The two most common questions I get asked in my sponsorship workshops and consulting work are “How do I determine the value of my sponsorship property?” and “How do I get top (optimal) dollar for my sponsorship opportunities?”

The short answer is that you get optimal value (and revenue) by presenting the right proposal to the right potential sponsor (prospect) at the right time.

The longer answer is that the more relevant you are to a prospect, the more likely they are to see your opportunity as one that they are willing to invest top dollar for because they clearly see the value at several levels. So, in identifying top prospects who will pay you top dollar for your sponsorship opportunity, there are a number of areas you need to consider. These include:

• Audience Alignment – if your audience and theirs are the same and you have the ability to offer them unique opportunities to access to your audience at the right time, perceived value in this area will be HIGH.
• Product Alignment – if your audience is likely to purchase a potential sponsor’s product or service, perceived value in this area will be HIGH.
• Brand and Value Alignment – if your overall brand and values as a property reflect those that the potential sponsor sees as valuable from an associative perspective, perceived value will be HIGH.

Based on the above, the “perfect storm” as it relates to commanding optimal value will be to identify companies that share the same audience, have product offerings that your audience has (or could have) a natural tendency to buy and whose values are aligned with those of your organization or specific property.

Besides getting optimal value for your sponsorship opportunities, when the above areas are properly aligned, there is typically a shorter sales cycle. The general rule of thumb is that the further away you are from alignment in these three key areas, the higher up the decision-making chain the proposal will need to go, the longer it will take and the less value the proposal will carry because the it will be more difficult to measure in terms of potential results.

The chart below shows how these various value alignments have the ability to impact both the decision-making process and perceived value of the proposed benefits.

The bottom line is that to get maximum value for your sponsorship opportunities, you need to have the right fit at several levels. You will not only increase your odds of getting to the right people, you’ll find that you have fewer “value for dollar” discussions over the price of your sponsorship opportunities.

Later,
BC