Sponsorship v2

Sponsorship

imperialcollegeunion.org

Sponsorship Page 1 imperialcollegeunion.org/training

Contents Contents

2

Introduction

3

Identification

4

Selection

5

Proposition

6

Negotiation

8

Securing Payment

10

Evaluation

11

Version 2.0 - 01 June 2011 Sponsorship Page 2 imperialcollegeunion.org/training

Introduction The Purpose of this Booklet Sponsorship can be an important source of income for Clubs, Societies & Projects. This booklet looks at how to go about getting sponsorship and other forms of external funding, and the Union’s rules for how that funding must be administered.

When to Seek Sponsorship The best time to get sponsorship is during the summer break. Most companies will have spent the majority of their allocated sponsorship funds by Christmas.

Michael Foster Deputy President (Finance & Services) E: dpfs@imperial.ac.uk T: 020 7594 8060, extension: 58062

Be aware that the country’s current economic situation may hinder the amount of sponsorship you receive this year.

If you have any questions not answered in this booklet, contact the Deputy President (Finance & Services).

Aziz Bilgrami Clubs & Societies Finance Officer E: clubs.finance@imperial.ac.uk T: 020 7594 1514, extension: 41514

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Identification Firstly, you must identify what the benefits of sponsorship would be, both for the supplier and to your Club, Society or Project. It is better to consider what you can offer a company rather than your needs. Benefits to the sponsor may include: • raising awareness of their company/ brand/product • enhancing their image • creating good relations with students who may be potential future employees • being associated with a certain cause The benefits to the Club, Society or Project would be the solution to a funding requirement as well as increased publicity by being associated with the sponsor.

Sponsorship can be offered for a number of activities. Most of the time they will be one-off deals: a charity show, publication, sporting event, leaflets or posters.

Sponsorship may also be sought for longer-term projects and gifts-in-kind. In return, the Club, Society or Project can offer advertising to students and others; raise the company’s profile amongst some of the most sought-after graduates in the country; gain coverage with student and local media and also think about how it might wish to include the sponsor at an event (e.g. sitting on a judging panel, running workshops, guest speakers etc).

Make sure you also know who you are – make sure you know about your Club, Society or Project in detail, its history and any future plans that you or your predecessors have published. Make sure you know what the turnover of your group is, and what the demographics of your members are.

Also, ensure you are aware of the College and where it currently is in university rankings – both academic (such as the Times’ Higher Education Ranking UK and Globally) and nonacademic (such as the College’s position in the BUCS rankings).

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Selection

Initially, think about who has sponsored your group in the past; speak to older and former members and review your online transaction pages from previous years. Also consider your equipment suppliers, and contacts that you and your committee may have within suppliers and companies.

Once you have a shortlist of companies you think you should approach, you need to refine your search and then establish contact with the potential sponsors. Ask them for their Annual Report, advice

on what projects they may or may not support and establish a contact within the organisation or gain contact details for their marketing department. If you already have a contact within the company then go via them or ask for an endorsement.

Remember to delegate one committee member who will be responsible for any questions potential donors may have – and make sure they actually answer questions and maintain regular contact.

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Proposition Now that you have identified some potential sponsors and what you can offer them, you need to formulate a proposal.

The length of your proposal is dependant on the scale of the project, but should contain: • Activity title • Proposal summary (see below) • Options – can they sponsor the publicity, a portion or are they the sole sponsor?

• Key-strengths – re-emphasise the benefits of the activity • Signatory and Contact details • Enclose any relevant materials such as photos of your group or quotes for items

in a publication such as Felix • Advertisement space on your Club, Society or Project website, or adverts in your newsletter

Benefits Sample Proposal Ensure you make it clear to the sponsor what benefits they will gain from sponsoring your event. Some examples of benefits to the sponsor include: • Displaying the company logo on the header or footer of all official Club, Society or Project emails • Arranging talks by the company to gain exposure to members of your Club, Society or Project – as well as their friends • Having logos on banners and flyers at events, or printing on the programme • A printed “thank you” to the company

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<Company name> is requested to fund <Club, Society or Project name> work by contributing £<amount> towards <activity> and will receive <benefits>.

1. Introduction (to the organisation and the activity to be funded).

2. Outline any previous support received.

3. The proposal – clearly: 3.1 What you want 3.2. Why you want it 3.3. What you want it for 3.4. When you want it

Proposition cont...

3.5. How they can help 3.6. H ow they will benefit (what will they gain) 3.7. How much will it cost (a breakdown of the budget) Remember to address letters or emails to a specific individual – otherwise it will almost certainly end up being binned.

When constructing your proposal, remember: • Do not under-cost. Ask for more than you need • Be creative • Include all costs and allocate overhead costs if possible • Do not pull a number out of thin air • Don’t forget to add VAT to any costs • Describe what you intend to do with the money • Break down expenditure to help identify all costs • Cost each item using best estimates and obtain quotes • Decide whether this is a reasonable total • Does your proposal offer value for money?

Don’t cut corners and write a letter on cheap or non-headed paper – it

makes you look amateur and a bit unprofessional. It is worth investing a little bit of money. Remember basic letter skills – get the addresses in the correct places and make sure the spelling and grammar are correct. The Union has headed paper you are welcome to use, just ask at the Student Activities Centre.

Don’t have the Sponsorship Officer of your Club, Society or Project sign any proposal letters – always have the Chair or President do it; it gives more gravitas to the proposal. If you can get an endorsement from someone within the College this may also help give weight to your proposal.

