Here’s my present to you.

6 questions you need to ask to help get that corporate sponsorship.

Why should you care?

Because most people don’t ask these questions. Most people have NO IDEA what’s happening when they ask for sponsorship. You just ask, and the money just magically appears in your hand, right?

Wrong.

If you’ve ever done a nonprofit fundraising event (and I’ve done… a few) then you know this equation:

Sponsorships = How you will make most of your money at your events.

Have you ever wondered what’s going on behind your CSR rep’s eyes?

Have you ever wondered what pressures they’re under, and how you could ever hope to pierce the veil of “company priorities for sponsorship”?

In order to get sponsorships, you’ve gotta think like a global business.

HOW do these corporations justify giving your nonprofit money, from a bottom line perspective?

Well, did you know that your mini-media juggernaut is NOT the main reason that companies give you sponsorship? No, they do it for SO MUCH MORE, including:

• Sales goals,
• Highlighting their products in connection with your cause,
• Keeping their employees motivated,
• Getting into new consumer markets,
• and MORE!

So now that you know this, here’s a little bit of what you need to ask:

1. Are there any aspects of your reputation that you would be interested in enhancing? Perhaps they are a very profitable company, but they want to highlight how GREEN they are. Maybe you can help them do that. But you should not assume anything. Ask this first. This will help you get a sense of what their PR priorities are. You might think, if they just had a major oil spill, like BP or Shell, that they would want to highlight how GREEN they are, but instead, they might want to highlight being “a great place to work.”
2. Are there any key messages about your company that you want to urgently communicate? Maybe they want to urgently communicate about their new products, their mission, or initiatives into new markets. Perhaps they seek to penetrate some segment of the Hispanic market in your region, so they might want to urgently communicate how connected they are to this market, and how many Hispanic customers they already have.
   
3. Are you having operational issues? Perhaps they are having issues with distributors, suppliers, franchisees, or retailers. How can you help their employees feel better about coming to work each day? You can help them feel as if they’re making a difference by paying them to volunteer with you, or get people to give to you at the cash register. 
4. Are you facing challenges in attracting and retaining a motivated workforce? Again, if a company shows it is committed to employee volunteerism, it’s found to make it one of the 100 best places to work, like Timberland shoes did a few years ago. 
   
5. Are there any consumer or business markets that you are pursuing where involvement in a social cause might give you a competitive edge? If this is a food company that manufactures something healthy, like Danon yogurt, and they are pursuing a consumer market such as affluent women who care about cancer, they might want to get involved with the Komen foundation, for example.
   
6. In terms of brand images, are there any specific product that you are trying to position? Are there aggressive sales goals related to any of these projects? So this is kind of self-explanatory. If you know what they’re thinking about, you can also look at their other goals, think about how they can tie their product to your event.
   

If you can show the corporation that you can help them with two or more of the above, you’ve probably made a better case than half of your competitors who are out for those same sponsorship dollars.

After you’ve got these questions answered, build your letter, phonecall and presentation around these issues, and then make sure your sponsorship contract reflects what you will provide to address them.

If you want to learn more about sponsorships, take my Wildly Successful Events webinar this January 17th!

If you want to learn more about Corporate Social Responsibility, check out the guy who wrote the book on Cause Marketing, Joe Waters. He’s got a webinar that explains it all!

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NEW: These 6 Questions Will Help You Get That Corporate Sponsorship originally appeared on Wild Woman Fundraising on December 23, 2011.

Have you ever had a funder pull out of a sponsorship or grantmaking deal because of your association with a revolutionary movement or because of something a person at your nonprofit said about them?

Do YOU find it horrifying that an AmeriCorps VISTA might make $16,000 per year, or just minimum wage, while the CEO of Goldman Sachs makes $16,000 per HOUR?

Did you hear Goldman pulled out of a fundraiser after learning it honored Occupy Wall Street?

Apparently, the revolution will NOT be funded.

If you read Phil Cubeta’s short posts over the last week or so, you’ll see that he is picking the scab on the thing fundraisers don’t like to talk about, namely, you have to keep your head down and not seem TOO revolutionary, or you won’t get funded.

