Many colorful speech bubbles with the word Blah
I have lost count of the number of sponsorship proposals that feature – even open with – the sponsorship seeker’s mission statement. These are the same proposals that usually follow up the mission statement with fifteen pages of why you’re so worthy of sponsorship.
I’m really sorry to have to break it to you, but your mission statement is not a useful marketing tool. Sponsors don’t care.
This is not to say that your mission statement is irrelevant to your organisation. But when it comes to sponsorship, it’s not helpful. Nor is positioning yourself as needy, worthy, or a “good cause”.
What sponsors want see from you is very specific – it’s about their needs, not yours; it’s about connecting with and adding value to their target markets, not you. Providing that context is essential to getting to yes and not being categorised as an organisation looking for a handout. What you want is to position yourself as a viable commercial partner who can provide substantial marketing value to their company or brand.
My advice is to strip your proposal of anything more than one introductory page telling your organisation’s story, and concentrate on…
There is certainly plenty more to be said about what belongs in a sponsorship proposal and how to structure it, but getting the focal point right gets you halfway there.
For all you need to know about sponsorship sales and servicing, you may want to get a copy of The Sponsorship Seeker’s Toolkit 4th Edition. You may also be interested in my latest white paper, “Disruptive Sponsorship: Like Disruptive Marketing, Only Better“.
If you need additional assistance, I offer sponsorship consulting and strategy sessions, sponsorship training, and sponsorship coaching. I also offer a comprehensive sponsorship capacity-building service for large, diverse, and decentralised organisations.
Please feel free to drop me a line to discuss.
Please note, I do not offer a sponsorship broker service, and can’t sell sponsorship on your behalf. You may find someone appropriate on my sponsorship broker registry.