This year's NYC Fashion Week may be subdued, but it plans to kick off with the "single largest shopping event in New York City history." Fashion's Night Out was created by Vogue, the Council of Fashion Designers of America, the City of New York and NYC & Company to promote retail, restore consumer confidence, and celebrate fashion in NYC. Over 700 NYC retailers plan to participate in the event.

"Payless is thrilled to participate in New York City's Fashion's Night Out with an exciting program that is sure to help bring shoppers out on this special night," said LuAnn Via, CEO and president, Payless.

Payless will be the exclusive sponsor of the Official Ride of Fashion's Night Out - four Gray Line double-deckers - and support The National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the Wor...

Stonyfield Farm entered a one-year sponsorship agreement with the U.S. Open to promote its Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt.

Memorial Hermann Healthcare System became the official health care provider of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA).

Panasonic Inked a sponsorship deal for 'Avatar' to promote new 3-D plasma and Blu-ray products

Kimberly Clark and Marcos Ambrose's No. 47 Toyota are teaming up for a primary NASCAR sponsorship that will feature the makers of Kleenex, Scott and Cottonelle in five races during the 2010 season.

AirTran Airways signed a multi-year partnership with the NFL's Atlanta Falcons today.

The Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky Honda Dealers signed a deal with FOX Sports Ohio to sponsor the University of Cincinnati Bearcats football and basketb...

Some positive economic indicator may be signaling the beginning of a rebound. Or maybe not, but we can only hope.

Nevertheless, now is the good time to focus on improving your nonprofit corporate sponsorship program, especially if you suspect it lacks value. Here are two important priorities for making improvements; you’ll find additional suggestions in my guidebook, How to Jump-start Your Sponsorship Strategy in Tough Times.

1. Marketing

Some nonprofit organizations can benefit by improving the marketing and promotional efforts that support their events, festivals, conferences, and initiatives. All the ways you market your event and connect with – and expand– your audiences provide opportunities for your sponsors’ benefit.

If you’re promoting your event at the last minu...

Last week Usain Bolt set both the 100m and 200m world sprint records at the World Championships in Berlin. The promotional blitz by Puma began with the bolt arms, the celebratory foam arms released by Puma prior to the games, kicked into full gear with Bolt hoisting the golden shoe like the Stanley Cup and is wrapping up with PUMA's very own cause-effect analysis.

The result? The special Jamaica apparel collection and Bolt's 'Puma Street Yaam' shoes are all sold out and a big lift in an Olympic off year. What's more impressive? In the face of a global decline in sportswear, Puma's North American sales have risen nearly 10 percent year over year.

One estimate pegged Usain Bolt's impact on the Puma brand at about $350 million in publicity last year alone.
A big payoff for...

Someone asked me back in grad school whether sponsorship was a product or a service. At first glance, the obvious answer was a service. The benefits are often intangible, the value depended a lot on the servicing of a contract, and developing an appropriate solution for client needs requires a lot of custom research. But then I started to realize that many of the proposals I had received on behalf of our clients sure felt a lot more like a product. We wanted intangible ideas, but there was really only a problem when the tangible goods were missing (logos, media spots, etc). Many times, there was very little originality or customization to the sales proposals we received. The pricing was structured to a fault (i.e. gold, silver, bronze levels), not based on anything variable like expende...

For some it can be up to a full year or even more. That's a long sales cycles for any product. But perhaps a better question is how frequent and with who is your sales cycle dealing with? As with many organizations, how you use your data can in many instances dictate the success of your sales pitch. Most hands-on sponsors crave real-time data and updates. But how often do we really engage those 'involved' sponsors? Twice a year? Perhaps the sponsorship pitch and an end of year wrap-up. Sure, if they're a current sponsor you'll discuss activation details, but most properties don't continually arm sponsors with updates, real-time data and success stories that reinforce the value of their sponsorship.

And that's for current sponsors. If a sponsor doesn't immediately sign on the do...

In 2007, Harrie Bakst was diagnosed with Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma, cancer of the salivary glands, at the age of 22. It was a life-changing diagnosis. Only five months removed from radiation treatment, he ran the NYC marathon, which inspired a clothing line and a book, and founded his own agency that helps companies build cause marketing platforms.

Carnegie Sports and Entertainment uses cause marketing and corporate social responsibility, usually combined with a sports and entertainment hook, as a business generating platform for corporate clients such as Chipotle Mexican Grill, Coca-Cola and Reebok. How did having cancer lead Harrie Bakst to steer clear of law school and form a cause marketing juggernaut in Carnegie Sports and Entertainment? Watch this week's BrandCast (provided fre...

Clear Channel today launched a new digital radio station dedicated to live music drawing from the company’s cache of exclusive live artist performances and interviews. Available 24/7, stripped radio is presented by Visa Signature, the exclusive launch sponsor for the channel. Visa’s sponsorship also includes on-air talent endorsements, a “channel takeover” of both the iheartradio application available for iPhone and BlackBerry as well as the stripped player widget.

Leading energy supplier npower announced a two-year extension to its title sponsorship of domestic Test match cricket in England.

The President's Choice brand, the first sponsor of SuperDogs, will once again sponsor
SuperDogs Shows starting with CNE in Toronto and PNE in Vancouver. For the past four decades, SuperDog...

There are a number of ways to craft a perfect sponsorship proposal but in every successful proposal, the following points are consistent:

The Cover Letter

I put a lot of emphasis on the Cover Letter for two reasons:

1. No matter how you cut it, a sponsorship sale must have value but it is still a “relationship sell.” The Cover Letter allows the presenting organization the opportunity to put the value of the relationship in writing, at which time you are able to spell out the ways the sponsorship will be mutually beneficial to both parties.

2. The Cover Letter on your association’s letterhead portrays the class and legitimacy of your organization and most assuredly will be copied and shown to others who are in the decision-making circle. It also sets the tone of the presentat...