According to Phil, if you look too closely at the cause of income inequality, you find the very people who are funding you to study it. And they don’t want to hear that.

Here’s some good news. Occupy Wall Street now has almost half a million dollars in donations. They are putting it in a credit union. The credit union decided to throw a fundraising dinner, and Goldman Sachs withdrew their $5,000 sponsorship. Capital One, however, is still in. Wonder why?

Maybe Goldman Sachs thinks that Occupy Wall Street can actually WIN.

If you even mildly criticize your funders, you get denuded of funding as well, as Pamela Grow reported on the Reel Girls/Comcast debacle. She called it, “The Story of a Small Nonprofit and the Power of Social Media.” Then Reel Girls decided to show what Comcast was doing, and make up the comcast grant (which was only about $15,000) and ask their supporters to side with them. And they did, overwhelmingly. Because Reel Girls are about free speech, and they think that Comcast should recognize it. Comcast later said okay, you can have the money (probably because it turned into such a PR headache for them) but Reel Girls said no, thanks, we’re good. and this is why your gift policy and grant agreements should clearly state that funding will not stop just because your nonprofit exercises free speech.

What do you think?

How do YOU feel about having to rub shoulders with people high up in finance and industry, in the name of your cause, all the while knowing that the people you’re talking with make more in a few months than anyone at your nonprofit makes in a year?

Have you ever had an issue with wanting to criticize a funder, but being afraid to lose your funding?

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Have you ever had Grantus Interruptus? originally appeared on Wild Woman Fundraising on October 24, 2011.

Fundraising Rockstars can help you. Here’s a little peek about what’s inside.

Fundraising Rockstars will help you get sponsors.

Think about these five words: Research, Reflection, Collaboration, Presentation and Networking.

Research: Have you done your research? Where can you go? The Business Journal’s Book of Lists? Your database? Staff and volunteers? Board members? Who do you know who knows someone?

Reflection: Think about what part of this event would be most attractive to sponsors. Is it the fact that you are going to get the word out in multiple ways? How can you get more attention for their brand through your event?

Collaboration: Can you collaborate with a sister nonprofit in your county or state to do an event together? Can you tap into THEIR sponsorship base?

Presentation When you make a presentation to these sponsors, or even just write a letter or an email, get their attention instantly with a picture of your programs, and a bottom line total reach your event will have. Show them how your branding will influence consumer behavior to get them more customers and more cash.

and

Networking: Network your way to better sponsorship relationships. Go to chamber of commerce events. Go to other events, like meetups, membership association meetings, and more.

Want more details?

Inside Fundraising Rockstars, we show you, step by step, how to create partnerships and sponsorships, with in depth interviews, worksheets, and more.

Are you in? Last 48 hours of the Fundraising Rockstars sale!

PS. Once it ends, in 48 short hours, we are never again going to offer this information for such a low price.

Are you trying to get sponsorships? originally appeared on Wild Woman Fundraising on September 29, 2011.

I’m liveblogging the DonorPerfect conference and it is so neat! One of the things I’ve been learning about is the risks you run when you have sponsorships from corporations. I attended Laura Solomon and Valerie Jones‘ session and it was chock full of information.

Here is the thing you’ve probably already done to jeopardize your sponsorship

When you thanked your sponsor from the stage, did you say “Thank you to X corporation for sponsoring us” or did you say, “Thank you to X corporation who is the BEST accounting firm in the world!”

If you said the former, you have no problems.

If you said the latter, you have a problem. You’ve just endorsed them, which means that their sponsorship is no longer 100% tax deductible, and it’s going to be a big headache for them.

Don’t give benefits until you have the contract!

If you need more information about what is allowed and not allowed in your state, check out http://NASCOnet.org.

Also check out IRS Publications 1771 “Charitable Contributions”  and 526 “Charitable Contributions”.

For more resources, check out
The IGE Sponsorship directory

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One thing you’ve probably done to jeopardize your sponsorship originally appeared on Wild Woman Fundraising on September 20, 2011.

