I continue to hear from municipalities, large and small, that they cannot get sponsors. If that is the case, then I can only say that you are not doing sponsorship correctly. Perhaps you do not have the internal capacity that is trained and qualified to bring in money. Perhaps you don’t have effective policy in place. Maybe you don’t have a professional inventory and valuation of all the assets you can sell and what they should sell for.
This June, when I was at the FCM in Vancouver, several municipalities (including the beautiful Parksville, BC where I am right now) complained about shortfalls in sponsorship revenue. They said there were dwindling revenues (or none at all) for events such as the Sandcastle Exhibition and Canada Day. In Prince George, Charelle Evelyn wrote an article that spoke about the World Baseball Challenge and how it was $60,000 short for 2013, and that they had lost $50,000 in 2012! These are sad stories, but when you are not professional about things, you will fail. On the other end of the scale, Vernon’s Funtastic softball weekend increased sponsorship again. Jim McEwan (who is part of the properties panel discussion at the SMCC Western Sponsorship Congress™) and his team at Funtasatic (as well as others) know how to cultivate relationships, build sponsorship programs that work, and provide sound activation plans.
But there is still hope and light at the end of the tunnel. On Monday, October 21 in Calgary, in conjunction with the SMCC Western Sponsorship Congress™, there are two focused workshops specifically for event and sport tourism as well as for municipalities. These two half-day sessions will provide attendees with the tools and training to be successful with sponsorship. Both are delivered by Partnership Group – Sponsorship Specialists™ senior consultants and will feature industry professionals and case studies.
In addition to these focused half-day events in Calgary in October, the City of Nanaimo along with Coastal Community Credit Union is offering a full-day workshop on sponsorship asset inventory valuation on September 24, and a session on prospect development, getting meetings and doing discovery sessions on October 17. On the other side of BC, North Peace Savings and Credit Union is offering the same two sessions in Fort St. John on October 15 and 16.
There are lots of ways to ensure your events and municipalities are successful. You just need to invest in your future. Attend one of these sessions or the SMCC Western Sponsorship Congress™ and get your program rolling toward success. Failure to invest in success will deliver the same failure you have been dealing with for the past several years.
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.