Small charities and other nonprofits can get corporate sponsorships for their events if they are organized and persistent. Here are more tips for finding sponsors.
Use Your Inner Circle to Find the Best Leads to Potential Sponsors
Ask your volunteers (especially board members) if they have a connection with a local business. Would they feel comfortable either making a pitch to the business for support or at least providing an introduction to the decision-maker there? Offer to attend a meeting with the volunteer. Follow up on all of these leads. If a volunteer says he or she will contact their employer or their cousin who owns the insurance office, write that down and then follow up. Did the volunteer make the contact? What happened? How can you help or follow-up?
Work the Geographic Circle that You Can Physically Reach
Walk around the immediate area where your charity is located and where you plan to hold your event. Write down the names of all the businesses, look up their contact information, and then call them about your upcoming event. Set up an appointment to go talk to them in person.At that meeting, make a marketing pitch to the business. Explain who will be attending your event, how you will advertise their sponsorship, and provide the sponsorship levels they can choose from. If you don't get a commitment at that point, leave some prepared materials and your business card. Immediately send a thank you note, enclosing another business card and copy of your opportunity. Then follow up with a phone call one or two weeks later. Keep doing that until you think there is no chance of a sponsorship from that business.
Work Your Outer Circle of Influence
Make a list of all the mid-size and large corporations in your area. Think of large employers, grocery store chains, and retail outlets that are part of a larger corporation. Call those businesses and ask who handles their marketing, their charitable contributions, or their sponsorships, and how you should contact them. Ask for any guidelines the corporation has for charitable help. Some larger businesses will only work with registered 501(c)(3) nonprofits, for instance. Then contact the appropriate person or department in the manner they prefer.The corporate office might want a formal proposal mailed to them, or they may have an online form that they want charities to use. Whatever it is, follow the instructions, but then follow up in a week or two to find out if the company got the information, and what you should do next. At each contact point, try to get a meeting with someone so you can make your pitch in person. A local affiliate of a larger organization may refer you to the corporate headquarters in another city. Don't quit at that point. Write or call that office, mentioning that the local store or office sent you.
This is the hardest circle to reach, but don't be shy about being persistent. Companies get hundreds of requests a year. Most go nowhere simply because the nonprofit did not keep following up. Even if you don't score a sponsorship this time around, you will be able to educate the business about who you are and what your charity does. That will set the stage for involvement at a later time. Keep detailed records of these contacts so you know what you did and what you should do next. When you get discouraged, remember that you are building steps to a future relationship. None of this activity will be wasted if you consistently think in this way.
Formalize Sponsorship Agreements and Cultivate the Relationship
Once you reach a sponsorship agreement with a business, send a thank you letter that reiterates what each party will provide and when. Send another thank you note when the contribution is received. Send them updates on event planning during the period running up to the event. Make sure they receive your newsletters and other communications. Provide a contact name if there is any problem or a question. If the sponsor does call, make sure that their questions are answered quickly.Invite representatives of the business to participate in any pre-event activities you might have, such as a reception at your organization or a press conference to announce the event. Give your sponsors plenty of publicity...even above and beyond what their sponsorship agreement calls for.
Be sure to send an invitation to the event to those companies that chose not to participate. Thank them for their consideration of your request with the hope that they will visit and enjoy the event. When a business sees that your event was successful, and that other businesses helped support it, they may choose to be a sponsor the following year.
After the Event, Provide Sponsors with Plenty Of Documentation
Take lots of photos at the event showing the sponsor signage, participants enjoying themselves, activities that the sponsor's contribution made possible. Send reports about attendance, money raised, and what that money was used for. Organize volunteers to writes notes of appreciation to the sponsors, send certificates of support, or several copies of your newsletter that show photos of the event.Finding and getting corporate sponsors is a lot of very hard work, especially when your event is new. But, that work, if done well, can lead to very satisfying partnerships for the future. As with any donor to your organization, you must find those businesses that will work with you, care for them by making them part of your organizational family, and keep them happy and involved for the long run.
Related:
- Made Possible By: Succeeding With Sponsorships - a Review
- Getting and Keeping Sponsors When Times Are Tough
- Why Do Companies Sponsor Charitable Events?
- How to Find a Cause Marketing Business Partner
- Cause Marketing for Dummies - A Review
- Five Best Cause Marketing Programs for Local Nonprofits
- 3 Ways to Promote Your Cause Marketing Program
- Cause-Related Marketing: What You Need to Know
- What You Should Know About Baby Boomer Women and Cause Marketing
- Cause Marketing Speaks Loudest to Moms and Millennials
