In part one of my series on event based corporate fundraising we talked about some tips and tricks to secure more sponsorship dollars for your events and how sponsorship packages and structures have changed. In keeping with the theme of relationship based corporate fundraising we will now focus on the day of the event as the next key access point to your sponsors.
Fundraising is like a roller coaster ride- full of ups and downs, terror and excitement. Once you’ve closed your sponsors, and gone to print, started selling tickets and ordered the branded products; you start to feel the excitement of making it over the first big climb of the roller coaster. What happens after you’ve crested the first hill and survived the free fall? More dips and loops of course! It happens every time, “great!” you say “I’ve made budget! Now all I have to do is fill the room, arrange speaking points, set up booths and hope for traffic, brand the wine…” the list goes on and on.
If you use these five strategies at your next event, you will be be able to avoid stress and enjoy your event. Try these tips and enjoy the roller coaster ride:
1. Activate, activate, activate!
What good is the right for your sponsor to use your logo, sit at the head table, give attendees a free sample and address the crowd if they never do it? Further, there is a cost to activating a sponsorship package and if your sponsor isn’t ready for it, you’re in trouble. It’s your job as the sponsorship expert to make sure that your sponsors take full advantage of the custom package you’ve made for them. On the day of the event, come prepared with a checklist of the benefits you promised your sponsors and personally make sure you have delivered on each one.
2. The proof is in the pudding (or in this case, fulfillment report)
In my next post we are going to talk about event follow up, which can’t be done without this step. Post event, you are going to be creating a fulfillment report full of the proof that you delivered on everything you said you would. How do you do this on the busiest night of the year for you and your team? Make a checklist of everything you want pictures of and give it to your photographer! Show them an example of what you want photos of and tell them why it’s so important. I have yet to meet a photographer who didn’t appreciate the direction- they want you to be happy with their services, so why not tell them exactly what you want in order to be happy?
So what do you want? You want a picture of every sponsor logo, sponsor table, booth, stage presence…everything sponsored or branded. I even take pictures of the agenda if it has ad and logos in it. I also grab action shots of my sponsors with important guests (like when I send my board members over to say thank you to the sponsors). Get photos and lots of them, and stay tuned for part three of the series.
3. What’s in a name?
I’ve done it and you probably have too. I have addressed the crowd and fumbled with a complicated last name, or pronounced a “c” like a “k” instead of an “s” or my CEO, event chair, board president has. I’ve even been to events where a board member referred to the recipient charity by the wrong name!
Pronouncing a name properly when thanking sponsors is a bit like smoking- nobody notices when you don’t smoke, but everyone notices when you do. Your sponsors won’t come up to you and thank you for pronouncing their name properly but you want to avoid them calling you out for using old branding, the wrong tagline or mispronouncing their CEO’s last name.
To avoid this, make sure all sponsor names are spelled phonetically for your MCs and presenters and check in with them to make sure they know whom they are introducing and how to say their names at least twice before the event starts. Now do the same with your board members, CEO and key staff.
4. The power of the introduction
You want to make your sponsors feel like gold at the event but more than that, you want them to see your event as a essential for them to achieve their business goals. When I work with sponsors, I always ask them whom they want to meet at the event and I also ask them to describe the type of prospect they look for at events like this. I then make another checklist of who I can introduce to my sponsors. I also give my CEO and board members a list of sponsors, their tables and individual names and do a pre-event huddle to determine who will talk to which sponsor.
My goal is to have my sponsors walk away feeling like they got good value in terms of their branding, speaking and product goals but also that our event is a must attend because they made powerful business contacts, facilitated entirely by the host charity.
5. Debrief at the event
Always do a post event debrief with staff and volunteers AT THE EVENT! Why do you want to do it at the event? First, things are fresh in your mind and second, if something went wrong and you missed it during the event you need to make a call first thing in the morning to apologise to your sponsor and ask them how you can make it right. Everyone that you gave a sponsorship related role to has to be part of the debrief. Bribe them with coffee, cocktails, a midnight snack...whatever it takes to get the information you need, you’re going to need it for part three of my series.
Now give it a try
Since we are in the thick of event season, you should have loads of opportunities to try these strategies at your next event. Planning a big gala in the fall? Start to incorporate these tips into your planning now and be ready for some very happy sponsors!
Chris Baylis is a fundraising professional with expertise in cause marketing, sponsorship and corporate social responsibility (CSR). Chris has managed both national and local campaigns and is a board member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals in Ottawa.
Chris is also the Founder and Chief Blogger for The Sponsorship Collective and can be found on Twitter writing about all things cause marketing.
