Sponsorship VS. Partnership

1. Sponsorship VS. Partnership

2. The purses Life Education NSW

3. Sponsorship -Tied funds

4. What is it? • In Sport or Arts it’s usually an ‘event’ • In cause area it can be an event, campaign, program, research study, phone service, a person....much broader! • Industry calls the thing that is sponsorable the ‘property’ • Is your event, campaign or program actually ‘sponsorable’ – e.g. is it really something that has tangible, marketing measurable benefits for the investor? • Or is it just a feel good investment – e.g. you are after a donation/philanthropy? • You cannot sell a sponsorship on feel-good! “EXCHANGING TANGIBLE BENEFITS” Life Education NSW

5. Why do sponsors, sponsor? • New brand – create awareness & relevance with customers • Challenger brand – to cut out the big guys • Mature brand – remain relevant, build on relationships but not about logo exposure • Positioning – being seen in the right crowd • Build trust – show they care (with cause sponsorship) • Sample product or demonstrate technology use • Emotive stories to demonstrate corporate citizenship –messaging via social media (merge with CSR) • Change customer perception – change behaviour • Staff engagement and internal brand building Life Education NSW

6. So what do you want sponsored? • Discussion and sharing • Readiness checklist • Tangible and measurable benefits • Buzz words • Target audience • Your Property: basic description • How much $ do you need? Life Education NSW

7. Other considerations • Do you want one sponsor or more than one? • Do you need pro-bono/product as well as cash? • Do you need volunteers? • Do you have resources to manage more than one sponsor? • What are the consumer touch points of the event? Who participates/sees it? Think of numbers as well as the PROFILE of those people (young fit people, older people who like dogs....) etc. • Is the event brand new or has run before? Is it mature and in need of a refresh? • Do you have footage/media files pertaining to it? • Do you have good images that capture the event? Life Education NSW

8. Other considerations • What is the BEST THING about your event (from an external perspective)? • What is the thing you’d rather not admit about it (the worst thing?) • Do you believe in it? Are you excited by it? Or do you think its daggy/tired/a waste of money? • What is the biggest opportunity you see for it? • What is the biggest threat? • Is the property unique or are there other things similar? What makes yours so special? • Get acquainted with your event, campaign, program – write everything down you can think of – you cannot sell something you are not familiar with Life Education NSW

9. Working out the Benefits • What people do you have involved ? • What marketing & fundraising elements are involved? • What physical things are involved? Cars, banners, podiums... • What staff engagement opportunities are there for a sponsor? • What organisational benefits can you offer – e.g. story in your donor newsletter, logo on website etc. Life Education NSW

10. Cost VS. Value Cost • Work out what it costs you to run the event/program/campaign, add 10% for sponsorship costs (your time to secure sponsor) then add 10% for relationship management – not the ideal way to go about it – why? Value • Work out the tangible benefits and get them valued by an external media buyer, so the investment is what its worth NOT what it costs Naming rights • Avoid at ALL COSTS Life Education NSW

11. How to Price it? • Avoid the ‘gold, silver bronze’ packaging – it’s too prescriptive and it’s meaningless – what does a gold sponsor of a cancer charity mean anyway? • Corporates think it’s old hat and unsophisticated • Avoid ‘major’ and ‘minor’ • Be more creative – the ‘listening sponsor’ (Optus) • Avoid jargon – no-one knows what a GIK sponsor is! • Better to get 1 or 2 sponsors and just call them...sponsors! • An event with 5 ‘major sponsors’ and 3 ‘in kind’ sponsors and 50 ‘supporters’ just looks like.... Life Education NSW

12. Life Education NSW

13. Don’t Do’s Why it fails? • Go in at wrong time, don’t do research, use board connections, use wrong language • In addition they don’t provide specifics about benefits • The investment is all about your needs – hard to justify it internally! Or worse, no investment info at all! • There is no business case – it’s all about YOUR needs • There is no relevance, it’s not been tailored to the prospect • Guilt tactics (not only will this scare the sponsor off but really........go tell someone who cares) • They send out hundreds of unsolicited and untailored proposals... Then wait for the phone to ring Life Education NSW

