Successful sponsorship programs are an art and a science. Best practices and models can be key to avoiding pitfalls and advancing sponsorship programs.
Data Tells Story about Barriers to Generating Sponsor Revenue
Associations are achieving their non-dues revenue budget goals only half or one-third of the time. Non-dues Meeting Sponsorships achieve budget goals 48% of the time; Non-Dues Exhibits 39% of the time; and Non-Dues Advertising/Partnership only 35% of the time. These...
Competition for Sponsored Components at Conferences
What to do when three companies want to sponsor the same component at the association’s annual conference? This question was posted on an ASAE listserv with an idea about auctioning off the lanyard sponsorship to the highest bidder. The value of lanyard sponsorships...
Words Have Power When It Comes to Successful Sponsorships
Words matter when it comes to organizations' corporate relationships. I worked for an association CEO; we had a robust corporate partner program. The association CEO never called the companies “vendors”. He sometimes called them “sponsors” or “partners”. He often...
What to do When Your Sponsors “Go Rogue”
A friend whispered to me, “do you know what some companies are doing? They’re not sponsoring or exhibiting at association conferences and expos. They’re registering as attendees, networking with clients and prospects during the day and hosting dinner meetings!” I...
What does Listening have to do with Sponsorship Success?
“One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say.” – Bryant H. McGill This quote is excellent guidance for successful corporate sponsorships and partnerships. Gone are the days of Platinum/Gold/Silver/Bronze-level prospectuses...
Do Sponsors Sell, Sell, Sell? Not Necessarily
One of the biggest concerns about corporate sponsors is .... if they’re given a platform, they’ll sell. if we let them present at a conference session or webinar, they’ll sell if we let them do focus groups, they’ll sell if we let them speak with our board members,...
Member Email Addresses for Sponsors?
Hardly a week goes by that I don’t hear “our association’s event sponsors and exhibitors want attendee email addresses, however, our policy is to not share email addresses.” The other scenario is that the association provides email addresses only for attendees who...
The Tipping Point of Sponsorships
Journalist and author Malcolm Gladwell defines the tipping point as “the moment of CRITICAL MASS, the THRESHOLD, the BOILING POINT”. I believe that 2022 was the tipping point for many organizations’ corporate sponsorship programs. Here’s why: The CRITICAL MASS was the...