Huh? What’s the deal?

Well, let me back up. When I was just starting out fundraising, I thought that fundraising was grantwriting. I was afraid to appear stupid, so I did not ask basic questions of people around me or teachers at the Foundation Center. I just walked around thinking this for a good three months as I got into the fundraising field. When I started working for small nonprofits I realized that they were asking me to do events, marketing, branding, and more, and then I thought, huh, maybe this fundraising thing is a lot more complex than I thought it was going to be!

So through the years, I’ve been learning more and more about fundraising, learning about marketing with this organization, learning about appeals and online fundraising with that. All the while, in the back of my mind was a thought, “What can I do to take this knowledge and help other people who are just starting out or who have some gaps in their knowledge like I did?”

So, I wrote this book. You probably know about it.

And it was pretty successful, so I started teaching webinars and workshops for nonprofit professionals with the Center for Nonprofit Organizations, the Texas Assocation of Nonprofit Organizations, CharityHowTo, and others. Then I thought, “But how can I scale my impact more?”

A few months ago, Desiree Adaway interviewed me for her coaching program and afterwards I asked her, or maybe she asked me, I wonder if we could do something together!

And then I talked with Pam Grow, who had just done a virtual workshop with Sandy Rees, and they all said, YES! Let’s do something together to help more nonprofits raise money! a lot of nonprofits can’t afford a full fundraising department, or even to hire consultants like us. But perhaps there’s a third solution.

We thought,

What if we could teach people via continuing education what we would recommend that they do anyway? What if we could combine our brainpower and help people use all of our experience, skills, and knowledge to become the rockstar fundraising dream team that they needed to help get their cause the most money possible for their cause, and build relationships with donors that would sustain them for years?

We wanted to make a place where people could come and figure out how to do fundraising better, with forums and a teleseminar with all of us. It should be called:

Fundraising Rockstars: 50K in 30 Days!

So, we got to work.

Desiree Adaway contributed some interviews, worksheets and more from the Partnership Playbook with Pam Slim.

Sandy Rees contributed some expertise in the area of online fundraising, grants, appeals and stewardship.

Pam Grow contributed her grants knowledge and stewardship knowledge, and got us all together to help us brainstorm on phonecalls, and

I contributed my knowledge about sponsorships, appeals, my hands-on how-to worksheets from my book, and more.

After months and months of work, it’s finally done!

You can click here, because today, we open the doors to help more people raise more money for their causes, and become fundraising rockstars!

We’ll help people one-on-one in the forums, as well as do a tele-conference call in November to check in and answer questions too.

We are not going to make this available forever however. We are all doing multiple things, with multiple clients and speaking engagements and projects, and we need to stay focused on these things as well, so on Friday, September 30th, at midnight, our sale will end.

Fundraising Rockstars is here!! originally appeared on Wild Woman Fundraising on September 15, 2011.

Cause Marketing for Dummies by Joe Waters and Joanna MacDonald

I’ll be honest, before I picked up this book my interest in Cause marketing was pretty much zero. But this book got me excited, thinking about possibilities for some organizations I’m currently doing work for.

I just received this book in the mail last week, and so far, I love it! I have gotten so much out of this book. You can see me here with the cat, who promptly started licking the book when i put it down. I guess that makes two of us who like it!

But good things need to be shared.

If you leave a comment below, I will enter your name in the drawing to win this book.

Here’s why I love this book.

Clear Definitions
Joe puts the difference between Sponsorship, Cause Marketing and Philanthropy as a difference of involvement.
At one end of the spectrum, Sponsorship, nonprofits do all the work and the corporation just shows up.
With Cause marketing, nonprofits and corporations do roughly equal amounts of work.
And with Philanthropy, the corporation does all of the work, and the nonprofit shows up to collect the check.

Three kinds of decision makers
One of my favorite parts is on page 100-102, where Joe shows you the kinds of people you are going to need to deal with as you convince corporations that it’s a good idea to enter a cause marketing partnership with you. The three kinds of people he has dealt with are Thinkers, Feelers, and Deferrers.

