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Cultivating and Marketing to Corporate Sponsors - Part 1 Barbara Talisman, President, Talisman Associates, Inc. - committed to educating and inspiring donors So you have a successful event or program. Or you would like to implement a new event or program. Corporate sponsorship can make a difference in the bottom line in either case. Don't wait until you are four months out to ask a corporation for their support. Creating a relationship will insure successful partnerships with corporations that can help you get the money you want when you want it. Start marketing your organization and its programs to corporations when you start planning; the earlier the better. Better yet, communicate with potential and current corporate supporters year round. It is easier than you think and utilizes practices you probably have in place already. Remember, corporate sponsorship is not necessarily viewed by a company as a charitable contribution as we usual refer to it. Sponsorship infers the donors will get something for their support; company name, product recognition or the chance to distribute product at the event. In addition, the placement of their company logo on various collateral materials is very valuable to most companies. Corporate sponsorship, in many companies, is often driven by their marketing department. Sponsorship is an opportunity for companies to reach a segment of the population as part of their marketing plan. Your event or program can offer companies the opportunity to put their product or service in front of a buying market, your event participants. Preparation: Doing your corporate research in November and December is a good idea. In many organizations this seems to be a quieter time of the year. This also means the research can be completed for January 1. This means a fresh start in January when everyone is getting geared up for a new year. But remember, research continues all year long. Don't forget to start with your own database. You will be surprised by the useful information you can gather through researching your own corporate donors first. The research takes lots of phone work and follow up. Obtaining lists, checking addresses, contact names and phone numbers. Some of these tasks are easily accomplished by volunteers. Give clear instructions about what you want and what you are looking for. Good and useful research will include: Company Name Contact names including their assistants: President/CEO Marketing Leader - Director, VP, Manager Human Resources Director/Manager Charitable Contributions Manager - if the company has one Address City, State, Zip Phone numbers: General Company number Fax numbers for all of the above Direct dial numbers of all of the above or their assistants Car phone/pager, especially if it is a sales related company and your contact is on the road. This may come later in the cultivation. Type of company: Private or public Business type Local or national base Annual report Charitable giving, sponsorship/marketing policy Marketing strategy Charity committee structure, if any Time frame for decisions and budget planning Any articles you read in the newspaper and business journals List Building: Creating a list of potential corporate supporters is readily available, you just need to ask for it. Sources include: Chamber of Commerce Business journals* Association groups - human resources, business group etc. Top Lists Magazines* Rotary, Lions, Kiwanis Clubs Other non-profit organization's corporate donor lists - either through list share or in programs published by other groups Country/Golf Clubs membership lists * Some lists can be acquired from list management companies. They will charge you a fee depending on the size and kind of list you want. It is up to you to determine what the list is worth to you and if you can get the information from another source without paying for it. Coordinating the Information: If you have fundraising software use it! Know the codes you need to make the database useable and flexible. You need to be able to access the research easily and effectively. Many of these names will be potential donors. Think carefully about coding and access, keeping notes etc. Donors need to be contacted in different ways, times and for different reasons. The coding will assist you in pulling names from the database at the appropriate time. It is important to keep all this information on a computer or in paper files. Many non- profits find themselves stymied when an employee of many years leaves and all the institutional knowledge walks out the door with them. This information belongs to the organization and should be accessible to more than one person. Information you may want to search for could include: Corporate - local/national Cash or in kind sponsor See other contacts Event/Program support preference Key/primary contact Potential Rating - A, B or C based on research information If you do not have fundraising software, a good mail merge program or word processing program with mail merge abilities will work. Traditional fields, i.e. company, contact name, address, city, state, zip, should be included. Be sure to create a separate field for the zip code to make bulk mailing and label printing easier. A salutation field should also be established. Any of the codes mentioned above can be included for search purposes in the mail merge list. If you are working in a mail merge, keeping separate lists leads to confusion when mailing time comes around. Keep all information in one list and use codes to select who to mail to. For instance: Type of Donor C=Corporate I= Individual F=Foundation MG=Major Giver DM=Direct Mail E=Event Rating - potential/current A=High B=Medium C=Low Cultivation and Marketing to Corporate