Sponsorship: best marketing value these days?

Various friends and colleagues of mine operate businesses and nonprofits that depend on sponsorship to support their programs and objectives. I'm sure you know people whose organizations find themselves in the same position.

Maybe I'm missing something, but it continues to amaze me that there aren't prospective sponsor brands knocking down the door of businesses, agencies and/or nonprofits looking to lend support because of the VALUE they receive in return for their investment.

First off, most sponsorship engagements grant the sponsor exposure to lists/databases of people they may not otherwise be guaranteed to reach. In today's world where the thin-slicing of messaging must be as experiential as possible and primarily takes place via e-mail, texting, and social media - why would a sponsor not leap at this proprietary, "all access" opportunity?

Next, no new staff needs to be hired to generate completely new creative, as many of the programming and associated marketing deployment plans are already in place. While this may be frustrating to some job seekers, those creative jobs will come as sponsorship support helps advance sponsor and sponsee branding and revenues to the point of expansion.

Third, sponsorship of nonprofit organizations and their events is a sure-fire way for brands to acquire and/or grow their cause marketing image. Recession or no recession, many consumers make purchasing decisions on a brand's ethical values as much as the monetary value of their purchase. Now is the perfect time to grow goodwill while gaining new exposure.

Lastly, sponsorship usually manifests as a live activation at some point in the program cycle. In English: Events! People! Relationships! Dialog! Brands can buy all the online advertising, mailing lists and sales leads that they want - but there is no singularly more powerful marketing tactic than the live activation. The opportunity to meet and greet consumers in person is invaluable and incomparable, and brands that forgo these opportunities will never break away from the pack.

Sites like Charity Navigator and ActOfGood are useful for sponsors who want help identifying prospective nonprofits to work with. Businesses like Chicago Sport & Social Club and City Chase reach a large, healthy consumer base (literally and financially) of young professionals.

Agencies like IEG can be useful in providing valuations and guidance for sponsors, and agencies like Lightning Man Promotions, Ltd. (of Coors-Maxim Tour and Absolut Vodka product launch fame) can help sponsors create and execute sponsor-worthy events for their own brands.

Wondering how to start small? Brands willing, able and interested in sponsorship and who understand the value, ROI and ROE need only look to their local communities (at least as a start) and to their own professional networks (i.e. via LinkedIn) to identify business and/or nonprofit opportunities to sponsor. As the ultimate form of relationship marketing - sponsorship of events (and/or creating events to sponsor) may be the best value these days and for a very long time to come.

Marc Portugal