Are there strings attached?
David M. Patt, CAE
Practical, effective management | Association Executive, Turnaround expert
When I was CEO of a running association, a global shoe manufacturer offered to sponsor our marathon training program. But it had one condition. We had to start our training runs in front of its store.
That was a terrible place to launch a run and it was far from where most participants lived. They'd have to drive every week and park their cars in a pay lot. As a result, we'd probably lose registrants to a rival or those folks might even decide to start a program of their own.
So, we said "no."
The company called us again the following year and said it had no conditions. We knew it had been dropped as a sponsor of a big event and apparently wanted a way to maintain its visability. So, we signed a sponsorship agreement.
Two years later, the company that had replaced it as an event sponsor wanted to replace it as our sponsor, too, and offered us a lot more money. But it had one condition. It wanted to name the speaker for the session where we told people how to select running shoes.
So, we said "no."
When it asked us why, we said the speaker would only talk about the company's shoes. The company claimed it had a shoe for every foot. We said it might not be the best shoe for every foot.
Well, we found a way to compromise. We let a company representative speak for five minutes at the end of the shoe session, connected it with the speaker (the owner of a local running store), allowed it to set up an informational table at the session, and promised to buy program apparel from it if it had what we wanted (we had to buy it from somebody, anyway). So, we signed a sponsorship agreement.
Not long after, a global fast food company also offered to sponsor the program. But it had one condition. It wanted us to promote its company as a source of healthy food.
So, we said "no."
When signing sponsors, don't just do whatever you think is necessary to get the money. Do what is best for your audience(s). In our case, it was our members, and we weren't going to sell them out just to make a buck, no matter how badly we needed the dough.