Jan 04, 2010 at 05:29 PM
written by Gail Bower

Getting Your Sponsorship Program in Gear for 2010

As we wrap up the first decade of the new millennium and one of the most challenging years for sellers and buyers of corporate sponsorship, I urge you to spend some time reflecting and really putting 2009 behind with greater awareness of how you'd like to move forward.


Selling sponsorship – selling anything – during easier economic times is, well, easier. When times are tough, all our shortcomings show up in technicolor. So what did you see about your operation in '09? Where do you need new skills? A stronger operation? More ideas? More support? Jot your notes now so you can focus on them throughout the new year.

Here are 10 suggestions and areas to consider:

  • Be able to articulate your event/festival or nonprofit organization’s value to the corporate sector.
  • Develop an operation; sponsorship is not an ad hoc activity.
  • Develop a sponsorship strategy. Wishing for sponsors does not a strategy make.
  • Another plug for strategy: your operation is lean, and you have no time to waste.
  • Clearly articulate your brand.
  • Think in terms of the corporation and its self-interest.
  • Innovate your way to meeting your mission through sponsorship.
  • Make activation easy for your partners.
  • Be proactive. Make fulfillment easy, too.
  • Express gratitude for the valuable relationships you have with your corporate contacts who support your nonprofit organization's cause or mission and with your organizational peers with whom you collaborate year-round.

    Gail Bower is President of Bower & Co. Consulting LLC, a firm that assists nonprofit organizations and event/festival producers with dramatically raising their visibility, revenue, and impact. Gail Bower is a professional consultant, writer, and speaker, with nearly 25 years of experience managing some of the country’s most important events, festivals, and sponsorships and implementing marketing programs for clients. Her blog is http://www.SponsorshipStrategist.com and you can see all of Gail's past posts here. The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of the publisher, SponsorPitch, LLC.