In-kind sponsorships save the day!

A few years ago, I was asked to find sponsors for a huge regional youth soccer tournament.

The organizers wanted around $20,000 in sponsorships to cover event expenses such as soccer balls and other sports equipment, water and fruit for all participants, signs and banners directing people to the right fields, and a bunch of other stuff.

Because most of the items they needed were going to come from retailers (who do not love to part with their cash, but are typically much more inclined to give away products for community events), we decided to seek in-kind rather than cash sponsorships.

I asked organizers for an itemized budget of items they were planning to pay for and I went to work, searching out companies that could donate those items in exchange for an ad in the official tournament book (which we printed in-house for free), a logo on a banner, and an opportunity to pass out coupons to the hundreds of kids and their parents who would be in town for the tournament.

One by one, we knocked it out.

BI LO gave us gift cards for all the food and water we needed; Signs Now donated signs and banners; Dick's Sporting Goods donated a lot of the equipment we were going to pay for, and FUEL pizza gave us a bazillion pizzas for the opening night reception.

Of course, most organizations want cash sponsorships. But sometimes, in-kind sponsorships are what they actually need.

You gotta start where you're at

You gotta start where you're at.

That may sound overly simplistic, but my experience is that many people, especially in fundraising, want to start way ahead of where they actually are.

Here's some of the things I've heard: she gives everything away... Don't undervalue your program... You should be able to get at least $10,000 for that.

The truth is what you are selling is worth exactly what people are willing to pay and not a penny more.

A few years ago, I was selling sponsorships in the County's annual Outlook Calendar. Each sponsor got an ad across the bottom of a month in the calendar.

Before I started working there, someone had assigned a value for each sponsorship at $550.

The prior year's calendar only had one ad in it so, theoretically, the calendar only generated $550 - hardly enough to offset the cost of printing, which was the point of having ads in the first place.

I decided I was going to do whatever I had to do to sell each and every month.

I started selling them for $100 each, two for one, an ad bundled with an event sponsorship... Whatever I had to do to fill those slots.

I sold them all. I think I ended up raising about $2200 for that calendar - not a lot, but a 300% increase over the previous year.

But if I had stuck with the initial estimated value of $550 a page, I probably wouldn't have sold any of them.

I had to start where I was at to set. That way, I could set myself up for a fantastic finish.

Create REAL news - Part 2

I was talking with a former colleague one time and she said it is tough to get TV coverage for her events.

The TV stations in that market don't want to cover fluff, she insisted.

My response was I don't ever send out fluff. Ever. I really don't even send out a lot of press releases.

Instead I try to connect the community events I do with organizations that solve real community issues. And I send event announcements to assignment editors at each TV station a week or two before the event.

As a former reporter, I can tell you that real attempts to solve real community issues are news no matter who is coordinating them.

These are just some of the things we have done in the last two years that have generated significant media attention:

*Created an event where we turned a student health center closet at UNC Charlotte into a Recovery Room where students now hold AA and NA meetings; the remodel was covered by almost every TV station in the market;

*Coordinated a collection drive for toiletries for teenagers staying in a temporary shelter for runaway kids; the event was featured LIVE by my friend Wilson from WCCB News Rising;

*Distributed colanders, cutting boards, and salad spinners at an event with Sow Much Good, which, among other things, makes sure low-income people have access to healthy food and teaches them how to prepare it; this event was on WBTV News 3 and Time Warner Cable News.

It is true - reporters and TV producers, generally, don't want to cover fluff. They don't like to cover check passings, ribbon cuttings, or CEO speeches.

But there is always a spot in each newscast and in the newspaper for a meaningful attempt to solve a real community problem.

How to get more TV coverage - Part 1

I rarely EVER go it alone.

And by going it alone, I mean doing an event without knowing I will have a TV partner with me on the day of an event.

And I'm talking about FREE media, or 'earned media,' as we call it in corporate America, not paid media or media buys.

So how do I get earned media for almost every event that I do?

Back in the day when I was a reporter at the Business Journal, I used to also read the business news on WBT-AM with Mike Collins, a former weather guy for WBTV. I asked Mike over lunch one day, 'How do you get a TV personality to show up at an event?'

Mike said, 'Just pick someone in TV who you would like to meet and email them. The worst they can do is say 'no.''

So I started doing that.

The best part about asking one TV personality to come and emcee your event, announce something at your event, or do something fun at your event, is that a TV camera almost always comes along. It isn't a guarantee, but it is as close to a guarantee as you will get in the TV news business.

You are also doing your TV partner a favor; they love coming to community events and that helps them promote their station. It is a win-win.

Your event will make one of that evenings' newscasts.

Even a verbal commitment from a TV personality to emcee your event will make your sponsorship efforts easier. Sponsors like to be associated with events that are going to be seen on the evening news.

It almost goes without saying that if your event is scheduled for the morning, ask someone on the 5 or 6 pm news; if your event is in the early evening, ask someone from a morning show. Also, give them a month or two of notice. Don't ask if your event is just one or two weeks away; you'll look unprofessional.

In Part 2, I will share some other strategies I've used with great success to get earned media.

Five powerful minutes - Part 3

Two weeks ago, I told you how to get five minutes with a potential new sponsor.

Last week, I told you the most important thing to do when you get those five powerful minutes is ask the following question: "What are your biggest challenges for the next six months and how can I help you achieve them."

