sponsorship v3.0

Sponsorship

imperialcollegeunion.org/trainingimperialcollegeunion.org

Sponsorship2012/13 Edition

Sponsorshipimperialcollegeunion.org/training

Contents

Contents 2

Introduction 3

Identification 4

Selection 5

Proposition 6

Negotiation 8

Securing Payment 10

Evaluation 11

© 2012 Imperial College UnionVersion 3.0 - 01 June 2012

Sponsorship

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Introduction

The Purpose of this Booklet

Sponsorship can be an important source of income for Clubs, Societies & Projects. This booklet looks at how to go about getting sponsorship and other forms of external funding, and the Union’s rules for how that funding must be administered.

When to Seek Sponsorship

The best time to get sponsorshipis before the start of the Autumn term. Most companies will have spent the majority of their allocated sponsorship funds by Christmas.

Competition for sponsorship is high and companies have less money available due to the economic climate.

If you have any questions not answered in this booklet, contact the Deputy President (Finance & Services) or Student Activities Manager.

Stefan NubertDeputy President (Finance & Services)E: [email protected]: 020 7594 8060, extension: 58062


Identification

Firstly, you must identify what the benefits of sponsorship would be, both for the supplier and to your Club, Society or Project. It is better to consider what you can offer a company rather than your needs. Benefits to the sponsor may include:• raising awareness of their company/

brand/product • enhancing their image• creating good relations with students

who may be potential future employees• being associated with a certain cause

The benefits to the Club, Society or Project would be the solution to a funding or product requirement as well as increased publicity by being associated with the sponsor.

Sponsorship can be offered for a number of activities. Some of the time they will be one-off deals: a charity show, publication, sporting event, leaflets or posters.

Sponsorship may also be sought for longer-term projects and gifts-in-kind. In return, the Club, Society or Project can offer advertising to students and others;raise the company’s profile amongst some of the most sought-after graduates in the country; gain coverage with student and local media and also thinkabout how it might wish to include the sponsor at an event (e.g. sitting on a judging panel, running workshops, guest speakers etc).

Make sure you also know who you are – make sure you know about your Club, Society or Project in detail, its history and any future plans that you or your predecessors have published. Make sure you know what the turnover of your group is, and what the demographics of your members are.

Also, ensure you are aware of the College and where it currently is in university rankings – both academic (such as the Times’ Higher Education Ranking UK and Globally) and non-academic (such as the College’s position in the BUCS rankings).

Sponsorship


Selection

Initially, think about who has sponsored your group in the past; speak to older and former members and review your online transaction pages from previous years. Also consider your equipment suppliers, and contacts that you and your committee may have within suppliers and companies.

Once you have a shortlist of companies you think you should approach, you need to refine your search and then establish contact with the potential sponsors. Ask them for their Annual Report, advice

on what projects they may or may not support and establish a contact within the organisation or gain contact details for their marketing department. If you already have a contact within the company then go via them or ask for an endorsement.

Remember to delegate one committee member who will be responsible for any questions potential donors may have – and make sure they actually answer questions and maintain regular contact.


Proposition

Now that you have identified some potential sponsors and what you can offer them, you need to formulate a proposal.

The length of your proposal is dependant on the scale of the project, but should contain:• Activity title• Proposal summary (see below)• Options – can they sponsor the

publicity, a portion or are they the sole sponsor?

• Key-strengths – re-emphasise the benefits of the activity

• Signatory and Contact details• Enclose any relevant materials such as

photos of your Club, Society or Project, quotes for items or articles from Felix.

Benefits

Ensure you make it clear to the sponsor what benefits they will gain from sponsoring your event. Some examples of benefits to the sponsor include:• Displaying the company logo on the

header or footer of all official Club, Society or Project emails

• Arranging talks by the company to gain exposure to members of your Club, Society or Project – as well as their friends

• Having logos on banners and flyers at events, or printing on the programme

• A printed “thank you” to the company

in a publication such as Felix• Advertisement space on your Club,

Society or Project website, or adverts in your newsletter

Sample Proposal

<Company name> is requested to fund <Club, Society or Project name> work by contributing £<amount> towards <activity> and will receive <benefits>.

1. Introduction (to the organisation and the activity to be funded).2. Outline any previous support received.3. The proposal – clearly:3.1 What you want3.2. Why you want it3.3. What you want it for3.4. When you want it

Sponsorship


3.5. How they can help3.6. How they will benefit (what will they

gain)3.7. How much will it cost (a breakdown

of the budget)

Remember to address letters or emails to a specific individual – otherwise it will almost certainly end up being binned.

When constructing your proposal, remember:• Do not under-cost. Ask for more than

you need• Be creative• Include all costs and allocate overhead

costs if possible• Do not pull a number out of thin air• Don’t forget to add VAT to any costs• Describe what you intend to do with

the money• Break down expenditure to help

identify all costs• Cost each item using best estimates

and obtain quotes• Decide whether this is a reasonable

total• Does your proposal offer value for

money?

Don’t cut corners and write a letter on cheap or non-headed paper – it

makes you look amateur and a bit unprofessional. It is worth investing a little bit of money. Remember basic letter skills – get the addresses in the correct places and make sure the spelling and grammar are correct. The Union has headed paper you are welcome to use, just ask at the Student Activities Centre.

Don’t have the Sponsorship Officer of your Club, Society or Project sign any proposal letters – always have the Chair or President do it; this gives more gravitas to the proposal. If you can get an endorsement from someone within the College this may also help give weight to your proposal.

You shouldn’t just write to say “please can we have some money because we are good and we want to get better”. Remember, different levels of sponsorship can be offered to different companies – but make sure you are clear about the benefits to each potential sponsor, and be careful not to duplicate benefits if they cannot be duplicated. Plus, don’t forget that sponsorship doesn’t necessarily need to be financial – free equipment or supplies can be just as helpful to the running of your Club, Society or Project.

