorship letter with pictures, graphics, and a breakdown of the levels of sponsorship for the event. While certainly pretty, it is up to your chapter whether or not the cost of such a brochure is worth the return. Printing usually runs at $2 a brochure so they should be saved for the higher end sponsors.

[edit] How to Talk to Sponsors

Below are ten easy but important steps to gaining a great sponsor for Hold ‘em for Hunger. We have prepared thoroughly to accomplish each step, and I know we can execute with precision, comfort and honesty. Let’s do this like Brutus.

• 1. Call Ahead Potential sponsors are much more interested in helping someone who isn’t interrupting their busy days. Thus, when you want to talk to the manager of, say, Best Buy, call the store first and ask for the manager. Then, set up a time that is most convenient for them to talk about an upcoming publicity event. Don’t just walk into the store and ask to speak to the manager. He/she hears the “we’re a non-prof from UNC who’s looking for sponsorship” schpiel 10 times a day, and probably won’t devote one neuron to helping our awesome cause. Thus, always let potential sponsors know you’re coming ahead of time by using a telephone.

• 2. Bring Documentation Letters with an official letterhead are a great way to start, but much more is much better. For example, make sure to bring our brochure, and bring a web address that they can visit for more information. This “reference material” already puts us light years ahead of most student organizations.

• 3. Look Presentable Yeah, yeah, you’ll read this tip everywhere, but that does not diminish its importance. Keep in mind: we don’t dress well to try to convince some manager that we’re a goody two-shoes bookworm and thus they can trust you. Not at all. In fact, if the manager has any brains at all, they’ll know that you obviously wouldn’t tuck your shirt in everywhere you go. Instead, we dress nice to show respect to the manager, and to signal their importance to us. If he/she knows that you took the time to dress nice, then they will notice that we respect them. We highly respect the success and dedication of our prospective sponsors. Otherwise, why would we be asking for their sponsorship?

• 4. Use Names What is everyone’s favorite word in the English language? His or her own name! No one likes hearing anything better than their own name. Think about it: what’s the only time people’s ears perk up when others are talking? When they hear their name mentioned! Use this knowledge of names when talking to your potential sponsor. Say their name often during conversation; use their name when talking on the phone and in emails. Use it everywhere! At the least, it’s a kind gesture to someone that shows that you value who they are, and that’s important. In everything we do in life, a little friendliness goes a long way.

• 5. Find a Special Place to Talk When you finally meet a sponsor, one of the first things you should do is kindly ask if they mind “sitting down” with you for a minute, or “going over there” for a minute. Why? Because this question indirectly signals the manager that your time with them is important. HEFH asks for large donations at times – sometimes upwards of $5000 in value. Now, almost no one is willing to give away that kind of money while standing in the doorway of their store. Therefore, show that HEFH has come for an honest and friendly discussion by asking to talk in a quiet and comfortable atmosphere. An example of this type of approach is illustrated well by Northwestern Mutual, a large financial investment firm. Their advertisements ask, “Isn’t it time for you to have a quiet conversation?” That’s good advice.

• 6. Ask Questions First Building a relationship with our sponsors is very important to the success of the sponsorship itself and HEFH as a whole. And just like any relationship, sponsor-receiver relationships are a two way street, with both parties understanding the needs and goals of the other. Thus, show our willingness to build this relationship by asking potential sponsors to tell us about themselves. How long have they worked in the business? Where are they from? What kind of publicity and image do they want? If we are good listeners, then we can better explain how our projects can help our sponsors achieve their goals.

• 7. When They Ask, Proudly and Clearly Explain what HEFH and Nourish International have Accomplished HEFH has done some amazing stuff with NI, and we’re getting better every day. We’ve raised over $30,000 so far to help battle world hunger. We’ve become one of the most recognizable events and non-profits on campus. We’ve funded and overseen 3 major overseas projects that were all tremendous successes. Thus, when a sponsor asks what we’re all about, don’t be afraid to say, “What we’ve done is beyond what anyone could’ve expected. Check this out…” They’re sure-as-heck gonna be impressed.

• 8. Benefits of Sponsorship are the Primary Topic After listening to our sponsors, the next step is NOT asking for a donation. Instead, the next step should be to explain what HEFH can do for them – and this explanation should be the primary topic of conversation. A potential sponsor is doing us a favor by donating to our cause; thus, we should tell them up front all the benefits of sponsorship. Let’s imagine the Best Buy example again. After listening to the needs and ideas of the manager, we would then tell them something like, “Well, we can hang a banner with Best Buy’s logo in the Pit, and the Pit has a traffic of 10,000 students a day. We can also put that same logo on the back of all the HEFH shirts, and those shirts are worn by hundreds of students on campus.” Remember: Depending on the potential sponsor, the benefits we offer will change to better serve their mission.

• 9. Give Specific Justification Ok, so we’ve explained in detail what we can do for our sponsor, and how we’ll do it, making sure that it’s precisely in line with what they need. Next, we should start our justification of why we’re asking not just any old company, but their company in particular. Because there is a reason – in fact, there are two reasons. We only talk to businesses because a) we know that they, as a business with local ties, stand to benefit from good local publicity and advertisement and b) we know that students and locals like their business, and we want association with them. Both of these points should be clear, with a special emphasis on point (b). We like to associate ourselves with popular, reputable companies; therefore, if we are approaching a company for sponsorship, we should put an emphasis on the fact that we think they’re a great company. These companies have had scads more financial success than we have, and thus we want them to know that we’d be honored to associate our organization with such a well-known institution as themselves. Be honest and say, “hey, you guys make us look good!”

• 10. Be Flexible and Understanding When the discussion finally progresses to how the sponsor would like to help HEFH, let them make the decisions. We want our sponsors to get the most out of our relationship, and part of that means that they choose how to represent themselves. They might want to donate one of their best products to showcase what they can do; they might want to donate a visible service that perhaps students didn’t know about; or they might want to donate money and for us to visibly spend that money in a specific area of our organization. Whatever the case, we will be flexible and understanding in our acceptance of their sponsorship. Our sponsors needs are very important.

[edit] Sponsoring Ventures