Is It Better to Have Fewer, Bigger Sponsors or More, Smaller Sponsors?

I get this question quite a bit. Is it better to have fewer, larger sponsors, or more, smaller sponsors? The implication is that the choice is to go for lots of easy “yesses” or work hard for a few big “yesses”.

The problem with that is that, in many cases, it isn’t any easier getting a “yes” for a small sponsorship than it is for a larger one. If you’re asking for really low dollars, you may be dealing with someone who can only approve really low dollars. Or the dollar figure may be so low that the potential sponsors are devaluing what you have to offer. Or they may see the dollar figure and think you don’t know what you’re doing or what you’re worth. In other words, going for very low sponsorship really makes a rod for your own back.

Yeah, sure… there are those tiny little rats-and-mice sponsorship that say “yes” every year at a super-low level. But, chances are, those companies are considering those funds as one of three things:

• Go-away money – They give you a tiny bit of money so you stop bothering them about real money. This happens a lot with charitable and community organisations, where they don’t want to say “no”, so they give you a token, instead.
• Cost-of-doing-business money – They sponsor something at a very low level, simply because they think they have to be represented at some event or be conspicuous by their absence. This is very common with association, conference, and industry expo sponsorships.
• Defensive sponsorship – This money is spent with one thing in mind: Getting an exclusivity clause that stops you selling a substantial sponsorship to one of their competitors.

While I will never tell you to turn down revenue, if you need cash flow, honestly, you can do better.

So, if you’re considering moving to a fewer-larger sponsorship model, I’ve outlined some of the pros and cons below. Please note, none of these pros or cons are hard-and-fast. There are exceptions to everything, but this is the way it tends to go.

Pros

• You’ll have fewer relationships to manage. As you’ve probably realised, servicing small sponsors can be just as draining as servicing big ones.
• Bigger sponsors are more likely to leverage their sponsorships for a strong result. Strong results create more likelihood of renewal and case studies you can use to sell more sponsorship.
• Bigger sponsors are more likely to sign multi-year contracts, assuring your cash flow for longer.
• You can sell bigger sponsorships across multiple events or properties at the same time, creating value and consistency for them, and less sponsor management and admin for you.
• Bigger sponsors tend to be bigger companies, with some experience in making sponsorship work, so the relationships are often smoother than with smaller sponsorships from less experienced companies who may have no idea.
• Bigger sponsors know other big sponsors, creating the potential for advocacy.
• To attract more big sponsors, you may have to upskill, get some training, or get some coaching, any of which is a great investment in your position and good for your career.

Cons

• When you’re dealing with sponsors who want an actual return, not just sponsors giving you token amounts as a cost of doing business, you’ll have to work a lot harder for the money.
• Bigger sponsors will expect more from you – better skills, more creativity, and a much higher degree of sophistication.
• To attract more big sponsors, you may have to upskill, get some training, or get some coaching, all of which take time and/or money that your senior executives or board may not support.

As you can see, I tend to come down firmly on the side of fewer-larger sponsorships. It may take a little while to transition your portfolio, but it is definitely doable. Good luck! It’s a bit of work, but well worth it in the end.

Need more assistance?

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. I’ve also got self-paced, online sponsorship training courses, covering the whole sponsorship process, with lots of inclusions. Interested? Check out the Corporate Sponsorship Masterclass for sponsors and Getting to “Yes” for rightsholders.  You may also be interested in my white papers,  “Last Generation Sponsorship Redux” and “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 Systems Design 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.

© Kim Skildum-Reid. All rights reserved. To enquire about republishing or distribution, please see the blog and white paper reprints page.

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