You shouldn’t just write to say “please can we have some money because we are good and we want to get better”. Remember, different levels of sponsorship can be offered to different companies – but make sure you are clear about the benefits to each potential sponsor, and be careful not to duplicate benefits if they cannot be duplicated.

Plus, don’t forget that sponsorship doesn’t necessarily need to be financial – free equipment or supplies can be just as helpful to the running of your Club, Society or Project.

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Negotiation Your initial reply may be yes or no.

However you may not hear anything at all. In this case, you should chase up your proposal with a phone call to confirm the proposal has arrived, ask when it may be considered, and ask if any further information is required. However, be careful not to harass them.

Expect to hear from approximately 50% of the companies you contact. When you receive a positive reply, respond with a brief thank you. If they have turned you down, think about approaching the company on another occasion, perhaps during the next academic year or for a different type of event.

Be sure to keep track of your progress by making photocopies of all information sent out to each individual company and keep a summary list. Some companies will reply saying no in a variety of ways, e.g. they are not able to support at this time as they do not have the budget or it does not fit with their criteria. Other companies may show an interest and get back with specific questions or say they will be considering your application at the next meeting.

Remember some companies may prefer to sponsor a more academically meaningful event rather than a ball or party.

Careers Events Hosting some form of careers event is a good way of securing sponsorship from a graduate recruiter. There are specific guidelines for hosting careers events though.

Events which Clubs, Societies & Projects are encouraged to organise.

Speakers/presentations from companies whose field falls within the remit of a Club, Society or Project, e.g. British Antarctic Survey speaking to the Exploration Society, Rio Tinto speaking to de la Beche Society.

• Visits to companies or locations, e.g.

CivSoc visiting a construction site.

• Alumni networking, e.g. inviting exmembers who are now employed by companies to talk about their experiences.

• Events included in a sponsorship Sponsorship Page 8 imperialcollegeunion.org/training

Negotiation cont... package which include either presentations or skills-based sessions specific to the members of the Club, Society or Project being sponsored.

Events which Clubs, Societies & Projects are not encouraged to organise.

• Careers Fairs – If you do want to run one, even if it has departmental backing, you must liaise with the College Careers Service and the Union’s Deputy President (Clubs & Societies).

Events which Clubs, Societies & Projects should not organise.

vents or presentations in conjunction E with 3rd party recruitment agencies, e.g. monster.co.uk, gradjobs.co.uk.

• Main company presentations which are targeted at all students, e.g.

PWC or Deloitte doing their onceyearly presentation. These MUST be organised by the Careers Service.

• One-off presentations/talks where a company pays a Club, Society or Project to specifically book a room and organise catering outside of a wider sponsorship package.

NB: All events must be organised entirely by a Club, Society or Project, i.e. all room bookings, liaison with the Union or College, finances and catering. It is NOT acceptable to book a room and then tell the company to organise their own catering through College or the Union.

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Securing payment Once you have concluded the negotiations and you have a willing sponsor, you will need to draw up a contract. Large companies will do this for you, so be sure to read the document carefully upon receipt and challenge anything you did not agree to.

In most cases you will be required to prepare the contract yourself you can find a template online. Before you sign any sponsorship contract, it must be approved by the Deputy President (Finance & Services).

After your contract has been signed off by the relevant authorities, you can invoice the company for payment.

Be prepared to chase companies for payment.

You will need an invoice from the Union to receive the money from you sponsor.

Contact the Clubs & Societies Finance Officer with your fully signed contract to have the invoice generated. Details of this process are contained within the Finance Operations training.

Allow 30 days for the sponsor to pay the invoice. If the invoice is still outstanding after this time contact the sponsor and chase them for payment, if they havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t paid after 60 days make contact with the Clubs & Societies Finance Officer to seek

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advice upon what to do next.

Please note that chasing paying of any outstanding unpaid invoices attributable to Clubs, Societies or Projects older the 90 days since the issue date becomes the responsibility of the Union centrally.

The Union will charge a fee of 10% of the invoice value once payment of the invoice has been secured, to cover the staffing costs of doing this.

A consultation period for up to 90 days exists where Clubs, Societies & Projects are more than welcome to seek advice and help from the Union about securing payment of the invoice.

Keep in regular contact with your sponsors. Report back, let your sponsors know how everything is going and what their money has achieved for the Club, Society or Project. However if things go wrong be prepared to the return the money if the planned activity does not ahead.

IMPORTANT Sponsorship money will not appear within your accounts on your online transaction pages until the invoice has been paid. Do not spend the money until it is actually in your accounts.

Evaluation If you want to pull out all the stops and really impress the sponsor you could evaluate the success of the company’s involvement in the campaign/project.

professionalism; you will be competing other causes.

• Be persistent and don’t give up until you get a definite no.

For example, if you are staging an event, you could survey the people leaving the event if they were aware of the company’s involvement and their of the company. This will indicate how effectively you have publicised the company’s involvement.

Additionally, have you monitored the media coverage? These can be presented to the company as part of the follow-up.

Important Notes • Do not start your email “Dear Sir/ Madam”; this is the fast route to the recycling bin.

• Do not assume they know who you are, explain in explicit commercial terms who you are, and what the potential benefits are for them.

• Make sure the contract states clearly whether the fee includes or excludes VAT. • Do not promise what you cannot deliver.

• Be to the point and concise – make the proposal easy to scan.

• Plan ahead, give them at least two months to consider the proposal.

• Try to stand out from others in terms of

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