Sponsorship in the Era of Community-Centric Fundraising
At QLaw Foundation’s Falltacular, all sponsors are thanked together in alphabetical order, on event signage near the entry. Photo by Danny Ngan
Many Synchronicity clients are aligning their fundraising organizations with Community-Centric Fundraising (CCF) principles. If you haven’t explored CCF recently, we recommend visiting their hub for fresh insights (link here).
Oftentimes, confusion reigns when it’s time to bring CCF principles to a fundraising event! How can we balance the budget, while making the party inclusive and an authentic celebration of the community? One answer to this puzzle, for many of our clients, has been to strengthen relationships with corporate partners, and replace ‘event sponsorship’ with a deeper, more transformational connection to your work.
Note: the following tips are only relevant if you are committed to using CCF principles to change the way you approach relationships and prioritize your activities across your whole organization. If you intend to keep your sponsor relationships more traditional, you can stop reading here 😀
Here are some ideas:
1. Be Bold
Actively seek corporate, individual and foundation sponsorships! CCF does not mean we stop talking about money. Making fundraising equitable means: asking those with deeper pockets to contribute a larger share of the funding you need.
2. Move Beyond Transactional Relationships
Traditional sponsorship menus focus on transactional benefits, “what you get” for donations at each level like tiered logo placement, stage time, number of social media mentions, or branded items. Instead, emphasize sponsors’ role in your organization's impact. Shift the conversation from event visibility to meaningful, year-round partnership, where the sponsor is an active partner in helping you accomplish your mission in addition to providing funding.
3. Re-imagine the Sponsorship Tiers
Set up your sponsorship menu so that potential sponsoring businesses can select the appropriate sponsorship donation to match the size of their annual budget. Clearly list the expected contributions from businesses of different sizes.
4. Simplify Sponsorship Benefits
In CCF practice, every sponsor, whether a local coffee cart contributing $250, a local business providing $2,500 of in-kind services, or a tech giant giving $25,000, receives EQUAL acknowledgment (since, using your revamped sponsorship menu, each sponsor has given an equitable amount based on the relative size of their business). Keep sponsorship perks low-key (or remove them all together) to avoid “othering” or creating separations inside the party. Delete time-consuming or exclusive perks such as sponsor gifts: these detract from the event’s community focus and waste the time of your staff and volunteers.
5. De-Emphasize Sponsor Tables
Hosting a table at your fundraising event may, or may NOT be the most effective way for a sponsor group to engage with your work. Be sure you are offering other options throughout the year, so that the seats at your benefit event can be filled with people who really want to be there, while sponsor groups can engage in other activities that bring them even closer to your work.
6. Measure Your Wins
Set ambitious sponsorship goals and additional metrics to track success! Ideas for metrics to track, beyond simple dollars donated:
The number of times throughout the year that each sponsor engaged in other aspects of your work like advocacy or volunteering
The number of new opportunities that each sponsor introduced to you in the past year
The length of relationships with your renewing sponsors
As the businesses in your community become more active in their relationship with you, you may be surprised by the energy and opportunities they bring to your work.
At Synchronicity, we’re committed to evolving fundraising practices. If you're seeking event planners or consultants ready for the future of fundraising, give us a call.
Sponsors of the Futurewise Sustainable Communities Spring Celebration are thanked together on trifold signage on the dining tables. Photo by: Michael B. Maine
