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organization to accomplish its project. With a sponsorship proposal the situation is reversed -- you will spend the largest part of the proposal describing how your project will help the company meet its goals. It's mostly about what you can do for them. Don't get me wrong: companies want to do good by sponsoring a nonprofit -- they just want to make a profit for themselves in the process.

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In seeking a corporate sponsor, be practical and think local. Your nonprofit likely cannot compete against The Olympics and the NFL for sponsor dollars from automobile companies, but a local car dealership might be quite happy to sponsor you. Make a list of the most successful local businesses. These might include dry cleaners, gyms, and even a medical practice. Note that restaurants and retail stores generally have low profit margins and are therefore unlikely to be major sponsors.

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To write a corporate sponsorship proposal you need to think like the marketing people who will evaluate it. They will want to know about:

• Tangible and intangible benefits to the corporation

• Demographics of your audience

• Reach of your nonprofit and your project

• Description of your organization and the project

 

All of those elements could be included in a long letter, but I prefer to send a short pitch letter and back it up with attachments giving the critical data. That way, I can emphasize the most important facts for a very quick read, while also supplying greater detail once I have their attention. Your sponsorship proposal will include the following elements.

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Pitch letter: This short letter will begin with the two most important elements of your pitch: (1) what's you big idea and (2) why are you bringing it to this particular company. Your big idea is, in essence your project and what you have to offer. For example: "More than 5,000 active gardeners will attend our nonprofit's 2021 tulip festival." And the why you're bringing it to this company might be "As the leading supplier of bulbs in the U.S., participants will be interested to learn about your latest hybrids, which we will showcase throughout the festival."

 

You'll also note the most important benefits to the sponsor, especially how the qualities of your organization/program will enhance the company's brand. You'll also include how you'll recognize the sponsorship and just enough information on your nonprofit to convince the corporation that you are a vital, ongoing operation. It should be no more than a page and a half. You really have to sell your organization and project in this letter. The more tempered approach you use in a grant proposal cover letter won't do the job. You must make your project sound like the best opportunity out there for the corporation.

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In a grant proposal, you always ask for a specific amount based on the foundation's past giving and its guidelines. With corporate sponsorship, it's very difficult to find out what they have paid for other sponsorships, so you must determine what sponsorship of your project is potentially worth to your sponsor. This will be based largely on the demographics and reach of your project (see below).

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The International Events Group (sponsorship.com) provides a valuation service, which doesn't come cheaply but can be very important in securing a major sponsorship. Reading their free downloadable brochure about the service, however, will give you some good ideas on how to decide what your property (yes, in the sponsorship biz your nonprofit is a property) is worth. These will include tangible benefits like logo recognition in all publications and free admission for employees, as well as intangible benefits, such as the loyalty of your audience and your organization's prestige and position in the community. Finally, it is customary to offer a range of sponsorship fees rather than a single price. This shows that you are willing to negotiate based on the sponsor's needs.

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Demographics & Reach: This is the all-important "who" and "how many" of the proposal. You should mention the most relevant statistics in the pitch letter, for example, if your audience is primarily women and the sponsor makes a product mainly used by women. You will give more complete information in the one-page attachment, such as gender breakdown, household incomes, and buying habits. Include information on your constituents' loyalty to your nonprofit.

 

If your donors/clients tend to support your nonprofit for many years, that loyalty will transfer to the sponsor. The sponsor will also want to know about products or services your constituents purchase. If you don't have information on your constituents, you're not ready to create a sponsorship proposal. But all is not lost: You can do a quick constituent survey using one of the free online services like surveymonkey.com and have some data in less than a week.

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In addition to demographics, the sponsor will want to know how many people will take part in the project or interact with your organization. If possible, back this up with the numbers from past events/projects. Also include how many people will see the sponsor's logo (web site, print, at events, etc.). Be specific and accurate. You may feel you need to overstate the numbers you'll reach, but don't. You'll have to report back to the sponsor, and inflated numbers will come back to haunt you. (For web site traffic, use "visits" or "unique visitors," not the irrelevant "hits" as a measurement.)