sponsorships & partnerships
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HOW TO APPROACH A SPONSORSHIP PROPOSAL
Before contacting potential sponsors decide on the specific things
you want from them and what exactly you will offer in return. On
your initial contact, make sure you speak to somebody in the company
who is high enough in the ranks to make sponsorship decisions. Speak
confidently about your project, be honest and display your willingness
to renegotiate the terms of your proposal so a mutually beneficial
arrangement might be reached. You can always change your mind if
you are unhappy with the final deal, but make sure you call it off
before the arrangement has been entered into.
Most sponsors are going to want some sort of written proposal-
it is best if it comes as a follow-up to a quick phone call conversation
and it is addressed to the same person. It's very effective if you
have the document ready to email them as soon as you hang up the
phone, so make sure you get their email address too. It should be
concise, well presented and not more than a couple of pages long.
It should be similar to your project plan but only cover those aspects
relevant to your sponsors.
Things you might include in a sponsorship proposal:
- an overview of the project (framed and worded in a way that
highlights the elements of your project that will be of specific
interest to your sponsor).
- who the target audience is · why the target audience is relevant
to their product or organisation · how you will publicise the
project.
- the promotional material and advertising strategies that will
accompany the project.
- exactly what you want from the sponsor with estimated values
quoted (emphasis this is subject to negotiation").
- exactly what they will receive from the arrangement with estimated
values quoted (also "subject to negotiation").
Some Important points to consider when developing sponsorship
proposals are:
- In-kind sponsorship: it is more likely that business can support
you with in-kind sponsorship as opposed to cash funding. In-kind
sponsorship is the provision of free services or product in exchange
for sponsorship benefits. Consider what your needs are and then
create a list of businesses that provide these services (ie printing,
design, lighting hire, advertising space etc)
- As sponsorship proposals require time and energy to create
and negotiate with sponsors, you may like to consider requesting
support for an entire year rather than one off events. For this
have a clear estimate of what your activities and needs are likely
to be or provide the sponsor with a summary of previous year breakdowns.
- Never send in a generic sponsorship package; instead tailor
it to each sponsor.
- Try to avoid sending a sponsorship package cold (ie without
talking to someone at the business first). Find out who the right
person is to handle/negotiate sponsorship and call them. Introduce
the idea that your group is considering developing a sponsorship
proposal and ask if they can help with some advice on their company.
Of course this process will be easier if it is a business you
already have a relationship with or have a contact in.
- The following is a guide for questions to ask (and the answers
should help shape your proposal immensely).
- Who are the business's current market?
- Are there new/different targets they would like to reach?
- Have they ever been in a sponsorship partnership before?
- What is their vision/ mission statement (if they have one)?
- Is it easier for them to contribute in-kind support or
cash sponsorship?
- What do they see as the most beneficial return of being
a sponsor? For example to be seen as giving something back
to the community OR promotion/advertising?
From H2w2
PARTNERSHIPS - LONG TERM
Many cultural organisations have tended to think of business sponsorships
primarily in terms of cash support. But potentially, a private corporation
has the capacity to help organisations meet other business needs
as well - especially in relation to their operational requirements,
the need to extend corporate networks, marketing and audience development,
and employee relations.
For example, companies can help cultural organisations by providing
money, in-kind support, networking, and businesses expertise. In
return, cultural organisations can provide corporations with marketing
and branding opportunities, improved corporate goodwill, and access
to cultural activity that develops employees' creativity and keeps
their motivation high.
In the Partnership approach, several important principles underpin
the relationship between corporation and cultural organisations.
These include respect for the partner's objectives and activities,
commitment to the relationship being reciprocal and long term, and
the provision of benefits across a number of business units.
There are two national organisations that can assist in the establishment
of a community business partnership.
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and
For Arts Organisations
The Australia Business Arts Foundation
www.abaf.org.au
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The Prime Minister's Community Business Partnership
An initiative of the Prime Minister's Community Business Partnership
is a new national service providing advice on how to develop and
maintain effective partnerships. Our Community (www.ourcommunity.com.au)
is a brokerage service for community business partnerships.
Key features of the service include
- an online matching service
- email and phone line advisory service
- toolkits of "How To' and 'Help Sheets'
- 'Train the Trainer' modules;
- a project newsletter
- national and regional conferences/seminars/expos
- face-to-face support and case management;
- a database of consultants to assist community business partnerships.
To find out more contact The Prime Minister's Community Business
Partnership 1800 359 918
The Australia Business Arts Foundation
AbaF works with business and arts organisations, encouraging partnerships
that benefit both sectors and the community.
The Australia Business Arts Foundation's mission is to increase
private sector support for the arts.
AbaF facilitates business arts partnerships by providing training,
advice and publications. These provide a basis of knowledge for
business and arts organisations to start developing partnerships.
What is the AbaF business case approach?
The business case is about the exchange of benefits by organisations.
Each partner has resources and skills which it can offer to the
other, and in turn has needs which the other can meet. When there
is a good fit between organisations, there is a match between the
needs of each of the two organisations and what each can offer.
The Business Case approach involves looking at the business needs
of both parties, and at the benefits each can deliver the other
to help meet their respective business needs. Trading assets to
provide benefits that meet a partner's needs is the basis of the
methodology
The Business Case approach recognises that both corporations and
cultural organisations:
- are running business enterprises
- have core commercial needs that must be met for their enterprises
to be successful
- have assets and resources that can be used to deliver benefits
to the other partner, where there is a good fit between the needs
and assets of the two parties.
From 'Business Arts Partnerships. A Guide to
the Business Case Approach for the Cultural Sector'. AbaF 2002
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