A Handshake Doesn’t Make A Sponsorship Deal
Connecting with corporate partners who are aligned with your mission and see you as a thought leader or innovator in your field (as well as a direct route to their target market) is a milestone worth celebrating!
Understandably, many For-Purpose organisations get to this stage of the process with feelings elation, knowing that this investment will benefit their supporters, research projects and the future of their mission.
This natural excitement can all too often lead many organisations to then take their focus back to their ‘core work’ and new sponsors and fresh promises of access and connection are left forgotten, leading to difficult conversations, uncomfortable relationships and no chance of renewal or investment for the following year.
Part of the road to implementing a best practice sponsorship strategy means securing that connection. Ensuring you have the right tools and processes in place to make it as easy as possible for a partner to stay with you and enjoy the experience of becoming part of your ‘community’s family’.
If you want to connect with corporate partners, ensure you do it properly; secure the partnership with a legally binding contract and publicly announce the partnership, ensuring that you are both ‘singing from the rooftops’ about the great work you will do together.
There will inevitably be times when difficult conversations with sponsors may arise but having a contract and sound strategies to manage this discourse as well as tactics to deal with difficult sponsors and personalities will ensure that you are not caught off guard and potentially exit a relationship that may just need some nurturing.
Long gone are the days where organisations and events can partner with a brand without the need for a contract that spells out the terms, deliverables, use of their logo and back up plans if things go wrong (although I still meet with some old school Boards that insist all that’s required is a handshake, or a conversation over a beer at the pub!)
