Almost a decade ago, when our event was brand new, we really struggled for sponsorship. One sponsor really stepped in with some much-needed cash. The problem is that we are now doing well and have grown a lot – in size, revenues, and sophistication – but this original sponsor hasn’t grown with us. They are now one of our smaller sponsors, never leverage, and keep exercising their right of first refusal, which includes category exclusivity. We could get a lot more money and find a much better sponsor in this category if they were gone. We have had two of enquiries from their competitors in the past couple of years. How do we get rid of this sponsor?

Quick primer on “first right of refusal”: This is a right that is often provided as a benefit of sponsorship and means that the sponsor has the first right to say “yes” or “no” to a similar contract at the end of the current agreement.

Many sponsees seem to believe that offering first right of refusal to a sponsor obligates you to offer them a similar contract at the end of the current one. Not so! All it does is prevent you from offering a similar contract to another sponsor without giving them a chance to say “yes” first. So, if your sponsor isn’t getting it, it’s time to raise the bar and see if they jump.

Create a brand new, more comprehensive, five-star proposal. Make it all about their target markets and objectives. Include lots of fantastic ideas for leverage. Make the package realistic, but commensurate with the type of sponsorship you should have in that category. Present it to them as a rethink and a great opportunity. Tell them that you want to continue to work with them, but it is inappropriate to continue with the relationship, as it currently stands. Do not back down if they want to renew the old contract instead. Make it clear that is not an option.

This is important: Be sure to go through this process in good faith. You never know, they may rise to the occasion and let’s hope they do.

Equally important: In case they don’t rise to the occasion, be sure to go through this process with a lot of lead time. There is no guarantee one of your prospects will say “yes” straightaway, so you may need time to sell to another sponsor in the category. Plus, they will need time to plan and implement a leverage plan.

Question: We get hundreds of unsolicited proposals every single month, but almost none of them are right for us and, frankly, we’re not in an investment mode right now. We are toying with the idea of having an online sponsorship submission form to “vet” the sponsorships and cut down on our workload. Is this a good idea?

Answer: I am really not a fan of sponsorship submission form at all. The intent is usually for it to be a gatekeeper, but the effect is usually one of a gate firmly slammed shut. The forms may be very effective in minimising admin time, but they simply don’t have the scope to allow the great opportunities to shine. It really is a “throwing the baby out with the bathwater” situation.

If your real goal is to get fewer proposals, and to improve the quality of the proposals you are getting, then you are far better off creating a set of sponsorship guidelines that set out your objectives and target markets, provide insights into your brand(s), and clearly articulate what you are expecting from a partner and what you need in the proposal. Set the bar high because, frankly, you’re not going to invest in a mediocre sponsorship anyway.

What you do next is to post those guidelines on your website and refer to them on your voicemail – “Please note, we only consider proposals that meet our requirements as outlined in our sponsorship guidelines, They are available on our website”. You also want to ensure all brand managers have a copy and that your switchboard knows to refer anyone who calls asking for “whoever handles sponsorship” to your website for guidelines. You should definitely provide them to your senior executives and regional management (all of whom probably get hit up for sponsorship all the time).

If you want a good template as a starting point, you can download my Sponsorship Guidelines Template here.

Anecdotal (but consistent) feedback is that using a tight set of guidelines cuts the number of sponsorship approaches by 60-75% – many sponsorship seekers would realise they just don’t meet your needs before creating a proposal – and the quality of offers skyrockets.

If, on the other hand, your real goal with an online submission form is to cut off approaches because you are not acquiring sponsorship at all right now, I still think there is a better approach. What if you just posted something online that said:

“We are not currently investing in any new sponsorships. When this changes, we will let you know on this page.

In the meantime, please feel free to review our sponsorship guidelines to familiarise yourself with our needs and expectations. If you think that your property might be right for us at some time in future, you are welcome to submit a proposal, but please understand that it will be filed for future reference.”

Generally, I am a proponent for sharing information. If you tell potential partners exactly what you need, they will either rise to the occasion or realise it would be a wasted effort. If you tell potential partners you’re not in acquisition mode, the better matched sponsees may submit information for your files, but they won’t be calling you 17 times a week to follow up.

