Making the most of your sponsor dollars

Those involved with not-for-profits (NFPs) will know that sponsorship is often the lifeblood of such organisations.

In the case of Women in Technology WA (WiTWA), we would cease to exist without our sponsors. It’s that simple. We are deeply grateful for their support.

(Yes, there are ways to reduce dependence on sponsor dollars. But that’s for another post…)

Those representing organisations that sponsor NFPs will know it can be a hit-or-miss thing. Finding NFPs that match your values is important and not always easy. Further, just handing over the money is not enough to get the best bang for your buck.

Since working on the ’20 in 20’ Gala last year and now leading the Steering Committee on the WiTWA[+] one day seminar, I’ve been on a steep learning curve about how sponsorship can create value on both side of the equation. It occurs to me that many people within organisations considering sponsoring might feel the same way I did this time last year - keen to start, but not sure how to make the most of it.

If you represent a business sponsoring an NFP, here are some tips I've picked up in the last 12 months to make sure you get the best bang for your buck:

1.   Check values align

As a business, it’s worthwhile checking your company and the NFP have aligned values.

In my opinion, values are more important than mission and vision. A for-profit business and not-for-profit organisation exist for different purposes – one is about making money, the other usually isn’t – so it's not uncommon to have diametrically opposed visions and missions. That doesn’t mean you can’t complement and help each other to achieve your respective aims (unless they’re mutually exclusive).

Side note: please do due diligence. Check your NFP is actually an NFP, not a private business masquerading as such. Use the ABN look-up function to confirm the organisation you’re planning to support isn’t a private company. Not to say a private business can’t do good with sponsorship money – just that they’re not obliged to in the same way an NFP is.

2.   Understand what you’re getting

Why do you want to sponsor this organisation or event?  

Unless it’s 100% anonymous, sponsorship is not 100% benevolent. There’s always some benefit whenever a company is named as a sponsor – and there should be, because your financial contribution is enabling the NFP to deliver value.

So what benefit is your business after? Is it:

• Brand association – being recognised for supporting the NFP that’s ‘doing good’. That good karma rubs off.
• Exposure to the NFP’s audience – expanding your network and awareness of your business within the NFP’s membership and followers, online and in person.
• Public exposure – expanding brand recognition through media appearances and getting credibility-building images from use of your logo at events.

Knowing what you’re after means you can ask the right questions, which might include:

• How do you deliver on your mission?
• What’s your online reach? (e.g. number of subscribers/followers/views)
• What’s your event attendance like? (e.g. do your events sell out? How often do you run them?)
• What are your key members/attendee demographics? (e.g. gender, location, profession)
• How to you plan to share our sponsorship? (e.g. via social media, email, on website)

Make sure the NFP’s approach aligns with yours. No point signing up to a group whose main channel is Instagram if you don’t have an Instagram page to tag!

3.   Get your team on board

It’s tempting to remain the point person for the sponsorship once you get it across the line in your company. But you won’t get the best bang for your buck that way, especially if you’re under the pump at work (and who isn’t?) because you're only one person. One person can get sick, distracted, have to travel for work... and if the timing is out, you might miss something important.

Get the company on board with your sponsorship in the following ways:

• Notify the communications team – introduce them to the NFP, ensuring they are across the plan for social media, email and the website of the NFP so they can share appropriately within the company and externally with other stakeholders. Small, frequent touches are more effective than one big announcement in our attention-scarce times.
• Follow the NFP – ask your company members to follow the NFP social media so they can like and share posts about your company. The amplification effect can be huge.
• Appoint someone to respond to requests promptly – many a company has suffered avoidable brand damage because a low-pixel version of their logo was used on the banner when they didn’t reply to requests for a .eps version in a timely manner. Make expectations for responses to requests clear to your team.
• Celebrate! – for example, if there’s an awards component, trumpet the nominees from your company wherever you can. I was astonished how few companies shared the nominations of their amazing women from our 20 in 20 Awards. Winning isn’t everything – which is why we have all our nominees on our website to be celebrated as inspiring role models.
• Approach as a partnership – this can be a long-term commitment. How can you both support each other so 1+1=3? Think of it as a partnership, not a one-off ‘here’s the money and run’ thing.

4.   Attend the event/s

I can’t emphasise this enough: if you’re sponsoring something with an event, send your people.

I don’t know the psychology behind it, but there is a deep craving for in-person events and connections. WiTWA can’t keep up with demand – we had 210 people at our last event, a record for us, and we still had a waitlist.  

Having someone come along to every event you can – preferably wearing your company logo on their shirt so they’re easily spotted – means you get to interact with the NFP’s audience in a tangible, memorable way. The more touches, the better for your brand – so keep coming to those events regularly so you become recognisable.

If nothing else, you’ll get marvellous photos that you can use on your company’s own social media. Who doesn’t want that?

Bonus: you might even learn something at the event :)

While I’ve got you…

WiTWA are running our inaugural one day seminar at the Hyatt Regency in Perth on 24 October 2019, called WiTWA[+]. We’d love to chat with sponsors who want to partner with us. I hope the above gives you an idea of how seriously we take the value our sponsors provide and how invested we are in making sure they get a great result for their businesses.

We’ll be launching nominations for the awards on 11 June (the awards will be presented on 24 October) and we’d love to have our sponsors on board before then so we can get the best exposure we can for them. You can find our sponsor prospectus here.