Donations & Sponsorships – Make Them Count!

In marketing, we have to justify every dollar we spend with the quantitative or qualitative results that our investments produce. However, there are some budget items that we may not have total control over… such as a local high school team sponsorship or donations to top customer events. These types of donations and sponsorships can eat up a good portion of your budget, so let’s take a look at how you get more from them…

FIND YOUR PURPOSE : One simple thing you can do to stretch your donations is to set qualifying criteria for your donations and sponsorships. These guidelines should be created or approved by senior management, be in-line with your brand, and act as the criteria for all donation requests. For instance, your focus may be to support local economic growth or education in a defined market area. Communicating your cumulative donation efforts towards a specific cause will better allow you to communicate your donations and help to differentiate you from your competition.

THINK OUTSIDE OF THE BOX: Get creative. If you are presented standard sponsorship options, respond with alternatives outside of the normal sponsorship packages. Think of using employees as a “street team” to get your donation and message out at an event rather than just including a logo item in grab bag. Focus on making your brand more visible and interactive than a standard sponsorship or donation.

GET RECOGNIZED: Lastly, look to see if your state banking or credit union association has a “Community Service” Award and apply! The exposure and creditability gained can from such an award will greatly stretch your donation dollars by miles.

Start getting more from donations and sponsorships!

Jamie