Tips for completing a sponsorship application include choosing goals, timing the application, presenting the case, and highlighting information. Companies often use pre-designed application forms and only need basic information to determine if there is a fit. Researching and strategically choosing the target company is important. The application should focus on how the partnership will benefit the company, not the event or product. The expected impact and marketing strategy should be accurately estimated.
Choosing your goals, timing your application, presenting your case, and highlighting information are the top four tips for completing a sponsorship application. Knowing effective ways to get a sponsor’s attention is important because many companies have moved to a pre-designed application form rather than accepting a narrative-driven sponsorship proposal where the format is chosen by the applicant. The application is more restrictive than the proposal format, requiring only the bare basics and leaving little room for elaboration.
A company using a sponsorship application signals that it knows exactly the type of event or product it is looking to sponsor and only needs the basics of an opportunity to determine if there is a fit. One of the most important tips for submitting a sponsorship application is to strategically choose the target company by researching and making a selection based on aligning needs with a market. While it can’t hurt to apply for a sponsorship where the likelihood of success is low, it does waste time. That time can be better spent fictionalizing a company that has a strategic interest in the market that the event or product is designed to exploit.
Many companies will accept sponsorship requests throughout the year, but others will have a specific timeframe for acceptance. Sponsorships are different from regular grant applications and other funding lines because sponsorship decisions are made on a rolling basis rather than a deadline. Companies have a sponsorship budget that can be spent from the beginning of the fiscal year until the end. Another important tip is to find out when the target company’s fiscal year begins and complete the application as close to the beginning of that year as possible.
The sponsorship application will ask a series of questions about the product or event. Space will be limited, encouraging the applicant to concentrate on the essentials. The best advice for completing this section is to focus on how the proposed partnership will benefit the company, not how the sponsorship will benefit the event or product. Public goodwill is often an important byproduct of sponsorship, but it is not the primary incentive. Companies ultimately want opportunities to expand market share and increase visibility.
Sponsorship applications typically include a section for the applicant to indicate the expected impact or scope of the event or product and to outline the marketing and publicity strategy. This is the section that tells the company whether the sponsorship will have enough impact to be worth the investment. It’s tempting to overdo it, but the best advice is to stick with an accurate estimate of frequency and range, or underestimate if there’s any uncertainty. There is nothing more damaging to an endorsement relationship than promising something that doesn’t get delivered.
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