By asking that question, you are starting to create a win-win partnership. Your new contact is starting to view you as an asset - not just someone who wants something but someone who can also give something.

Your potential new sponsor will probably  say their top priority is bringing new visitors into their store. Maybe it is getting their website in front of more eyeballs. Whatever their challenge, you can use that information to start thinking of ways that you can help.

We've been trained to put company logos on t-shirts and company banners on fences at events, but many companies don't necessarily think those activities alone will bring them new visitors. Some companies avoid events altogether because they don't have the manpower to run their business on a busy Saturday AND send people for the day to an event.

That's why you have to ask what their biggest challenge is and then be prepared to offer up some real solutions.

It isn't as difficult as it sounds and you are in a unique position to help them with their challenges.

Here are some things that have worked for me:

1. Offer to put a link to their webpage on the main page of your website. Not on a sponsor page - sponsors know very few people will dive that far into your website.

2. Ask them what types of coupons they offer to drive new business. Offer to print a coupon in your organization's newsletter.

3. Give them the opportunity to put a stack of coupons in your lobby - or in lobbies of your board members' offices - for a specified period of time.

4. Give them the opportunity to sample/display products at your event and pass out coupons. Tell them if they don't have the staff for that, you will be happy to make sure their coupons are passed out near the event registration area.

5. Invite your contact to a board meeting to thank them for becoming a sponsor and let them do a 1 minute 'commercial' about their products/services in front of your board. Sponsors LOVE being able to present to new prospective clients.

6. Think creatively. Is there a space on the outside of your building that you could offer to hang their banner for a specified period of time?

7. Does your prospective sponsor have yard signs they use to promote their business and would you and your board members be willing to each take a yard sign and put it in your yards for 30 days?

I promise if you get creative, you can create win-win situations and you will not be viewed as just another person with his hat in his hand looking for a donation.

What topics would you like to see covered in future blogs?

Five powerful minutes - Part 2

Last week I wrote about how to get five minutes with a prospective new sponsor.

This week, I'm writing about what to do - and not do - when you get those five powerful minutes.

As I mentioned in last week's blog, do not ask for anything and do not hand your prospective new client anything to read. It will likely be dropped on top of a pile of other things he or she has been given and hasn't had a chance to read that have not yet made it to the trash bin. Or it will just go right to the trash.

You can give them those things after and only after you've established a relationship.

Tell the person you are meeting with briefly why you got involved with the organization you are working for. Make it personal.

And then ask your new contact a powerful question - one that in my experience seldom gets asked - but should:

"What are your biggest challenges for the next six months and how can I help you achieve them?"

Your new contact will quickly become your new friend.

One of the reasons I was so successful finding sponsors for Mecklenburg County's programs and services during the Great Recession was because I did just that. I learned quickly that if I wanted sponsorships and if I wanted repeat sponsorships, I had better be prepared to deliver something to the companies I was working with. Something THEY wanted; not something we thought they wanted.

Generally, companies want people to walk in their doors and spend money. That's the only way they can stay in business, keep employees, and support community events. And they are faced with tighter operating budgets and more competition all the time.

That's where you come in.

Your job now is to come up with ways that you can get what you want by helping your new friend achieve some of his or her objectives.

It is not as difficult as it sounds. You can do it. And I will give you some ideas in Part 3.

Five powerful minutes - Part 1

Say you have a big event next year and you want to start prospecting for new sponsors (and in fundraising, who doesn't)?

Many sponsorship seekers - and I've experienced this first hand - will put together a list of companies/contacts they'd like to recruit, put together a proposal, and email it to as many of those people as they can, with attachments, of course, that might not ever get read. (See previous blog on attachments).

Its not a completely terrible approach. I've done it myself and with some success.

But here's a better idea: call your potential sponsor/contact and ask for five minutes of their time. Just five. That's it. And be very specific about it when you ask.

'Hello Joe. This is Susan from the Springfield Rescue Mission and I would love to stop by and introduce myself and only take five minutes of your time. That's it. Just five minutes. I will be near your office on Wednesday morning. Can I just stop in and introduce myself? I promise I will be in and out in five minutes.'

I promise you will get a meeting, if you are flexible with your time.

The person you are calling on will either say, 'Sure' or 'Wednesday is horrible, can you make it Friday?' or something similar.

An important side note: keep calling until you reach your contact's live voice. Do NOT leave a message and ask for a return phone call. Why? Because then you have just actually added to your potential sponsor's already busy day of tasks and have immediately created a negative neuro-association. Trust me on this one. They also might start mentally preparing their 'We are already over budget. Contact me after the first of the year' speech and you will be out of luck.

When you go in for your five minute power meeting, lead off with, 'I just wanted to say hello, introduce myself, and I will be out of your hair in five minutes.' And take a watch so you can be sure to keep it to five minutes.

Your contact will be shocked. Nobody ever wants just five minutes. If you stick to that, you will be putting a friendly face to your charity's name and building a relationship with your new contact.

Do not give them any paperwork to look over. And don't ask for anything. I repeat, don't ask for anything. Not at your first meeting.

Tell them why you got involved with your charity and make it personal.

Next, use your five minutes to ask a powerful question.

That powerful question - one that almost never gets asked by fundraisers - will come in Part 2 of this blog.