Gold, silver, and bronze packages are dead. That was the opening keynote of the 2005 SMCC Western Sponsorship Congress™-and they are still dead. There are those who are still pitching “stock” packages and getting what they deserve-below expected revenues. The other day at the Partnership Group – Sponsorship Specialists™, we were talking about the difference between stock packages and sponsorship levels. We discussed how many clients were confused between the two. I thought I would take this opportunity to define and differentiate them so you will understand that “sponsorship levels” are fine… stock packages are not, and why!
Stock packages are those that are already designed and include the “appropriate assets” with a price tag. These are the three or four types of packages that are priced at $1,500, $2,500, $5000 and $10,000 (or $5,000, $10,000, $25,000 and $50,000) with a set of assets such as “two tickets, one banner, and a 1/8 page ad in the program” and the rest of the packages are patterned after this with four tickets at the second investment level, six at the third investment level, and of course (you guessed it), eight at the top level! You may have had the printer produce hundreds of each of these so you can hand them out like coupons. Or perhaps you are a “green” organization or one that knows better than to print a bunch of “stock packages” and your graphics person built these in PDF so you can share them in your spam (so much for CASL) with your data base that you expect to be anxiously awaiting your email pitch of a stock package. These are “stock packages.” They are useless. They offer a fixed price, fixed list of assets model that suggests everyone who can spend $5,000 or $50,000 wants the same assets to meet their goals and objectives. Hogwash! Many folks try to justify these on the premise, “Oh we use them as thought starters. We don’t expect anyone to buy this package. We customize from there.” If that is so, why do you have them? Why do you pitch them? That is like the car salesperson saying, “Hey, this is the car for you and here is the price” the moment you walk in the door, not knowing if you want a Viper, a Caravan, or PT Cruiser. Stop fooling yourself. Stop producing and pitching these packages! Do discovery sessions and determine their needs, objectives, and budgets. Then custom build a proposal with the specific assets at the right investment level that meets their budget and objectives.
So then, what are “levels?” Levels are the rights holder’s internal (or can be external) investment levels. You can still have gold, silver, and bronze investment levels, but these are ranges and have no specific assets tied to them. Perhaps the bronze level includes investments from $500 to $2,500. The silver level would be investments, say between $2,500 and $5,000, and the gold level is perhaps anything over $5,000. That means that you custom build a sponsor’s package with the right assets for the prospect that will help them achieve their goal. They may have told you that they have about $8,000 to spend. You then build a package with the right assets to meet their goals and that comes to perhaps $6,000. You present that proposal to them and say, “This investment will position you along with our entire silver level sponsors.” You may then show them how they can spend the additional $2,000 on an activation program. The “level” is a range of investments at which a sponsor can invest.
We need to move away from stock packages and into customized packages. Sponsors can still be recognized at the gold, silver, and bronze levels depending on how much they invest.
These are just one person’s thoughts. Yours are welcomed as well. Please add your thoughts or comments below. Thank you for reading and your feedback.
I love this advice and I get excited thinking about the possibilities that our association has when using this suggested method. I know it would work, and I know our sponsors would be ecstatic to have that kind of treatment.
The struggle for me is time. As a not-for-profit, there is no 1 person designated to handle this source of revenue – sponsorship. So, it’s tossed around. Although I have stepped forward to take this on, my time and resources are extremely limited. I don’t have the time to meet with people to do discovery sessions, and we don’t have the money for things like mileage and meals to meet.
Any advice on how to combine the advice given in this blog with the limited allotted time and resources provided? I know you have mentioned just starting with 2 o 3 prospects for the first year, but how do you balance that with the existing stock package that is being used?
Thanks for the great post Brent! A forceful message about how to have a successful sponsorship program.
Agree, but stock packages are still the go-to for many special events. While it’s not creative and doesn’t focus on the sponsor’s needs as much, the equality of standardized benefits outweighs balancing customized benefits at the same price point in my opinion.
Hi Brent, I was able to have a conversation with you as a student in St. Catharines, ON a couple of years ago and now work in sponsorship.
We have been having a debate in our office, while we agree that “levels” are going the way of the dodo, it seems to be what prospective sponsors are looking for – a quick rundown of options that can be conveyed via email or on paper that is easily understood – rather than the more time consuming customization.
Is customization more appropriate when sponsorships are on a larger scale (i.e. there are staff, time and funds dedicated to pursuing sponsorships and servicing them)?
Hey Brent,
Great article and great philosophy on the larger options ($10,000 or greater) which I strongly recommend doing discovery sessions.
What I am finding though on the smaller events ($10,000 or less), is the sponsors are looking for more of that ROI and want the listed assets to what they are buying. It seems that in this now shaky economy that every property or non-profit is approaching sponsors to which the sponsors have to be more selective as to who they invest with. Money is tight and instead of sponsors having 5 investments, they are scaling down to 1 or 2.
One other point regarding the smaller events and “Stock Options” is that the smaller shops do not have the resources to do discovery sessions or the time for the small events, so stock options helps with that.
Thanks Laura, I always appreciate and value your feedback and comments.
Chris,
For the lower end event sponsorship for sure, at least until a time when you transition them all. You cannot switch over 100% for events at one time, it is a process, but eventually you need to get there!
Shawn,
Ironic, I am in a hotel in St Catharines as I type and am presenting at the same NSIC today as the one we met at in 2013!
For smaller level sponsorships at events it is OK to use the stock packages until such a time that you can transition them all over to customized. With limited manpower, do a just a few customized programs a year until you get them all switched over.
For those that want a quick and dirty email pitch… pass on them. If they have not got the time for you to discuss their objectives, they are not worth the time and effort from my experience.
Myles,
As noted in some other responses, the key is eventually to get all your sponsorship converted to customized. But it happens over time versus all at once – no one, small or large has the manpower to convert everyone in a year or two.
During these economic times, the customized programs and the ones where you take the time to build a program that will deliver great ROI, will let you be one of the fewer options that they select. Those that “throw packages up against the wall and wait and see what sticks” will be the ones that miss the boat in these trying times.
Shawntel,
Great to hear from you and thanks again for reading and replying. The discovery sessions (if they are outside Calgary / Cochrane and there is no budget for travel) can be done by phone or skype. They are relationship building. The advice remains the same, try just focusing or 2-3 or even just 1 for the year (or until they sign on with a customized package or say no) and then move to the next one. In the meantime (as I mentioned to others on the blog) you need to continue the status quo and do the stock packages. But if you slowly work towards transitioning, it will come. The hardest one is the first one, then they flow from there.
I hope this helps. All the best. Brent