Sponsors: You have created a great list of potential or current corporate partners. Here are some suggestions for cultivating and forming a relationship with them. Don't ask for the money yet! Make sure they receive a newsletter regularly. Send them your annual report with a note. Invite them to board meetings when appropriate. Ask them to present information to a board, staff or client meeting, depending on their service, product or experience. Schedule one on one meetings to discuss agency programs, ask for their opinions and feedback. Attend their professional meetings, where and when appropriate: Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, Association conferences. Invite them to attend an agency event as your guest. Create a corporate roundtable of advisors and supporters Network!, Network!, Network! Follow up on all promises of information, mailings etc. Find natural partners who can link you to the corporation, the corporation to the agency and mission and the agency programs and events to the corporate dollars.  Back to Table of Contents
Cultivating and Marketing to Corporate Sponsors - Part 2 Creating an Integrated Corporate Sponsorship Program There is a new paradigm in corporate sponsorships. Corporations no longer view sponsorships as altruistic gifts to a non-profit organization. Their sponsorship entitles them to market their company or product to your constituency. Therefore, sponsorship packages should offer corporations a variety of ways to reach out. When developing a corporate sponsorship package, go beyond marketing your special events. Our experience has shown that developing an integrated corporate marketing program better serves the agency and their corporate partners. As many non-profits have more than two events per year, there are a couple of things to consider about your development calendar: Would a corporation be interested in sponsoring more than one of your events? Do you have the time to ask for corporate sponsorship more than once from the same corporation? Does that corporation want to see you asking for money all the time? Your time is better spent if you present one package that represents all opportunities for sponsorship support. Because the corporation can then make an informed decision, budgeting becomes much simpler for both of you. This alone should make it very clear why an integrated corporate marketing program is so important. Now the real impact of a truly integrated corporate sponsorship package is that, in addition to all special events, your package offers: sponsorship of agency programs materials printing and advertising Many corporations support events by purchasing a table for ten, others don't support events. But when you can talk to the corporate contact about the impact of a program that reaches particular populations, you will see their interests grow! Program outreach and sponsorship can include: Materials you need printed for the program, with a printed thank you or logo tastefully placed on the back Posters that bring people to the program An agency banner that you hang at the program or meeting Ongoing program support or agency brochure It is easy to create an integrated corporate marketing program when you begin with your special events. Look at all your events and determine which event opportunities are available for sponsorship or corporate recognition: Invitations Banners Posters T-shirts Program books Advertisements Tents Billboards Staging Tables Receptions Food Web logos and links Newsletter recognition Annual report Letterhead Envelopes The list can go on endlessly depending on your events. Next, determine what levels of sponsorship you want for each event or for the entire program. We find it easier to keep levels as consistent as possible from event to event and from program to program. Sponsorships for all events can begin at $500 or $1,000 and go through the same levels, $2,500, $5,000, $7,500 etc. It becomes confusing when each event has different levels of sponsorship, so consistency is advised here, but not required. Once you have determined the levels, then take all of the possible sponsorship benefits for each event or program and divide them among the levels. Again, we find it easiest to start at the highest level and offer everything, then take opportunities away as you move down through the different levels. Some things to remember as you allocate benefits: If there is only room for a few logos or names on a piece of collateral material, it will cost more to be listed there. If you are printing a piece in great quantities, its value is greater, because the distribution is wider. Printing a corporate or product logo is more valuable to a company than listing their company or product name only. A company will pay more to insure their logo is listed. When printing a logo, you and the corporation want each logo to be recognized. Having more than twelve logos on the back of a t-shirt or on a poster makes it difficult for the company to be recognized. It dilutes their name recognition and weakens your partnership. When developing materials remember you want space to place corporate recognition naturally and effectively, not as an afterthought. An integrated corporate marketing program contains every possible and available benefit your agency is willing to "sell" to a corporate partner. The Tampa AIDS Network and Lincoln Park Zoo have developed very effective spiral bound sponsorship programs that offer "one stop shopping" for their sponsors. In addition to the sponsorship opportunities, an integrated corporate sponsorship package also includes everything a corporation and their marketing department would want to know about your agency. Remember, this is a strategic, not charitable decision by the corporation. They want to know