Sponsorship is a team sport. As a selling property, you need assets to sell. Typically, they are “owned” by departments other than the sponsorship department. They may be tickets from the ticket department, vehicles or equipment from the logistics or maintenance department, social and digital media and website from the communications department, and so on. You need to work collaboratively to ensure the assets you promised to a sponsor will be supported by the departments that own and manage those assets.
Likewise on the sponsor side, a sponsorship investment is typically multifaceted. The ROI measurement (and investment) may be associated with several departments from sales to marketing, community relations to operations, retail or corporate, employee engagement from HR, to public or government relations. So how much is each allocating to the investment and how is each getting ROI and measuring that ROI? If HR makes 20% of the investment, should it get 20% of the ROI, or at least have benefits associated with 20% of the investment? The “quarterback” or sponsorship manager on the brand side needs to make sure everyone who invested is getting what they need. It is a team effort!
Recently, I had an experience on the personal side with an organization that failed to understand the “teamwork” mentality. It was a volunteer organization. There was a board with a president. The organization is amazing and does terrific work in the community. This particular year, though, the president wanted things done “their way” as though it was their fiefdom! So that person moved forward with their specific views and the board failed to put a stop to it. The board failed to control the president. As a result, the organization lost some members. The failure here was that the board and president did not work as a team. They failed to communicate well, and things went “south.”
To ensure the best outcomes for your organization and your partner, you need to work as a team. You need to communicate well and be collaborative. You may not always agree on everything, but you need to be openminded. As Vince Lombardi said, “Individual commitment to a group effort–that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.”
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Hi Brent,
Do you think Board members are sometimes reluctant to speak up when they disagree with a president’s vision?
In my experience, Board members often disagree, but when it came to the Board meeting, crickets.
Josh,
My experience is quite similar. Not at all times, but most times, Board members acquiesce to the President. They “let them have their year”. They don’t speak up. I call those weak boards. They often fail to see the long term vision.
…and back to board room politics over long-term vision. Haha!