Common mistakes schools make when selling sponsorship

Common mistakes schools make when selling sponsorship

15/5/2023

By prioritising higher-tier sponsorships, streamlining communication with sponsors, targeting the right decision-makers, involving key school personnel, and handling sponsor enquiries tactfully, schools can significantly enhance sponsorship sales strategies and unlock a world of opportunities for students and institutions.

  1. Being tempted to sell lower-tier sponsorship packages first: It is recommended to sell higher-tier sponsorships first to establish credibility and build momentum. Holding back on selling lower tiers allows you to pitch them at the right time, in the right place, and in the right way.
  2. Taking too long to provide opportunity details after a meeting: Delays in sharing information can give sponsors the impression that execution may be an issue for the school. Promptly providing the necessary details avoids giving sponsors the chance to consider other opportunities.
  3. Not finding the name and contact details of decision-makers: Sending sponsorship information to generic email addresses like info@ or admin@ is ineffective. It is crucial to identify and contact the right person at a company who can make sponsorship decisions.
  4. Reach-outs for higher-tier sponsorships not coming from the school principal: When pitching higher-tier sponsorships, it is essential for the conversation to be top-to-top, meaning it should involve the school principal or someone in a high-ranking position.
  5. Not handling the “Yeah, send us your packages” reaction correctly: Sponsors often expect schools to provide sponsorship packages. However, if you are tailoring higher-tier sponsorships, there might not be a pre-set package to send. It is crucial to respond appropriately in such situations. If you need guidance on what to say or have encountered this situation, feel free to contact me.

By avoiding these common mistakes, schools can improve their sponsorship selling strategies and increase their chances of securing meaningful partnerships.

Building strong communities through school sponsorship

Building strong communities through school sponsorship

8/2/2023

School sponsorship is a powerful tool for building strong, sustainable communities. It enables schools to provide a range of programs and services that support the well-being and development of students, families, and the wider community. In this blog, we will explore the importance of school sponsorship, community engagement, and social media content planning in building a successful school sponsorship program.

School sponsorship is a collaborative relationship between a school and a sponsor, such as a business, organisation, or individual. The sponsor provides financial or in-kind support to the school in exchange for visibility and recognition. The school, in turn, uses the sponsorship to enhance its programs and services, and to engage the community in the education of its students.

One of the key benefits of school sponsorship is that it allows schools to provide programs and services that they might not otherwise be able to afford. For example, a school might use sponsorship funds to provide extracurricular activities, such as sports teams or music programs, that support student development and engagement.

Another key benefit of school sponsorship is that it helps to build strong, sustainable communities. By engaging community members and organisations in the education of its students, schools can foster a sense of shared responsibility for the well-being and development of the community. This can lead to increased civic engagement and a stronger, more supportive community.

To build a successful school sponsorship program, it is important to engage the community in the process. This can be done by creating opportunities for community members to provide input and feedback on the school’s plans and priorities. For example, a school might hold a community meeting or survey to gather input on what programs and services the community would like to see supported through sponsorship.

In addition to engaging the community, it is also important to develop a strong social media content plan to promote the school’s sponsorship program. Social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, are powerful tools for building awareness and engagement around school sponsorship. By creating and sharing engaging, relevant content on these platforms, schools can reach a wider audience and build support for their sponsorship program.

For example, schools can use social media to share stories and photos of students and teachers participating in programs and activities that are supported by sponsorship. Schools can also use social media to share information about upcoming events and activities that are sponsored by the school. Additionally, schools can use social media to share news and updates about the progress of their sponsorship program, and to thank sponsors for their support.

One important consideration when planning your social media content is to ensure that it aligns with your overall brand messaging and values. For example, if your business is focused on promoting healthy living, your social media content should reflect this by highlighting the ways in which your sponsorship is helping to improve the health and fitness of students and teachers.

Another important consideration is to make sure that your social media content is visually appealing and engaging. This can be achieved by using high-quality images and videos, as well as creative hashtags and captions.

It’s also a good idea to involve students and teachers in your social media content, as they can help to personalise the sponsorship and make it more relatable to your audience. For example, you could feature photos or videos of students participating in activities or programs that your sponsorship has helped to support.

In addition to these tips, it’s important to be consistent and timely with your social media content to keep your audience engaged and informed about your sponsorship. You could schedule regular posts or even create a dedicated hashtag for the sponsorship.

Overall, school sponsorship can be a great way for businesses to give back to their community and promote their brand.

By planning your social media content strategically, you can effectively communicate the impact of your sponsorship and engage your audience in a meaningful way.