what their return will be on investment. Who will they reach and what impact can they have? Here are some items to include in the beginning of the program: History of the agency; mission/vision statement; why you exist; why you need to continue to exist ( ˝ page if you can) Past, current and future vision for your agency, those you serve and the community in which you work (another ˝ page) Demographics of who you serve; age, sex, zip codes, statistics you have available; even mini maps of your service area Programs you offer and the needs assessment that determined your programs are valuable and needed by the community Then you want to break down the demographics for each event and program so that a sponsor knows who they will be reaching specifically for each sponsorship they select. Your integrated corporate sponsorship program might look like this when you are done: Title page with address, phone, fax and contact person Table of contents Overview, history and mission/vision for the agency Demographics of who you serve and why Listing and brief descriptions of programs you offer Now that you have an integrated corporate marketing program in place, your event and program sponsorships should fall into place. You will be able to "sell" your sponsorships more effectively. More importantly, with a "one stop" sponsorship program you will have more time to cultivate your sponsors and spend less time soliciting them. Here's to good luck and great sponsorships! Back to Table of Contents
Annual Meetings as "Entertailing" Did you see the article in Inc., discussing retail as entertainment? They called it 'Entertailing.' An example of this concept would be, how Disney stores bombard you with so much stimuli that you just want-need-have to by something. They make you want to be part of the fun they have created in their stores. This, in turn, causes you to do exactly what they want, shop and buy. They do all this through entertailing. I think not-for-profits could use annual meetings as excellent opportunities to entertail. Your annual meeting should not be a closed affair. All donors, volunteers, staff and other significant people should be invited. Question: If you got an invitation to an "Annual Meeting" or an invitation to a "Gallery of the Year in Review," which would you attend? I, like most, would vote for the gallery happening. Take the mundane and make it exciting! First find a good location, preferably free. Then, find a theme that represents the organization's accomplishments over the past year. Depending on the size of your crowd, here are some ideas: A funder's conference room would be chic. A park in the summer time - Work out the sound system. You can make it happen! If you work in the community, have your annual meeting in the street! If you help the homeless, have your annual meeting at the shelter. There's absolutely nothing wrong with a site visit that does not make your clients uncomfortable. Personally, I think THEY should be invited. Food bank - how about the lobby of a real bank and ask everyone to bring a canned good, or the food warehouse. How about the inside of a semi truck that delivers the food! Now that you have a location that will bring throngs of people; Who to invite? I like inviting more than the obvious donors, friends of donors, board members, volunteers and staff... Invite the world! Don't forget about: Corporate funders & their CEOs The charitable contributions committee who gave you the money Foundation program officers Potential funders you have been trying to reach Clients, if not precluded by confidentiality, should be welcomed. Who knows their clients anyway! The press--Make it an event to be covered Other not-for-profits with whom you collaborate The program should also be short, sweet and to the point: What have you accomplished and how? Where does the last year fit in the scheme of the history of the organization? Where do you want to go next year? Introduce the board members, stewards of the organization. Recognize all the staff. Ask every donor in the room to stand up and take a bow. Who should speak besides the typical cast? (i.e. Executive Director, Board President, Program Staff and client testimonial): What about a few words from a corporate or foundation funder as to why they gave you money in the past year? That is sure to bring them to the meeting and maybe a few of their friends. How about an individual donor who says why they made a gift to the annual campaign. Let's not forget the food. Remember make it appropriate for your work. Filet on a stick for a homeless shelter or an overflowing buffet for a food bank may send the wrong message: After the workday, cheese and wine are fine, if you don't keep your guests too long. Ask a caterer to donate an appropriate lite-bite menu. Perhaps wine/alcohol is not appropriate if you are a substance abuse clinic. You may have to spend on the food, but don't go overboard. Whether or not you had a great or a bad year, you do not want to send the message that you have enough money left to blow on outrageous food. Be creative: Would home-baked goods work? How about a bake sale at the meeting? Maybe 5˘ brownies, but give everyone a ticket for two free? Remember that the food should keep with the theme of your organization. It is important to keep costs under control. This should not be another special event, requiring a large committee, budget or staff time. Expenses might include and should be limited to: Invitation printing and mailing Food Space rental if you have to Collateral materials to hand out Put an entertailing annual meeting on your schedule and budget. Use it to cultivate donors and friends. Last but not least, have a good time and celebrate your accomplishments! Back to Table of Contents
