George Bernard Shaw once wrote, “People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it”! I love that quote. I really do.
Often at the Partnership Group – Sponsorship Specialists™, we hear the old phrase (typically from boards or EDs who have been in their positions for a long time or new, enlightened, and energetic staff who have been beaten down) “We don’t do it that way around here,” “We have never tried that before,” or “That won’t work, we have been doing it this way for years.”
I hope that you have never spoken those words. I cringe when I hear them. Typically, not always, but typically, we are in a room with a prospect or client selling property because they need our help to determine assets that are right for sponsorship sales, value their inventory of assets, build sponsorship strategy or packages, review existing packages, develop lead generation, or mentor staff in discovery sessions or custom proposal development. We are there because what that organization is presently doing, or has done in the past since time began, is NOT working.
They have come to the conclusion that they need to look at an alternate revenue channel. In this case, it happens to be corporate sponsorship revenue. So here we are… a company with a terrific success record for our clients over the past 13+ years, a team with over 100 years of combined sponsorship marketing expertise, and yet the board, ED, or sheepish beaten down (once enthusiastic) staffer says, “Oh, that sounds good, but we don’t do it that way here.” Well, maybe you should. Then you would not be in the financial situation you are presently in. Another group I am associated with defines insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Does this ring any bells?
As the sponsorship marketing industry continues to grow and does so at the expense of corporate philanthropy (more than 1 in 2 Canadian firms have switched from corporate philanthropy to corporate sponsorship annually for the past several years) and traditional marketing mediums such as OOH, TV, radio, and print, it is important both for brands buying sponsorship and properties selling sponsorship to think outside the box and do things differently. Clearly, for the sake of your organization, step back and let those with the ambition, direction, and expertise to take new approaches do what they were hired to do. Let your staff lead the way and be creative, because for many organizations, the alternative is not where you want to be as historical revenue channels dry up.