It is always important to make the right choices for the right reasons. Your organization can say yes or no to opportunities every day. It may be around hiring or firing a staff member, about a new program launch, or the closing down of a facility or event. You have to do the due diligence and make the right choices for the right reasons. This happens every day in our lives and with our sponsorships.

Recently, I had an opportunity to attend the Canadian Sponsorship Forum (CSF)—yes, the one this past February in conjunction with the NBA All-Star Game. I was offered a complimentary ticket. By all accounts, this CSF was the best yet—and I had the chance to go for free. I passed on the opportunity. I made this decision for two reasons.

First, it was Valentine’s weekend. I have not missed a Valentine’s Day with my wife in 20 years. I was not going to start in year 20. I am sure that I could have brought her along, let her have fun with our daughter in Toronto while I was at the event, and then taken her to Canoe for Valentine’s dinner—and she probably would have been happy. But there was a second reason. My 10-year-old daughter plays atom hockey. She had a game that weekend—not just any game, but a road trip. They were playing Powell River. It would be an hour’s drive from Nanaimo to Courtney to grab the ferry across to the Sunshine Coast and into Powell River (a cost of $85) to play an evening game, sleep over, and then play a morning game and travel back across the strait by ferry (another $85), followed by the hour’s drive back to Nanaimo so we could go out for Valentines Day dinner. Let’s put this in perspective—Powell River for a night (population 13,000—one bowling alley and pool hall) or the CSF—a once-in-a-lifetime experience at the NBA All-Star Game in Toronto. I did not hesitate. I went to Powell River. They lost both games (she is a goalie), but I had a wonderful experience with my daughter and definitely made the right choice. Work, networking, experiencing an NBA All-Star game, and business development all came second or took a back seat to time with my wife and daughter. We often have to make those decisions. We need to make them with sponsors and you need to know that you made the right decision.

Once I had to turn down a seven-figure annual sponsorship. It was a tough decision. The charity was a cancer organization. The sponsor was a retail store. It was a perfect fit from a general perspective, except when we did the due diligence, we discovered that the controlling shareholder was a company called IMASCO. It was the holding company for Imperial Tobacco (Players, Players Filters, etc.). We could not have a tobacco company aligned with this charity. If we had not done the due diligence, we never would have known and we could have been in the embarrassing situation of a “partnership” between KFC and breast cancer—the Susan J. Komen Foundation.

Sometimes sponsors are bullies. They are big and powerful, and push rights holders around with the dangling carrot—“Do what we want or you don’t get the money.” Sponsors should not control content, programming, etc. If they want to do that, they are probably not the right partner.

There are many reasons why we sometimes must say no to opportunities. Often, there is a great deal of money on the table—and that is relative. It may be $1,000,000 a year for a big rights holder or $5,000 for a small property. But money should not be the almighty. You need to keep your integrity, know your mission, and do what is right for the organization—not just the cash flow!

In February, I made the right decision. (Don’t get me wrong, I would have loved to be at that CSF—perhaps with the Junos in 2017). I went to Powell River and not on the business trip to attend the CSF. Next time you make a sponsorship or personal decision, know you are making it for the right reasons!

© 2016. All rights reserved.