The importance of preparing for sponsorship success is often the most underestimated (or by-passed altogether) stage of creating a sponsorship strategy for non-profit organisations.

When you decide that your organisation or event is ready to engage sponsors, the process can be greatly streamlined by putting a plan into action that ensures you have everything in place in your sponsorship-seeking arsenal by the time you make your approach to a company or brand.

Your plan should focus on maximising internal capacity and support by ensuring the organisational processes, procedures, culture and team you have in place are robust and setting you up for success on all levels. Part of this planning phase includes creating a culture of ‘commercial acceptance’ that promotes whole-of-organisation buy-in and commitment to support your sponsorship-seeking efforts.

Organisations and events that enjoy great corporate support are the ones that know why their supporters are a potential target market to a corporate partner and what communication channels they can offer to leverage the ideal partnership. By taking the time to create a clear plan, you are ensuring that your organisation is in the best position to approach the right partners and fully support the sponsorship strategy you are seeking to implement.