People Are Talking about Talisman "The AOA had never held a fundraising campaign until we hired Talisman Associates, Inc. - committed to educating and inspiring donors After planning, organizing and implementing a nationwide campaign, we raised over $750,000. We could not have been so successful without their guidance and hands on assistance." Sharon Mellor, Director of Communications American Osteopathic Association "Collaboration is both important and worthwhile for the AIDS community, contends Barbara Talisman, president of Talisman Associates, Inc, a fundraising firm. Among Talisman&rsquos major recommendations is the need for service organizations to collaborate with each other to generate larger and more efficient fundraising operations." AIDS/STD News Report, May, 1998 "As a corporate sponsor, dealing with Barbara was pleasure. She was organized, professional and delivered on what she promised." Christopher Ross, Special Projects Manager Starbucks Coffee "Talisman Associates, Inc. - committed to educating and inspiring donors creates, organizes and implements terrific special events. Every detail is covered to insure a successful event for the organization and those who attend. They work within budget and deliver an event to remember. Everyone on staff is a pleasure to work with." Steve Waxman, Owner Chicago Fine Arts Exchange "A seasoned pro, Barbara Talisman has been in the development field for over ten years. Her experience spans the "fundraising globe," from special events to grant writing to direct mail, one-on-one solicitations and capital campaigns. She began her career on the campaign trail for national and local political candidates. Her not-for-profit experience began at the American Heart Association and continued at the Anti-Defamation League." Chicago NSFRE Chapter Newsletter, May/June, 1995 "Can blunt, direct AIDS fundraising increase intake from executive donors? Barbara Talisman is a professional fund raiser who asks a lot of the organizations she helps. Talisman&rsquos approach to raising money is more demanding, and blunt, than most non profit and charity administrators. But Talisman is a professional, a hired hand, and gets results by playing the corporate game on its terms. "Speak to executives in their language," Talisman tells a group of 30 directors and giving officers at the National AIDS Fundraising Conference. "The bottom line is they're used to these numbers."..."Remind them there's a quality to your event," she says." AIDS/STD News Report, May 23, 1996 "Thank you for giving a very concise and motivating presentation to the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists Foundation board. Although our time was limited, you managed to review the essence of major gift solicitation, and walk our board members through some very valuable role playing. It is very helpful to have a professional as yourself share with them your experience of peer solicitation and the board member's role in fundraising. It was a pleasure working with you." Terri Gens, Development Officer AANA Foundation "The Wally Phillips Roast & Toast was a wonderful evening, Barbara and we are all most grateful to you for making everything on that momentous occasion exactly what we wanted it to be. Frankly, it was "class" all the way." Ward L. Quaal, The Ward L. Quaal Company "Once again, your sessions at the National AIDS Fundraising Conference provided the most "useful-hints-per-minute." Thanks for the opportunity at the Event Round Table and your sponsorship class. Don Bentz, Tampa AIDS Network "Thank you again for your insight and candor while training our Board on fundraising techniques. You have good energy and I personally was honored to meet you." Lawrence Lee, San Diego Human Diginity Foundation Back to Table of Contents
The Three E's of Board Fundraising: Encourage, Empower and Enable By Barbara Talisman, Talisman Associates, Inc. Printed in Association Forum, November 2000 So there you sit, an association executive on top of your game. You can handle everything….talking to members, working with leadership, preparing for meetings and legislative alerts. And then there is the fund raising. Don't worry about it alone! You have help all around you, just ask! Whether you are running the association's foundation or handling general fund raising activities, your leadership, i.e. board members, should be assisting you in the process. Let's not kid ourselves here, raising money for an association is tough. In addition to the political nature of the association, members often don't see the importance of financial contributions beyond their dues. That's why involving your leader/members in the fund raising process is so crucial. But are we, as professional staff members, enabling boards to succeed or challenging them to fail at fund raising? This is a tough question, but for leadership to succeed we need to answer it honestly. Terry Axelrod, a great fund raising consultant, refers to fund raising as a three-legged stool. The three legs of fund raising are: 1) your CEO, 2) your board and foundation chair and 3) you! Any legs missing from your program? In most organizations, regardless of size, the weakest "leg" is the second one, the board and/or foundation chair. As fund raising professionals, we need to believe in the program and the people who work with us to make it successful. Effective fund raising requires teamwork, not excuses, letting people off the hook or complaining. Encouraging leadership and members to give and get involved will make your efforts easier. Your leadership must believe in your association and foundation. That's why they agreed to be leadership, right? So moving them into fund raising mode isn't that hard. Let's give them the tools to succeed. Encouragement Here are some easy ways to get your board