Proposition cont...


Negotiation

Your initial reply may be yes or no. However you may not hear anything at all. In this case, you should chase up your proposal with a phone call to confirm the proposal has arrived, ask when it may be considered, and ask if any further information is required. However, be careful not to harass them.

Be sure to keep track of your progress by keeping a record of all information sent out to each individual company. Some companies will reply saying no in a variety of ways, e.g. they are not able to support at this time as they do not have the budget or it does not fit with their criteria. Other companies may show an interest and get back with specific questions or say they will be considering your application at the next meeting.

Don’t expect to hear back from the majority of the companies you contact. When you receive a positive reply, respond with a brief thank you. If they have turned you down, think about approaching the company on another occasion, perhaps during the next academic year or for a different type of event.

Remember some companies may prefer to sponsor a more academically meaningful event rather than a ball or party.

Careers Events

Hosting some form of careers event is a good way of securing sponsorship from a graduate recruiter. There are specific guidelines for hosting careers events though. However don’t host any if it doesn’t fit with the aims and objectives of your Club, Society or Project or is not what your members want.

Events which Clubs, Societies & Projects are

encouraged to organise.

Speakers/presentations from companies whose field falls within the remit of a Club, Society or Project, e.g. British Antarctic Survey speaking to the Exploration Society, Rio Tinto speaking to de la Beche Society.• Visits to companies or locations, e.g.

CivSoc visiting a construction site.• Alumni networking, e.g. inviting ex-

members who are now employed by companies to talk about their

Sponsorship


experiences.• Events included in a sponsorship

package which include either presentations or skills-based sessions specific to the members of the Club, Society or Project being sponsored.

Events which Clubs, Societies & Projects are

not encouraged to organise.

• Careers Fairs – If you do want to run one, even if it has departmental backing, you must liaise with the College Careers Service and the Union’s Deputy President (Clubs & Societies).

Events which Clubs, Societies & Projects

should not organise.

Events or presentations in conjunction with 3rd party recruitment agencies, e.g. monster.co.uk, gradjobs.co.uk.• Main company presentations which

are targeted at all students, e.g. PWC or Deloitte doing their once-yearly presentation. These MUST be organised by the Careers Service.

• One-off presentations/talks where a company pays a Club, Society or Project to specifically book a room and organise catering outside of a wider sponsorship package.

NB: All events must be organised entirely by a Club, Society or Project, i.e. all room bookings, liaison with the Union or College, finances and catering. It is NOT acceptable to book a room and then tell the company to organise their own catering through College or the Union.

Negotiation cont...


You will need to create a sales invoice from the Union in order to get the money from the company, all the details are contained in the Sales Invoices booklet.

Allow 30 days for the sponsor to pay the invoice. If the invoice is still outstanding after this time contact the sponsor and chase them for payment, if they haven’t paid after 60 days make contact with the Clubs & Societies Finance Administrator to seek advice upon what to do next.

Please note that chasing paying of any outstanding unpaid invoices attributable to Clubs, Societies or Projects older the 90 days since the issue date becomes the responsibility of the Union centrally. The Union will charge a fee of 10% of the invoice value once payment of the invoice has been secured, to cover the staffing costs of doing this. A consultation period for up to 90 days exists where Clubs, Societies & Projects are more than welcome to seek advice and help from the Union about securing payment of the invoice.

Keep in regular contact with your sponsors. Report back, let your sponsors know how everything is going and what their money has achieved for the Club, Society or Project. However if things go wrong be prepared to the return the money if the planned activity does not ahead.

Once you have concluded the negotiations and you have a willing sponsor, you will need to draw up a contract. Large companies will do this for you, so be sure to read the document carefully upon receipt and question anything you did not agree to.

In most cases you will be required to prepare the contract yourself you can find a template online. Before you sign any sponsorship contract, it must be approved by the Deputy President (Finance & Services).

After your contract has been signed off by the relevant authorities, you can invoice the company for payment. Be prepared to chase companies for payment.

Securing payment

Sponsorship


Summary and contacts

Important Notes

• Do not start your email “Dear Sir/Madam”; this is the fast route to the recycling bin.• Do not assume they know who you are, explain in explicit commercial terms who

you are, and what the potential benefits are for them.• Make sure the contract states clearly whether the fee includes or excludes VAT.• Do not promise what you cannot deliver.• Be to the point and concise – make the proposal easy to scan.• Plan ahead, give them at least two months to consider the proposal.• Try to stand out from others in terms of professionalism; you will be competing

other causes.• Be persistent and don’t give up until you get a definite no.

Help and assistance

You may need some help with what is discussed in this booklet, the table below summarises who can help.

Stefan NubertDeputy President (Finance & Services)[email protected] 7594 8060, extension 58062

Stefan is the Sabbatical responsible for finances, he will need to sign all contracts for sponsorship.

Anthony CrowtherStudent Activities [email protected] 7594 3496, extension 43496

Anthony is responsible for all the non-financial support services available to Clubs, Societies & Projects, and can assist with contract queries.

Aziz BilgramiClubs & Societies Finance [email protected] 7594 1514, extension 41514

Aziz is responsible for administering the finances of Clubs, Societies & Projects.

Malcolm [email protected] of Finance020 7594 8069, extension 48069

Malcolm is the lead finance staff member. He can help with complicated finance queries.

Imperial College UnionBeit QuadranglePrince Consort RoadLondon SW7 2BB

Tel: 020 7594 8060Fax: 020 7594 8065Email: [email protected]: @icunionimperialcollegeunion.org

sponsorship v3.0

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