Thinkers want a low or no risk model, something where they don’t have to put in a lot of up-front cash.

Feelers will respond to a heartfelt story, but don’t over-do it. They also want to get hope, joy and compassion by being involved with you. They don’t want fear in the story.

Deferrers will wait and see if they want to get involved with you if you have a string of successes before this one. So if you have a celebrity on board, that will be an instant green light for deferrers. Or if you’re vetted by a local elected official, that will lend your proposal some clout as well.

Joe put in this equation that I loved, for Thinkers: Value + Free – Risk = Great Opportunity

You could apply this to sales in general, not just fundraising and not just cause marketing.

A focus on implementation
When you’re implementing your first cause marketing campaign, it can be daunting, and you might think, “How are we going to succeed with this?”

Well, you can start with Pinups. These are not barely dressed ladies from the 1940s, no, these are things that you can ask a local store to hand out and hang up for you. Around Valentine’s day, St. Patrick’s Day, or another holiday, you might see these all around your local starbucks or grocery store. If you’ve ever just seen a wall plastered with these, it can be impressive, and you might look closer to see what they are benefiting.

It doesn’t cost much to print these, and you can start with your local grocery store, asking if you could do a campaign for a couple of weeks to a month to get people engaged with your cause and make them look more like heroes too.

Joe says that people will give at the cash register if the cashier doesn’t just say, “Would you like to make a donation to MDA today?” no, the cashier needs to say something like, “Would you like to make a donation so a hungry family can eat tonight?”

But what if you’re an arts nonprofit? How can you make it compelling? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this in the comments.

In short, Cause Marketing for Dummies is a really smart book, and I hope whoever gets it really enjoys it and puts these theories into practice right away for their organization.

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Book Giveaway: Cause Marketing for Dummies originally appeared on Wild Woman Fundraising on August 15, 2011.

So I recently got an email from someone who thinks that their book is god’s gift to everyone, and they said, “You interviewed someone I know, so you should interview MEEEEEE!!!” And I checked out their website, and it has nothing to do with what I talk about. At all. It’s like they didn’t even read my website. And their website also was not finished. And there was really old content on there. So even if their book DID fit with my blog, I wouldn’t want to promote them, because they are messing up their image and would mess up mine.

And so, I told them politely, “Hey, not a match for my blog.”

And the dude wrote back, and said, “Well, that was fast you *insert bad word here*! Now I’ve got an idea for a blog post!”

And all I can think of is, “Really? Should I be shaking in my boots now? Will you call my blog out as the most horrible blog in the world? Will you use my name? Will you take me to the cleaners for not having the exact right kind of blog for your book?” I mean, seriously?

It’s actually pretty hilarious when I think about it. I mean, I pitch people and get shot down too, but not because I didn’t do my research. Oftentimes it’s just because I didn’t build up a relationship first. Or the timing was wrong. Or the person was no longer having a radio show. Lots of reasons.

Anyway, can we take a lesson from this?

If you’re pitching to someone, please, please, look at their blog or website first. See if there is, in fact, a reason that they would like to feature you. Maybe even comment, or follow them on twitter. At least. Show that you care about their community. Try to make your pitch relevant to their audience, even if there’s not a direct correlation to what you do and what they do.

You will see your pitches succeed far faster by building a relationship before you ask someone for something.

This actually happens to nonprofit staff a lot, when they ask for first-time grants that are WAY above what first time grant asks should be. I learned recently that this is actually insulting to them, and it makes sense to me from this perspective. Why should they give you money when they have no idea who you are? If you looked at their funding record, please call them and ask them, “Hey, what are your first time funding amounts usually like?” They want to help you. So don’t insult them. Show them you care by asking their opinion and advice first.

This also happens to people who are asking for sponsorships. You HAVE to find a point of connection between you and the person, maybe from a board member, a staff member, a volunteer, or even if you do a little research on them and find out you’re from the same state, or both have a similar hobby. Something.

Finally, IF you get rejected, PLEASE don’t take it personally. It often has nothing to do with you. I’d say, most of the time! Please don’t try to “get back” at a blogger, funder, or corporate sponsor who rejects you. You are only hurting yourself.