Keeping sponsorship seekers in the dark is counterproductive. Enlighten them, instead.

We run a few events every year and are hosting a conference for our industry later this year. My job is to get sponsors, but it has been months since any new money has come in. We’ve also lost a couple of sponsors and a couple of others are looking shaky. I’m getting desperate. Do you think it’s possible to use the Law of Attraction to manifest sponsorship?

I’ll admit it. This is probably the most unusual “coach” question I ever received. The one about getting sponsorship for a lawnmower racing team would have been close, except then I found out that lawnmower racing is a real sport. Who would have thought??

All kidding aside, there are a lot of people who believe in the Law of Attraction and manifesting their desires. I know a little about it, but I’m no expert in the area. I do know that sometimes things do happen that lay somewhere between magic and miracles, so I’m not going to judge. And I’ve addressed moral and ethical issues around sponsorship in the past – why shouldn’t I give the spiritual angle a go? So, here is my best shot…

Whether you call it the Law of Attraction or the power of positive thinking, I believe that being focused, calm, and positive is a very good thing when it comes to seeking sponsorship:

• You will be able to concentrate your efforts, because you’ll have specifically defined what you are trying to accomplish within the framework of your job or organisation.
• You will be more likely to identify opportunities to bolster your sponsorship income – even subtle or unexpected opportunities – if you believe it is going to happen.
• You will be more pleasant to be around, so you’ll have deeper, more interesting interactions with people who could be important to your goal of seeking more sponsorship, and be more likely to get referrals to other people who could be important.

That said, do I believe you can “manifest” a sponsor handing you a cheque simply through meditation and other spiritual techniques? No, I really don’t.

You could “manifest” an airline seat next to your dream sponsor, or meet her or him at an industry function or even get a call from that sponsor requesting a proposal. (Or it could be sheer, blind luck, depending on your take on this whole Attraction thing.) But as fortuitous as that meeting might be, getting an audience with a potential sponsor and getting that sponsor to sign a contract are two entirely different things.

You may – may – be able to bend your luck toward your goal, but you are not going to be able to bend a corporate strategy that dozens or hundreds or thousands believe in. Nope. Developing a sponsorship offering that meets the objectives and target markets of the potential sponsor, and doing it in a way that is compelling and differentiated from everyone else who has somehow got a proposal in front of them – that takes skill, a sophisticated approach, and effort. If you want someone to hand you a cheque that doesn’t require your skill or effort, you are not looking for a sponsor, you are looking for a benefactor, and they are few and far between.

That’s a long answer that, in essence, says “sort of”. This is a tough market and can be demoralising. You need to do what you can to stay positive and focused, and if The Secret and Co. help you to do that, then do it. But there is no free lunch. If an opportunity does present itself, you need to be prepared (skills and a strong approach) and take action (effort).

There is one of those Law of Attraction ideas that does seem very applicable, and that is, “turn it into something good”. Spiritual or not, that’s great advice for sponsorship seekers. No matter how good you are, you’re likely to hear “no” more than you hear “yes”. When you take a blow – and pretty much everyone is taking a few – think about how you can turn it into something good. For instance, you could:

• Ask the sponsor who said “no” for some specific feedback on your offer, so you can address any issues in your approach.
• Ask the sponsor who didn’t renew whether they can recommend any sponsors you should be talking to, or whether they can provide an endorsement.
• Train the sponsors who are questioning the value of their investment. Train them how to leverage and measure what they do and your value will skyrocket.
• If nothing is going right, take a hard look at your overall approach to sponsorship seeking. There has never been a better – or more critical – time to upgrade your approach.

I wish you all peace, happiness, and good fortune. And if some of that comes from a book or a movie, that’s okay.

Help! I’m three years out of university and have been working as an assistant brand manager for a mid-sized FMCG company. The sponsorship manager left for bigger and better things and I’ve been asked to fill the role because my boss “sees my potential”. I took the job, because it’s a huge opportunity, but I have no idea what I’m doing. Let’s assume I can learn. Where do I start?

