We often get asked a lot what goes into an effective sponsorship proposal. The short answer is that an effective proposal presents a vision that a prospect sees themselves a part of, and a logical conclusion as to how the sponsorship is going to eliminate some level of “pain”, whether it be marketing, community relations, building employee morale, etc.
In my view, the two most important elements of presenting an effective proposal are:
- Understanding the “pain” or issue you want to address
- Presenting your case in a manner that the reader finds logical and compelling
The reality is that if you don’t understand your prospect’s specific marketing challenge or pain, the odds of you presenting a proposal that resonates is slim. The only way to get around this is to have conversations with prospects before presenting proposals.
In presenting a logical and compelling business case for investment, you need to ask yourself “what would I need to know if this was my money?”. In simple, everyday terms, the questions you’d likely want answered include:
- What is the sponsorship property?
- Who is the audience served?
- What makes it unique from anything else in the marketplace? (unique selling proposition)
- How do I know it’s a credible opportunity?
- Who else is involved?
- How will investing help me solve my challenges? (vision)
- Specifically, what can I expect for my investment? (benefits)
- Who will work with me to make sure things happen like they’re supposed to?
- How will we measure success?
If you articulate answers to these basic questions, you’ll be well on your way to presenting proposals that are succinct, relevant and most of all, a pleasure to read. I’ll be discussing these and other concepts in my upcoming workshop The Art of Preparing Proposals and Pitching Sponsors on April 25th at the RA Centre in Ottawa where you’ll learn proven techniques to increase your overall success rate with sponsor prospects. Hope you’ll join me.
Later, BC