involved in fund raising and feel good about it: · Thank donors: At each board meeting provide members with a current list of donors who have given $100 or more since the last board meeting. Divide the list between the board members and ask them to call between 10 to 20 people, thanking each for their gist. Leaving phone messages counts! This is a typical fund raising activity that encourages their participation. Thanking people for donations is much easier than cold calling for gifts. Response to this from board members and donors is overwhelmingly positive. · Start with "Warm" Calls: Help board members solicit others by starting with current donors, who are the easiest to solicit. The goal is to encourage success. We want board members to feel as good about fund raising as we do. Phone banking, where board members gather in one place to make calls, can be fun if you are able to arrange it. Otherwise, let them call from home or work. But again, your follow-up is critical to success. If its not important to you, it won't be a priority for them. · Network: Pair up board members with current and potential donors at events. Make sure they are seated together or introduce them at the event. Plan this in advance and talk with the board member prior to the event, giving them as much background information as is appropriate so have something to talk about. At an event, conversation takes many turns. It is vital to follow up with board members afterwards to see how the match went. Any information the board member learned can assist in meeting the donor's needs in supporting the organization. The activities listed above build a volunteer's confidence in fund raising. They should be more comfortable talking with donors and having personal contact with them. Additionally, if you have been thorough in your follow up, you will have built a stronger relationship with your leaders. The time you spend talking to them about their calls, conversations and sharing background information will build a stronger relationship between your and your board members. Now that you have successfully encouraged your board, let's move onto empowering their fund raising activities. Empowerment To expand your fund raising success, you either need more donors or you need current donors to give more money. There are a number of ways to involve your board in this process. · Develop a Contact List: Ask each board member to provide a personal list of 10-20 individuals or corporations they are willing to solicit. Don't let them off the hook. If you ask for something, FOLLOW UP! It is a poor excuse to say, "They never responded." To increase participation and demonstrate your respect for their time, make it easy for board members. Give them a form to fill out, a fax back cover sheet and a sample solicitation letter that you can customize for them. Suggest sources for their list, such as association members or chapter leaders, golf partners, church lists, personal and professional address books, country club contacts, neighbors, etc. Then call them until you have 100% response from the board. If necessary, ask another board member and the chair to help call their colleagues. · Solicit Personal Contacts: Ask board members to move from current donors to their personal list. These solicitations might be more casual and possibly easier for board members. Support the board members in any way to make them more comfortable with the process. Offer to attend a cultivation or solicitation meeting. Prepare materials they can use to mail or present to the donor. Customize materials as much as possible to get the right gift from the right person at the right time. · Cultivate: Invite board members to meetings with donors, including those with individuals, corporations, or foundations. Brief them ahead of time about the history of past and current support. Plan this meeting to use your time well and allow the board member to share their commitment with the donor. Enabling The thesaurus lists the following synonyms for enable: allow, facilitate, permit, make possible. In this case we want to make it possible for our volunteer leadership to succeed in fund raising. Remember, successful fund raising programs are collaborations between staff and volunteer leadership. Think ahead: · What kind of materials will be useful to a volunteer who does not do fund raising 24-7? · Volunteer leadership is usually passionate about their profession or association. Encourage them to use their own words, or take their quotes and use them in your materials. · Time is a precious commodity. Use it to your advantage. Ask volunteers how best to communicate with them…phone, mail, email or fax. When you need a response, give them a date. Let them know if you don't hear from them you will move forward. · Talk to them when you don't NEED anything. Create a working rapport with your leadership. Before your know it they will be calling you with ideas, knowing you are open to new concepts. This communication will enable and encourage them to succeed. · Be proactive in your requests and follow up on assignments. This creates a great team spirit when done with the right attitude. While these activities may take some time management on your part, the up side is worth the effort. You have more help doing fund raising. In addition, board members will be taking responsibility for fund raising and making sure all fund raising goals are met. Finally, your relationship with your board should not be adversarial. We are all on the same team. It is our role as professional, paid staff to encourage, empower and enable change and success. We do this with experience, knowledge and a positive attitude about our work and relationships. Back to Table of Contents
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