This one is super-short. If you are a non-profit, you should consider all three resolutions for sponsorship seekers, and add this one:

Build in ownership

The more you can get individual people – the people that make up a sponsor’s target markets – involved in a sponsorship, the more valuable you are to the sponsor. And with non-profits, you have more opportunity to do this than almost anyone else – but it requires some flexibility on your part.

Here’s the thing: Create “ownership” by the sponsor’s target market(s) of one or more of your programs.

You could tell the sponsor that they can get more mileage by asking their target markets – their consumers, their staff, their B2B customers, whoever – to choose which of your programs is funded. This could be associated with a cause-related marketing program, staff engagement program, or they could get every major client at their end-of-year dinner to nominate one of your programs to receive a nominal donation.

You could encourage your sponsors to get their employees involved – each department could take on one facet of your organisations or each branch or regional outlet could work with your organisation on a local level.

The idea is that you need to build in ways that actual people (not marketers) get to feel like they are influencing and/or impacting your organisation in the way that is most resonant with them.

Have a wonderful 2009!