So many people have jumped on the AI train using ChatGPT to write books in no time at all, create their marketing materials, write blogs, write website copy, and more… Unfortunately, they’re also using AI to develop grant and sponsorship proposals.
I understand the appeal for people to save time and get things done quickly, but sponsors want to work with YOU (not an AI bot).
Sponsor-seekers, here are a few mistakes to avoid...
With the virtual world being here to stay and people joining more Facebook groups, online membership platforms, mastermind groups online (and the list goes on), two important questions often arise:
To determine the answer for the best online strategies for engagement, start with determining your own responses. Write your answers down; this could be helpful information.
This blog is about awards and some tips to help you leverage awards and nominations.
You may have been nominated for an award and received the "Congratulations! You have been nominated!" message. If you have, here are some valuable tips to help you leverage being nominated or winning awards.
Being nominated for an award is an important milestone and success for you, your business or organization, your project, your team, and the organization hosting the awards.
Celebrations connect people and now more than ever celebrating and connecting is important to make a positive impact in our world.
In 2020, we had numerous opportunities to speak with sponsors from local, regional, and national businesses and brands. This online and virtual world we are living in with cancelled live events and the need to do business differently has also impacted sponsors and their ability to market their brands in ways they are accustomed to.
We heard both challenges and opportunities in these conversations with sponsors. Besides getting to learn about the brands on a much deeper level and build relationships with them, we also were able to hear about some of the common sponsorship mistakes they see sponsor seekers making.
We thought this insider information and the useful insights below could be of benefit to you as you move forward with raising your dreams through collaboration and sponsorship.
We thought it would be great to gather some tips from our Raise a Dream community about thanking, appreciating, and recognizing partners throughout the holiday season.
These twelve tips can be modified and utilized throughout the year to recognize partners, champions, and sponsors.
Have a holiday gift card delivered to the business office. Think of fun ways to package the card. Personalize and perhaps put in a frame so that people keep the card.
If you’ve been a member of our Raise a Dream community for any time, you may have heard us talk about the importance of customization and personalization to sponsorship relationships a lot.
You have read our blogs, articles, and emails where we write about avoiding generic sponsorship packages and the old school “gold, silver and bronze” tiered approach. These are quick giveaways to a potential brand partner that you have not done your research, built a relationship with them, or taken time to discover their needs or how to support their goals.
The more that you can do to honour an authentic relationship and find ways to give the “personal touch” (from the first connection through to the fulfillment of an agreement), the more you will stand out and develop long-term collaborations.
Are you actively using LinkedIn?
If not, LinkedIn can be one of your main sources of contact and research to find out who to connect with in partner/sponsor brand companies.
Just reviewing a brand LinkedIn company page and the profile of the person you are reaching out to (or having a discovery call with) before getting on the call can help prepare you with the right information to make an impactful impression.
The three LinkedIn strategies below, including a sample script you can use, will help pave the way to a YES with sponsorship and collaboration opportunities.
While onions, icebergs, and Columbo don't appear to have any relevance with getting corporate sponsorship funding, they in fact do!
They represent three important concepts that impact relationship building, trust, and connection—all essential ingredients for sponsorship agreements to move forward.
Think of relationships, conversations, and people much like onions. They have layers and, just like onions, the layers need to be pulled back a bit to create mutual understanding and achieve clarity on what matters most to a sponsor.
Our social connections are challenged as we are all living in and navigating through challenging, quickly changing, and uncertain times. Things are not "business as usual."
In a time when we're physically distancing ourselves from one another, it is still important to stay connected to one another. Social distancing does not need to mean social disconnection.
In fact, during this time, you can organize or systematize ways of staying connected throughout the year with funders, donors, collaboration partners, and sponsors.
The ideas and opportunities below will help you maintain, nurture, and build important relationships. These relationships can be vital support systems for your business, project, or service club.