Do not do the eye for a tooth and tooth for an eye thing. Because you can’t chew with your eye. Or see with your tooth.
Capeesh?

An Eye for a Tooth and a Tooth for an Eye originally appeared on Wild Woman Fundraising on June 27, 2011.

I did a webinar on May 5th for CharityHowTo, and it was SO POPULAR that I thought I’d offer it again here, for you!

How to get mega-sponsorships
A step-by-step guide to raising money via corporate sponsorships

Wednesday May 18th
Start Time: 1:00 PM  End Time: 2:30 PM (Eastern Standard Time)

Only $49.99

How do you get access to sponsors? How do you approach them, anticipate their questions, and make your event irresistible to their marketing or corporate social responsibility department? This webinar will show you how to make your plan, identify potential sponsors, create sponsorship levels, write your letter, and do impeccable followup to raise more money than you’ve thought possible.

Get Your Questions Answered:
We take 30 minutes at the end to answer all of your questions.

Webinar Outline:
During the webinar, you will learn:

Learn:
1. How to identify which corporations will sponsor you.
2. Who you need to talk to at corporations.
3. How you influence corporate decision-makers to sponsor your event.
4. How to identify and motivate volunteers to help you acquire sponsorships.
5. How much your sponsorship levels should be.
6. How you add value to justify different levels of sponsorship.
7. How to create a compelling sponsorship letter that gets results.
8. What type of marketing corporations expect.
9. How to follow up.

NEW! The following bonus materials are included with this webinar:
1. Sample sponsorship letter
2. Sample event script
3. Practice phone call scripts you can modify for your nonprofit.

May 18th Webinar: How to get Mega-Sponsorships! originally appeared on Wild Woman Fundraising on May 6, 2011.

I’m giving a webinar with CharityHowto.com this May, and I wanted to let you know about it!

Here’s the skinny.

Wildly Successful Events: How to get sponsorships
A step-by-step guide to raising money via corporate sponsorships

Wednesday May 5th
Start Time: 1:00 PM  End Time: 2:30 PM (Eastern Standard Time)

Only $79.99

Do you know how much corporations spend per year on sponsorships? They spend millions. How do you begin to get access to them? How do you approach them, anticipate their questions, and make your event irresistible to their marketing or corporate social responsibility department? This webinar will show you how to make your plan, identify potential sponsors, create sponsorship levels, write your letter, and do impeccable followup to raise more money than you’ve thought possible.

Get Your Questions Answered:
In order to effectively answer the questions of the participants, this interactive webinar is limited to 35 people. There is also a question-and-answer session at the end of the webinar.

Outline:
During this 90 minute webinar, in an easy-to-follow process, we’ll cover the essential steps you can follow to take your fundraising event from barely breaking even to raising exponentially more money. We’ll answer all of these questions and more:

Learn:
1. How do you identify which corporations will sponsor you? Who stands to gain? And how do they gain by giving to you?
2. Who do you need to talk to at corporations?
3. How do you influence corporate decision-makers to sponsor your event?
4. How to identify and motivate volunteers to help you acquire sponsorships?
5. How much should your sponsorship levels be? What makes sense?
6. How do you add value to justify different levels of sponsorship?
7. How to create a compelling sponsorship letter that gets results?
8. What type of branding exposure do corporations expect?
9. What is the proper follow up procedure when communicating with sponsors?
10. BONUS: How to make an extra $10,000 at your event.

NEW! The following bonus materials are included with this webinar:
1. A sample sponsorship letter that really works!
2. A sample event script so your big night goes smoothly. You can modify it and use it for your own event!
3. A 4 point step-by-step guide to getting corporate sponsorships.
4. A visual process flow document to help you follow the right steps.
5. Practice phone call scripts you can modify for your nonprofit. (includes initial contact and follow-up contact.)

Step-By-Step Live Demonstration:
During this webinar, we will learn the fundamentals of building a successful fundraising event. We’ll check out free places to get help with your sponsors, your corporation prospect research, and unusual ways to get sponsors for your big day.