First off, congratulations! You’re right, sponsorship is a huge opportunity. While this specialty was considered to be in the marketing backwaters 10-15 years ago, it is now in the forefront of intelligent brand marketing.

That said, you’ve got your work cut out for you. Your sponsorship contracts – and the opportunities they represent – aren’t going to wait around for you to get into the groove. You need to do a crash course and you need to do it now. A few suggestions:

• Read the best newer releases on brand marketing, experiential marketing, and sponsorship. My favourites are listed in the recommended reading section.
• Subscribe to PROMO and Brandweek magazines, sign up for Fast Company’s free marketing e-newsletter, and alerts from Brand Republic. None of these are specifically about sponsorship, but most cover sponsorship quite well. In more general terms, these publications will help you hone your marketing acumen. Bonus: Lots of great ideas.
• Attend a workshop by someone known for a best practice approach. Why a workshop and not a conference? Because what you need right now is to get a handle on the overall approach to best practice, as well as a doable process to make it happen. Conferences tend to be big on networking, reasonable sources of inspiration, but lack specifics about process. Over time, you will alter both the approach and the process to suit your situation, but you need to start somewhere. No good workshops happening soon? Consider investing in some in-house training for you and a larger group of stakeholders, which will pay off manyfold.
• Seek out white papers on sponsorship, experiential marketing, brand marketing, and relationship marketing. You can find a bunch of good sponsorship white papers for download on our Free Stuff page. Another good source is Change This.
• If you’re staring down a tough period – such as a portfolio rationalisation or major renegotiation – and you’re not confident, you may want to consider hiring a sponsorship “coach”. This is someone who won’t do the job for you, but will provide you with the insight and experience to guide you through the process. As you are new in the job, it is unlikely a request to fund a coach to get you up to speed fast will be dismissed.

Most important of all, I believe, is to leave any preconceived notions about what sponsorship is and how it’s supposed to work behind. So much of the chatter around sponsorship is based on flawed, old-school ideas that it’s actually a good thing to come at it fresh and with an open mind. Let the fact that you have no bad habits to break work for you. Just ensure that you are getting your information from quality sources. It won’t take long before best practice will seem the most obvious approach in the world, and you’ll be wondering why so many others don’t get it.

Break a leg!

We have a mid-high-level sponsor with two years left on their contract. They’ve just been told to cut 20% from their sponsorship budget and are now “rationalising their investments” Two days ago, they told us that they want us to let them out of the sponsorship contract. What do we do?

I’m not a lawyer, so please don’t consider this a legal opinion, but I’ve been around the block with this kind of question a number of times.

Your contract may have some kind of exit clause if they start bankruptcy proceedings or cease to do business, but unless you have some more vague exit clause – like, they can exit the contract if their strategy substantially changes – you shouldn’t have any legal obligation to let them out of the contract. So, first step, check your contract.

If you have no legal obligation to let them out of the contract, my inclination is to say “don’t”. There are probably other ways that your sponsor can cut back (for some ideas, see the new white paper, “Sponsorship in a Scary Economy”), and you may see revenues fall from new and renewing sponsors, so best to hang onto what you’ve got.

That said, holding them to the letter of the contract is a bad idea. Don’t change the basics – contract term, financial commitment, etc – but I think that you should be prepared to get flexible with benefits and pro-active in this regard.

Assuming for a moment that it is at least a moderately good target market and brand values match, underperforming sponsorships are usually caused by two things:

1. Sponsorship benefits that are uninspired and/or inappropriate for brand needs
2. Lack of creative, strategic leverage activities

If the sponsorship was on the chopping block, it is probably because it was underperforming. As far as I’m concerned, this is your opportunity to help them turn this underperforming sponsorship into one that really works for them.

The first thing you need to do is ensure you really understand what they are trying to achieve. Once you know that, work with them to rethink their leverage program – creating cost-effective ways to achieve their goals – as well as being prepared to less effective benefits for ones that will underpin these activities.

You can find some ideas and a brainstorming exercise in “Sponsorship in a Scary Economy”. And good luck to you all.