14. Don’t Do’s Why it fails? • Proposals lack professionalism – yes we still see 18-odd typos in submissions • Given no thought to how the sponsor might leverage it, use it, to benefit them and their customers (eg its all about you again!) • Go over the head of the sponsorship person to the CEO using your contacts (how do you think that goes down?) • Offers a well known company their logo on everything to ‘build awareness’ when they are already well known • Offers highly trusted company opportunity to ‘borrow our trusted brand to make yours more trusted’ • You go 3 months before the event! Life Education NSW

15. Life Education NSW

16. Partnership – Untied Funds

17. Latest Research • Gen X and Y switch for a cause when they buy – March 2014 • Consumers are sending a message to companies – support a charity and we’ll support you. Almost 1/6 of consumers have switched from their usual product/service to another, in the last year, because of its support of a cause/charity. The survey of 1200 consumers, conducted by Di Marzio Research in March 2014, was exclusively for Cavill + Co. Most appealing to marketers however is that cashed up and fickle Gen Y and the more prudent luxury addicts Gen X are most likely to switch. Life Education NSW

18. Corporate Partners can provide… • New, untapped source of income = broaden your income stream • Untied, long term, significant income = spend it on what is critical • Funding for your critical events = so more donor money can go to services • Mass market promotion of your cause, message and work = increased awareness, more donations, new donors • Corporate expertise and resources = the kind you can only dream of! Life Education NSW

19. Risks • Undervaluing your brand and assets = giving away • Approaching without preparation = burning bridges • Approaching at wrong time = demotivating, culture of failure • Securing the wrong partner = damage to your brand, loss of donors Life Education NSW

20. Key factors • Attitude of partnership, commercial savvy vs philanthropy – Board, CEO and staff • Long term vision • Mission-focussed not $$ focused • Skilled people with time to negotiate • Investment in brand and people (appropriate training) • Follow a tried + tested strategy Life Education NSW

21. Are you ready for the bigger fish? • Brand & Marketing savvy – is your brand distinct, invested in, controlled, worth something? • Is your purpose clear and enrolling? Can you articulate what you do in a compelling way? • Do you have clearly articulated brand personality? • Is your brand well known nationally? Do you have stats? • Are you the leader in your sector or do you have a much savvier or more established competitor? • Do you have a marketing plan to build awareness of your brand and its vital work? Life Education NSW

22. Are you ready for the bigger fish? • Timing: is the key person who will be presenting AVAILABLE during the only 8 weeks that matter in corporate partnerships – Feb/March? • Resources: do you have a dedicated resource to prepare for & seek out corporate partners – or someone with at LEAST a day a week? Is this person an employee or contractor? • Is the person responsible dynamic, go-getter and full of abundance thinking? Life Education NSW

23. Are you ready for the bigger fish? • What experience does this person have negotiating high level deals? • Does this person have the power and authority to negotiate national partnerships? • Does this person have DIRECT access to the Board? • Do the Board UNDERSTAND partnerships and the timeframe required to secure? • Benefits: do you have clearly articulated organisational benefits to offer a corporate? Have these been valued? Life Education NSW

24. Don’t Do’s Why it fails? • They try to sell something (sponsorship) rather than create the partnership with the corporate • They’re in a rush to have a one night stand, but a partnership is a long term marriage • They go in at the wrong time • They don’t do their research • They try to use ‘board connections’ to get in when ‘who knows who’ doesn't work • They use the wrong language – don’t understand the ‘purses’ • They go to the wrong person with the wrong offer • They make it all about their charity and not about the corporate benefit Life Education NSW

25. Life Education NSW

26. Enrolment VS. Selling Enrolment • to engage, acceptance, invite – you are creating a possibility that they choose to step into, to become involved in Selling • To exchange or deliver for money or its equivalent, to offer something in exchange for price or reward Life Education NSW

27. Enrolment VS. Selling Enrolment- PARTNERSHIP • to engage, acceptance, invite – you are creating a possibility that they choose to step into, to become involved in Selling - SPONSORSHIP • To exchange or deliver for money or its equivalent, to offer something in exchange for price or reward Life Education NSW

28. Life Education NSW

29. Resources • Edelman Trust Barometer • Milward Brown Australian Charity Perception Report • Repucom Sponsorship Outlook Report • ProBono Australia • Cavill & Co – lots of statistics and free resources www.cavill.com.au Life Education NSW

30. Life Education NSW Lillian Adnan Fundraising Manager – Life Education Linked In ladnan@lifeeducation.org.au