What is Sponsorship Anyway??

What is Sponsorship Anyway??

Well....

"Sponsorship" is one of those "one-size-fits-all" terms that you've undoubtedly heard tons of times before (... usually in conjunction with something -- like a sports team for example), but probably never as something you'd use yourself.

And it's also one of those terms that's been mis-used over the years as well.

Over the years I've heard lots of definitions for what "sponsorship" is, but probably the best one I've run across is the one used by an organization out of Chicago, IEG, Inc. (IEG is, in my opinion, are the foremost experts on all things sponsorship), and the definition they use for Sponsorship is:

Spon*sor*ship (noun): "The trading of Cash and/or In-Kind Products or Services in exchange for the right to be officially affiliated with your Team, Event, or Program."

(And by the way ... if you're interested in learning more about IEG, Inc. - you can start by checking out their website at: www.sponsorship.com)

Now that you know what it is ... let's talk about what it's going to mean for you.

Sponsorship has the very real potential of being a great source of revenue - even a "gold mine" to anyone out there who hosts any kind of meeting, gathering, training, newsletter, association, and so forth.

(Now I can hear you already, you're sitting there thinking, "Hey, I'm not the Yankees or Cowboys-- why would a business be interested in underwriting what we do?")

That's a great question...and I'm here to tell you - it really doesn't matter that you're NOT the Yankees. In fact, you're going to be able to use that to your advantage. Companies, agencies, retailers and corporations ARE interested in what you do. In fact, it's estimated that Corporate America will be spending over half a billion dollars this year in sponsoring meetings and associations. It is one of the hottest new tends in the sponsorship area.

So let's start by asking ourselves.....

Do I sell a product or offer a service?

Do I have a core group of customers or prospects (a "herd" if you will)?

Do I send out a newsletter or regularly communicate with that herd?

Do I have customer gatherings?

If you answered yes to even just ONE of these questions, than you could be, (no wait ... you should be....), taking advantage of sponsorship -- an "invisible mountain of cash!"