ESA Offers Guide for Sponsorship Sales
Karen Earl, Chairman and Founder of U.K. sponsorship consultancy, Synergy, says sponsorship works best when a mutually beneficial partnership is agreed. With this premise as a foundation, the European Sponsorship Association (ESA), of which she is also Chairman, has released an introductory guide for rights holders seeking to secure sponsorship.
The 23-page guide is aimed at small organizations with properties to promote and newcomers to sponsorship who are looking to incorporate sponsorship into their business plan. The guide provides advice on the preparation, prospecting and approach to potential sponsors and gives tips about presenting, negotiating and servicing a partnership once a sponsorship has been secured.
Presented as an easy-to-read reference, the guide offers up case studies and commentary that illustrate the varying experiences encountered by rights holders and sponsors.
“The guide will provide useful insight and promote a clear understanding of the needs of a sponsor. Often the key to success, both in securing an agreement, as well as the ongoing impact of a sponsorship, lies in the identification and servicing of these needs,” Earl said.
The material, from the sports, arts and community sectors, also features commentary about the challenges of finding sponsors in the current economic market, the important role that return on investment (ROI) plays and the inclusion of data when promoting a property.
Karen Earl explained that the European Sponsorship Association is committed to developing the professionalism of sponsorship as a discipline. “We do this in a number of ways”, she said, “through preparing guides such as this, featuring quality sponsorship case studies on our website, running an education-based Knowledge programme for people of all levels of sponsorship experience and promoting continuing professional development through our CPD accreditation scheme”.
The ESA guide is available for free to the Association’s 250 members and can be purchased by non-members for £50 (plus VAT)/~$83.