In conclusion, school sponsorship is a powerful tool for building strong, sustainable communities. By engaging community members and organisations in the education of its students, and by developing a strong social media content plan, schools can build support for their sponsorship program and provide a range of programs and services that support the well-being and development of students, families, and the wider community.

Sponsorship Ready’s leading and proven 3-step framework enables schools to successfully deliver on a sponsor’s business, brand, and community engagement objectives, while effectively conveying their school’s purpose, vision, and values as well improving brand perception.

Find out how your school can become Sponsorship Ready with a FREE 30-minute strategy session by emailing info@sponsorshipready.com.au, and start succeeding in sponsorship at your school today!

Did you know Sponsorship Ready also supports schools in professional development and capacity building in social media marketing?

Why not check out our Capacity Building & Professional Development program that’s tailored to your school and features free templates and platforms to create social media content that performs.

Find out more on Sponsorship Ready’s Social Media Masterclass for Schools which are regularly hosted at various venues.

School prospectus vs sponsorship invitation

School prospectus vs sponsorship invitation

15/11/2022

While a school prospectus sums up what your schools offers and what makes you unique to prospective sponsors, students and their families, it is also important to look at the marketing collateral your school has in place to ensure your key messaging is conveyed across all marketing mediums.

It’s helpful to consider the kind of digital and printed material your school needs, especially if you have new branding and need to update things.

School marketing collateral can include:

  1. School Prospectus – make the right impression
  2. Stationary – For a consistent look and feel
  3. Digital templates – To save you time
  4. Banners and leaflets – Get your school noticed

Sponsorship Ready can save you time by creating all your required collateral, from a striking School prospectus design to useful digital templates. We will organise it all and tie everything in with your school brand, so you can hit the ground running. Ask us how!

Sponsorship Ready can support your school in producing a range of social media templates that encompass your brand identity while acting as an extension of your school prospectus. Learn more here. 

Sponsorship Ready provides schools with the right strategy, tools, and support so that schools can manage their sponsorship program themselves.

Top 3 questions that schools ask Sponsorship Ready

Top 3 questions that schools ask Sponsorship Ready

7/10/2022

Can our community alliance program run alongside our sponsorship program?

Yes, it sure can.

Keeping in mind there is a big difference between fundraising, donations, philanthropy & genuine sponsorship.

While there are a select number of schools that seem to have an event series that underpins the basic structure to a community engagement initiative or alliance, the revenue derived from them is often negligible, notwithstanding they serve their purpose for sure.

To realise real sponsorship revenue, it’s crucial that a considered and strategic approach is required and that is where Sponsorship Ready’s 3-step framework comes in.

How do we manage our existing sponsors if we introduce a new strategy?

It seems many public and independent schools have some semblance of a sponsorship program in play.

Some even have a family of sponsors with a reasonable sponsorship revenue baseline.

The catch is – how do you unpack an existing program? Do you even have to? How do roll existing sponsors into a new strategy?

All this is part of the Sponsorship Ready program scope.

What support can you give my staff tasked with driving sponsorship?

  • Educate them on how to talk to sponsors about their objectives rather than just trying to sell them on benefits
  • Help them understand what your school has to sell
  • How to ‘change the narrative’ when selling sponsorship. For example, position for perception of ROI versus Philanthropic donations.
  • Provision of a framework or scaffolding and ongoing support
  • Preparing your school to go to market both strategically and with transparency.

Find out how your school can become Sponsorship Ready with a FREE 30-minute strategy session and start succeeding in sponsorship at your school today.

A sponsorship win for St Patricks College, Mackay

A sponsorship win for St Patricks College, Mackay

3/10/2022

Sponsorship Ready is a professional development and capacity building program, with an unwavering solutions-based approach to sponsorship in schools.

Now in its third year of operation, Sponsorship Ready continues to go from strength to strength, with over 25 schools throughout Queensland since supported in driving sustainable revenue solutions in school sponsorship.

One of the many schools supported includes Mackay-based St Patrick’s College, Mackay and Mercy College, Mackay.

Assistant Principal of Curriculum at Mercy College and Confraternity Carnival Convenor, Scott McSherry engaged Sponsorship Ready after being granted hosting rights for the Confraternity Carnival and QISSN for 2022.   The brief was set the host school up for success in monetising the carnival and then to bring to life a sponsorship strategy for the two schools that are merging in 2023.

“As an active participant in elite sporting competitions for many years, sourcing financial support from local businesses has always been crucial to help reduce costs for students,” Scott said.