If you want to register, go to Charity How To.

HKAB2ERGZCST

Wildly Successful Events: How to get sponsorships (A webinar in one act) originally appeared on Wild Woman Fundraising on April 21, 2011.

So I’m giving a FREE Webinar today 12:30–1pm CST on Using social media to enhance your network! Join us! http://9.tc/BT

What is the webinar on?

Well, do you want to get known in your field?

Do you want to connect with powerful people?

Do you want to learn more about social media?

If the answers to all of these questions are yes, then you owe it to yourself to come to this fun, interactive webinar. I’ll teach you tried and true methods for getting attention for your personal contribution to your field, including strategies for social networks as well as personal websites, plus quizzes and prizes! You will walk away with 3-5 action items for your own social media presence. And it’s only half an hour, so it’s gonna be QUICK! We may not get to the quizzes and prizes. But you WILL have lots of chances to chime and ask questions!

Go on. We are going to have fun!

What people have said about my presentations:

“Mazarine introduced me to the Wild Woman’s World of Job Searching! With her wealth of wisdom, I know how to organize and strategize my job search. Thanks Mazarine!” -Sarah Richards 2/28

“Thanks Mazarine! All the information you provided about web based ways to connect with people and opportunities as well as find useful information, will be a big help.” -Sari Albornez

“Mazarine made me realize how important it is to get your name out there. Even if you think you don’t know anything, YOU DO. You are worthy and you need to make that known. No one else will do that for you.”

And if you can’t make this webinar today, I am doing another webinar in May on this same topic. And it’s longer and there are a lot more details!

Build your reputation online in 15 minutes a day and give yourself a leg up the career ladder!
A step-by-step guide to getting the attention you deserve for your accomplishments and expertise.

Thursday May 26th
Start Time: 1:00 PM  End Time: 2:30 PM (Eastern Standard Time)

Only $49.99

Webinar Description
What can you do to take control of your career? Well, if you’re not just there to do a job and go home, if you actually care about how far and how fast you rise in your field, then this webinar is for you. What can you do to make yourself irresistible to employers? What does your online presence tell potential employers about you?

According to MyWebCareer.com, a survey of employers revealed:

* 70% have rejected candidates based on reputational data found online.
* 75% have hiring policies that require the review of online reputational data.
* 84% believe the use of online reputational data will increase in the next 5 years.

This means, like it or not, people will judge you by what they find online about you. So why not manage your online reputation now, before you are even looking for a job?

Get Your Questions Answered:
In order to effectively answer the questions of the participants, this interactive webinar is limited to 35 people. There is also a question-and-answer session at the end of the webinar.

Webinar Outline:
During this 90 minute webinar, in an easy-to-follow process, we’ll cover how to go from nobody to shiny person that everyone wants. We’ll answer all of these questions and more:

Learn:
1. How do you start from nothing?
2. How to control what people find out about you online?
3. What are the ways you can get known online?
4. What are ways to identify and reach influencers on Twitter in your niche?
5. How do you get recognition for your accomplishments?
6. What is the best way to build an audience?
7. How do you make money on the side with what you already know?
8. How much of yourself should you reveal online?
9. How can you dominate LinkedIn and really work your profile?

NEW! The following bonus materials are included with this webinar:
1. A blogging calendar that you can use to automate your posting
2. An automation plan for your social networks, so you only spend 15 minutes a day building your reputation.
3. A process tree diagram for tried and true ways to drive traffic to your site every day

Click the link below to sign up.

What the people say

“I found Mazarine’s presentation not only helpful but fun. It was a great way to understand more about getting a job and moving up in the nonprofit sector. As a fundraiser I think it was especially helpful.” -Karen Gilbert

“Mazarine was amazingly insightful and helpful in showing us how to develop a web presence to help our job searches. Her knowledge and humor make her presentations both thought-provoking and conversational. Thank you Mazarine!”

Are you coming to my free webinar today? What do you mean you wanted more notice? originally appeared on Wild Woman Fundraising on March 31, 2011.