Whatever you are: an athlete, scientist or start-up, no matter what step in the social hierarchy you are, the search for a sponsor that can significantly bring you closer to your goal is accessible to everyone. It is no secret that in the capitalist world nothing happens just like that. In order to find a sponsor, your guardian angel in the business world, you need to offer him something in return. However, this process is time-consuming, requires special returns from those in need of investment, and the search itself has a number of pitfalls. For all people starting a business, the answer to the question of how to find sponsors will soon become less mysterious.
Relationship between Sponsor and Sponsored
At the first stages, all this looks simple, it’s enough just to provide your services to the company in exchange for some good, but it only at first glance seems so trivial. In exchange for the starting capital received, you give your patron the right to use the fruits of your thinking, your opportunities in the most promising, in his opinion, type of activity. In addition, having received a profitable contract, the capital user will have to fulfill a number of additional obligations. The purpose of this approach is a kind of symbiosis - mutually beneficial coexistence on the basis of receiving from each subject what the opposite subject wants, and vice versa. For example, you receive various products, the necessary software, various types of insurance, and the sponsor for business you have found expects you to receive returns, your dividends, percent of the money invested in you, but this is not always expressed in monetary terms. In most cases, these are your ideas, talents, the fruits of your human capital, formed over the years of life. In any case, you need to sell part of yourself on the basis of the marketing demand of the company, and if you have nothing to offer, then the target audience is chosen incorrectly.
Sponsor Information
Demonstrating your abilities in a specific area will help to solve the problem of how to find sponsors, as well as partners for this project, as an additional source of ideas that can adjust your project for modern business. It is worth remembering that patrons always pursue their goals, and it does not matter what you ask him in return. Sponsors want to know that the group of people to whom they provide their support have common ideas, directions of movement, therefore, knowing this, you can adapt to the selection criteria. In the modern world, time is much more important than money, because even the value of GDP is subject to a period of time equal to one year, which indicates the importance of this parameter in economics and business. A premature awareness of who can be contacted and who not can save a lot of this precious resource. It is most logical to start the search with local investors, which can reduce transaction costs. If the company has not previously worked with projects like yours, then the possibility of financing is minimal. And you don’t need to go roundabout ways, trying to establish contacts, you must clearly determine the vision of your future patron.
Start of negotiations
Once the company is selected, or you already know where to find a sponsor, try to start negotiations. It is best to start by contacting the marketing director, and if there is no such position in the company, then try to establish contact with the head himself.
Patrons
It is worth remembering that sponsor companies sometimes have sponsorship managers, as well as entire departments for the development of goods that promote the company's products on the market through advertising. If you have the opportunity to speak on television, then these departments will be interested in sponsoring infusions into you, and you will thereby provide them with a passive demonstration of the company's products or services, which are made by famous football players appearing at press conferences with aluminum cans from Coca -Cola, then from Pepsi.
Proper presentation is the key to success
When the stage of
establishing contact with the investor is completed, the potential sponsor of the project should be aware of the main goals of your idea, plans for the future, an idea of your own opportunities, as well as the benefits of the philanthropist received in the future as you support your startup. But more in detail a little later, and now we will tell about the process of performance. The presentation must follow the rule "10-20-30". This means that you need to show 10 slides in 30 fonts for 20 minutes of presentation, of which only 5 are allotted to your presentation, and the remaining 15 minutes to answer questions. Remember that the time it takes to prepare a presentation speech is inversely proportional to the time it takes to present your idea to the investor. You will need to demonstrate your oratory skills as best as possible. A competent
presentation of the project half ensures the passage of the idea into the sponsorship basket.
Project Presentation Plan
Now about what should be in the presentation. Attracting sponsors begins with the justification of the project. At this stage, it is most logical to provide a description of your capabilities and abilities, including a resume. If there is, then you can provide your previous successes, as well as plans for the future with a possible demonstration of the video file, which will help you save the nerves in the office of a potential partner, because whoever you are, but the excitement will be present. Then you need to justify the benefits that the sponsor will receive from your cooperation with him. Imagine that you are the founder of a large video hosting service that millions of network users visit every day, so the company from which you want to receive financing will start promoting your products on your website with the help of advertising, and you will begin to receive your margin from this. Next, you can introduce existing alternatives for obtaining benefits for you. This can be insurance, cash, transportation costs, labor remuneration, etc. If in your project at the patron’s head additional opportunities from a deal with you mature, then this is the basis for further fruitful cooperation. Imagine that your volleyball team is so successful that it goes to the World Cup, it’s a sin not to use the investor, so the more your project can attract viewers, the higher the probability of financing your idea.
What and how to ask
Another assistant in how to find a sponsor for the business will be correctly formulated questions, so you need to know what to ask. Never use the “beat the bull in the forehead” tactic. Try a flexible approach using real data. In this case, the expression "cunning, like a fox" is very helpful. Expecting millions of dollars from a philanthropist is foolish, especially when it is not known whether your proposal meets your own needs. In this regard, carefully study the history of the sponsorship of the company in order to know what to ask in return. It’s best to ask for something that costs nothing for the company, and this depends on the specialization of the organization itself.
The possibility of loss of funding
Do not forget that you can both find sponsors and lose them. All patrons are different. Each has its own goals and expectations that you will need to meet. You must have with him some common interests in a joint venture. Accordingly, you need to constantly adjust your actions if you really need an investor. If you are a very famous and influential person, then relations with sponsors are kept on your authority, because this allows them to have additional income, but as soon as your fame begins to go into oblivion, then the NVP from your cooperation with investors will approach zero, which can ruin your contacts with them. Remember, after the conclusion of the transaction, you are the personification of their company, so you need to match the image in which the money was invested. It is also worth remembering that if your project, which was originally social in nature, suddenly becomes a commercial project, then the image that corresponds to the views of society will also be shaken. Do not refuse the company's offers to participate in various promotions, it is beneficial for both of you.
Mistakes between sponsor and sponsored relationship
It is good if the cooperation between you and the sponsor is mutually beneficial. However, it’s very difficult to find a sponsor to make this equality a reality. In most cases, the advantage of one side will be more tangible than the other. At the moment, there are no ways to accurately assess the effectiveness of the project for both parties, so it is extremely difficult to calculate the losses and benefits. Consider the private causes of non-return on investment. Firstly, when all the requirements of the philanthropist were not taken into account when drawing up the business plan, which may cause the termination of cooperation. Secondly, if during the presentation process it turns out that you are considering various forms of financing, this means that you do not know what you want. Thirdly, your actions should be interconnected with all subjects of your project activity. And there are many such examples, so it is enough to be a responsible person.
conclusions
In conclusion, it is worth recalling that sponsorship is not advertising, since it is only an engine of trade. By entering into an agreement, you will begin to advertise a company’s trademark. Remember how to enter into dialogue with a future partner, how to negotiate, and do not forget how much space is given to the presentation at this stage. If you ask the patron for something, then let it be something he can easily say goodbye to, and for this you need good preliminary knowledge. Always look for a way to compromise and live up to your expectations. If you follow the recommendations listed here, the question of how to find sponsors becomes less hazy.