“When we were granted hosting rights for the Confraternity Carnival and QISSN for 2022, we realised that our previous efforts were not going to give us the financial support required to deliver a top-quality carnival,” Scott continued.

“Sponsorship Ready has not only provided us a fresh take on how to attract education sponsorship opportunities, but it’s also helped us to form mutually beneficial relationships with businesses while creating an income stream beyond our expectations.

“The education and support provided by Sponsorship Ready has been outstanding and has truly transformed our thinking when it comes to funding school team competing on a state and national level.

“This also enabled us to deliver excellence in co-curricula opportunities for our students that are commensurate with any school in Queensland, now and into the future.”

Sponsorship Ready’s leading and proven 3-step framework provides peace of mind for school’s wanting to successfully deliver on business, brand, and community engagement objectives, while effectively conveying their school’s purpose, vision, and values.

Find out how your school can become Sponsorship Ready with a FREE 30-minute strategy session and start succeeding in sponsorship at your school today.

Leverage your school’s impact

Leverage your school’s impact

20/5/2021

​Sponsorship of schools can be linked to improving outcomes for students and to funding variety of initiatives including but not limited to:

  • Excellence programs
  • Extra-curricular programs
  • Community engagement programs
  • Infrastructure projects
  • Additional learning resources

​By articulating your school’s reach and impact to potential sponsors, your school can attract real sponsorship dollars through sponsors as well as a great opportunity to promote your schools mission and values in the community.

Tips for clubs with > 400 members

Tips for clubs with > 400 members

18/10/2020

Golden Rules for clubs with > 400 members…

  1. Sports clubs have an engaged, passionate audience – but perhaps they could do better to allow sponsors to leverage this…. Consider the ways your club can help put an SME’s product or service in danger of being sold, create a list or register of all your clubs possible sponsorship assets, get the key people in a room and flesh this out. Its critical, and ideas will flow. Guaranteed. But you need to think about how your club can deliver on their brand, commercial and community engagement objectives and you need to get more creative than signage and logos on apparel. Use the inventory prompt ‘what have you got to sell’ to kick start the process.
  2. Sports clubs have plenty of volunteers, a history, and a story to tell – but struggle articulate it for sponsors …. publish this content, tell the story, and capture it in your professional pitch material. Your selling tools need to be professional, a must. I cannot stress this enough it – in my professional opinion, and I have pitched to hundreds of people representing many sports – it is the difference between winning and losing a sponsor.
  3. Sports clubs and Associations know their organisation makes a positive impact on their respective communities and people’s lives – but cannot define it, this too needs to be told and captured in your selling tools. This type of content is what sponsors are looking for to deliver on community engagement or corporate/social responsibility objectives. Consider strategic alliances with organisations in health/social space in your community. It will help your conversion rate.
  4. Clubs suspect they can provide significant ‘reach’ for prospective sponsors – but cannot demonstrate it…..this is just so key to success, if you can demonstrate quantitatively in your selling tools the reach you have you are then demonstrating ROI versus other mediums sponsors would already be spending on such as radio, print, digital etc
  5. Clubs know their organisation has a good brand, reputation, and governance – but fail to really showcase it in their pitch. Again, these are key components in your selling tools and seriously consider a survey of your member base to get rich data on what members think of the brand so it can be used in your pitch. Why not try getting data on what your members think of prospective sponsors!?!
  6. Fewer, bigger, and deeper relationships with sponsors makes sense – but they tend to have multiple lower value partners with high servicing costs. Consider making the change in your sponsorship strategy to fewer, bigger, deeper. Those already on board subscribe to your club and its impact so take steps to grow their investment and bespoke their partnership platform.

Want more useful tips? Download here for more information.

Sponsorship Ready?

Sponsorship Ready?

10/9/2020

Schools can get Sponsorship Ready, they have an audience in Mums, Dads and students and the wider community. The audience is engaged and passionate, and the school is a conduit to that audience. Businesses currently try advertising in school newsletters – we all see that.
Schools are rich in possibilities that could help sponsors reboot their business post covid.

Public or private does not matter. Schools too can deliver on a sponsor’s business objectives. Of course there are sensitivities and common sense needs to be applied. School sponsorship policies will very clearly articulate the parameters.

Do schools do a good job fundraising?

Generally yes and a pretty good job at that actually! But fundraising is very different to sponsorship.

Do schools do a good job acquiring sponsors and growing sponsorship revenue?

No, generally speaking unfortunately. However, just like clubs, schools can benefit from the right strategy, tools and training when it comes to growing sponsorship!

Author

Terry Johnston from ​Sponsorship Ready

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