How can you as a small business owner take advantage of this sponsorship for your events and projects and also earn some money? Read on to find out how to take advantage of the sponsorship field.
The reason why most of these large and medium-sized organizations get involved in sponsoring their events or projects is because they want to improve their public profile in a cheaper way. Keep in mind that it’s not just big corporations that dominate here, even midsize companies are jumping on the sponsorship bandwagon and cashing in on sponsorship of everything including local or community sports, health shows, lighting drives, cultural festivals, just for name a few.
In reality there is no event or project that cannot be sponsored. But the events or projects that tend to attract sponsorships are those that add value to the community and indirectly increase the brand image and profits of the organization’s products and/or services. Events or projects dealing with health, education, charity, entertainment, art, empowerment, childhood and gender issues are real examples of what can attract sponsorships.
You may also notice that events like Gulder Ultimate Search, Star Quest, Lagos Half Marathon, Argungu Fishing Festival, among others, have been lucky enough to attract annual sponsorships.
What are the types of sponsorships that I can take advantage of?
There are two types of sponsorships that you can take advantage of:
- Product Sponsorship – Many small and large corporations are comfortable with this. They pitch your company’s products to you as a back-up for your event or project. Examples of these companies are Nestlé Foods, Nigerian Bottling Company, UAC, MTN, Zain, Etisalat, Globacom, etc. There are also small organizations in your area that you can confidently approach for this type of sponsorship and even sole proprietors who have product offerings that your events need to project.
- Financial Sponsorship: Companies will release funds to you set aside for your event or project, as long as it is a project driven by community impact. The amount requested should be quite specific, and each step in your analysis of how the funds will be used should be clearly stated. Examples of financing companies are British Council, Nokia, UAC, Chevron, Texaco, Mobil, British Tobacco Nigeria Ltd, Guinness, Nigerian Breweries, Nestlé, Wampco, Ford Foundation, Unilever, GTBank, Ecobank, etc. There are also plenty of small and medium-sized businesses waiting to be contacted with their sponsorship proposals.
Am I eligible to get a sponsorship deal?
The painful truth is that it is almost impossible for a person to land an endorsement deal. Companies feel more comfortable dealing with sponsorship proposals from a team, whether government or non-government. So make sure that when you submit a sponsorship proposal, it bears the name of a team, registered or not, and this covers religious groups, clubs, NGOs, educational institutions, registered private companies, etc. We now move on to the next section, how to get that winning sponsorship.
So how do I get that winning sponsorship?
What you simply need to make sure your sponsorship goes through is your Proposal. I recommend that you submit your proposal at the beginning of each quarter because that is when most companies review their financial books. Now you must follow up on your proposal, except that the company indicates that it will contact you. But one secret to take note of is trying to cultivate a platonic relationship with the officer in charge, probably outside of the office area.
The first thing you need to do is write a short but meaningful proposal for the organization of your choice. What is essential is that your proposal should indicate how your event or project can advance your brand and paint the image of the company in a good light. But how do you write a winning sponsorship proposal?
Now you must realize that your proposal will have to fight for attention among the hordes of other proposals that these companies receive on a daily basis. It should be apt in its wording, be at least a page or two, and be simple. Take note of the following tips to write that winning proposal.
- Your Title: This is the content topic of your proposal. Write a headline that is direct and can sell itself. If you can’t write one, find a good copywriter who can do it for you.
- The Project/Event – When writing your proposal, this should come first. Be clear when explaining what your event is about and avoid giving details that do not help to clearly establish the purpose of your project or event.
- The target audience: clearly explain who your project will address in the audience.
- Type of sponsorship you are looking for: describe the type of sponsorship you need, whether it is product or financial sponsorship
- Sponsorship benefit: Explain in your proposal what the sponsors will benefit from because they would only put money where their words are.
- Introduce Your Outfit – Once you’ve completed the above, formally describe what your outfit is about and why you’re embarking on the project.
- Proposed Event Date – Highlight when the event or project for sponsorship consideration is scheduled to take place. If you don’t do this, they may take you for a ride, which means they take their time pretty well.
- And the last one is your cover letter – Attach your cover letter which must be signed by whoever receives it from you.
So how do I make money from these endorsement deals?
You can hit the pot of gold in two ways: first, after running the event/project successfully, you don’t need to repay any leftover money. It’s all yours. Second, you make extra money through ticketing, where you promote your event using the popularity of a well-known brand as your main sponsor. You can make a 50-50 deal with the sponsor, but in some cases the sponsors don’t even care about this part.
Before submitting your proposal, research the company of your choice and find out who is in charge of handling sponsorship issues.
Be prepared for the presentation
Once your proposal is accepted, don’t get caught out when you’re called to present your event/project. Be ready before then and get all the facts correct.
As I advised you earlier, get the phone number of the officer in charge (if you can) to allow proper follow-up during and after official hours.
The only thing that can stop you is yourself. So go ahead and get that sponsorship deal for your events or projects.