SPONSORING SCIENCE PROMOTION - NEWSLETTER ONE

I. INTRODUCTION – NZ SPONSORSHIP AGENCY

NZ Sponsorship Agency works on behalf of private sector clients, advising and managing the full spectrum of activities associated with sponsorship including:
• sponsorship strategy
• finding and negotiating ‘the best’ sponsorship properties
• measuring and evaluating sponsorships
• managing the implementation of sponsorship programmes
• ensuring maximum value is achieved through good media and public relations
This newsletter is the first of three. It forms part of a project we are working on for the Ministry of Research Science and Technology (MoRST).

The objectives of this newsletter are:

1. To provide an overview of our project, and
2. To provide advice on seeking corporate sponsorship

II. SPONSORING SCIENCE PROMOTION – THE PROJECT

NZ Sponsorship Agency has been commissioned by MoRST to raise the profile of science and technology (S&T) sponsorship opportunities and to stimulate private sector interest in these opportunities.

Given the broad scope of this project we are working on two fronts:

1. An educational program involving:

• A series of meetings with stage two applicants from 2003 Science and Technology Promotion Fund. The aim is to share our expertise and to advise on how best to ‘package’ sponsorship assets.
• A series of newsletters produced by NZ Sponsorship Agency and distributed to all applicants from the 2003 S&T Promotion Fund. These publications have an educational focus.

2. A promotional roadshow – focusing on sponsorship opportunities in the sector. The audience will include representatives from media and advertising agencies and from relevant corporates. The presentation will profile a selection of projects from stage two of the S&T Promotion fund.

III. PROJECT UPDATE

Nick Brown-Haysom (Managing Director – New Zealand Sponsorship Agency)

Wow, we have come across some special organisations and projects over the first couple of months of our sponsorship project.  From fossil hunting to soil remediation, from Planetariums to science festivals the range and the calibre of work has blown us away.  Whilst we have been in the sponsorship business for some time we have not been exposed to this sector before and we can see several impressive opportunities for corporate sponsorship.

On a national front the sponsorship market is very healthy, companies who have previously never considered sponsorship as a way of improving their business are doing so in greater numbers.  Sport is becoming a difficult place to stand out and the arts opportunities more often than not affect a very narrow audience. We are really looking forward to helping stimulate the science and technology sponsorship marketplace.

Predictably, the people we’ve met to date have had varying degrees of exposure to sponsorship and to private sector organisations. We attempted to pitch the content of our meetings accordingly. There are some noticeable themes among the individuals and organisations we’ve met including:

• Passionate levels of enthusiasm
• A willing and able approach to learning more about sponsorship
• A desire to generate $ from sponsorship but uncertainty re “where to start”

Most if not all the projects we’ve looked at have the potential to attract corporate sponsorship in some shape or form. The challenges as we see them are:

• Channelling  the above mentioned enthusiasm in the right direction
• Learning to package sponsorship assets effectively
• Focusing on the “right” companies
• Allocating time to find sponsorship
• Understanding a sponsor’s needs and preparing a proposal that addresses these

We thought a good way to kick off this newsletter would be to utilise someone’s first hand experience.

OBTAINING SPONSORSHIP - A CASE STUDY

IV. Vicki Martin – Managing Director, Australis Group

Summer of Discovery is a fun, exciting and unique communication project, aimed at promoting science and technology to children. The concept is based around a “Summer Fun Kit” which contains an activity book and a video, starring Jason Gunn and Bob the Blob. Jason and Bob take kids on an adventure discovering the science of everyday things – they prove that science is fun and it’s everywhere! Video Ezy are one of the project sponsors and the video is available for hire nationwide throughout their chain of stores. (More info is at: www.summerofdiscovery.co.nz)
 
Funding for this project came predominantly from the S&T Promotion Fund, administered by the Royal Society of New Zealand. Additional assistance was provided by the Brian Mason Scientific & Technical Trust and Heinz Watties. A wide range of businesses provided significant in-kind sponsorship (Video Ezy, One Glass Eye, Production Line, AAV, Bauer, Bicycle Business & Opzeeland). We received a great deal of assistance from companies that donated materials and equipment for the video shoot. For our launch, we received free venue and equipment hire, and over $700 worth of beverages. Hoyts Cinemas donated cinema passes to use as prizes, and many organisations have helped with promotional assistance.

Chasing financial sponsorship was definitely one of the more challenging tasks in the production of this project for me. Rather than spend a lot of time describing how I went about it, I can tell you what I’ve learned from my experience.
 
• Learn as much about your potential sponsor as you can, before you approach them. Do they already have a sponsorship policy and objectives? Does your project fit in their policies and ideals, or are you wasting their time and yours? Some organisations provide their sponsorship objectives on their web site.

• Get some professional help to prepare your sponsorship proposal even if it costs you some money. It needs to be short, snappy and grab their interest straight away. Put yourself in their shoes; make your proposal stand out from the “competition”. This is where I failed in the early stages. There was so much information I thought I needed to include, I ended up swamping them. If they ask for more information, have an information “pack” or a web site ready.
 
• Don’t be afraid to ask! “If you don’t ask, you don’t get.” You may be surprised at the willingness of some people to help – we certainly were. But be prepared for plenty of refusals, and remember it’s not personal. Also ask other people and businesses (even those who refuse you) who they think may be interested. By asking around, I contacted several businesses I would never have thought of.
 
• In-kind sponsorship or donations of products are much easier ways for businesses to help you. This is where we had a remarkable amount of assistance. Try to think about equipment or materials you may need – perhaps there are savings you can make in your budget by getting some of these expenses donated, or at least ask for a discount.
 
• Don’t be surprised if sponsors want to know what’s in it for them – this is a business transaction, and you have to be prepared to offer them something attractive to support their brand or business, increase their sales, improve their image etc. Heinz Watties had to consider whether the sponsorship was worth forgoing an ad in a women’s magazine.
 
• Having other sponsors on board helps to generate interest a great deal. However, you need to be aware of any conflict of interest between sponsors. Once I had a few “big names” assisting us, other interest was easier to obtain.
 
• Always follow up any potential interest – keep your request fresh in their mind until you get a definite answer. Obviously this means that gaining sponsorship can take up a lot of time, which brings me to my next point…
 
• Allocate time in your project management to chasing sponsorship. No matter how exciting your project is, someone in your team will have to do the hard yards. Choose someone who is good with people, patient and enthusiastic about the project. Obtaining sponsorship took me around six times longer than I had expected!
 
• Allocate funds in your budget for chasing sponsorship. Strange as it may sound, you may actually have to spend money to gain some. Apart from budgeting for the person chasing sponsorship you should consider other expenses, especially if you are based some distance from some of your more likely sponsors. After becoming frustrated trying to deal with several potential sponsors over the phone and email, I decided to fly up to Auckland to meet them. There was no money in our budget so I funded it myself. The small airfare I paid was worth every cent. Watties agreed to help sponsor the project, and several other organisations I met with agreed to help.
 
• Put your agreements in writing. Make sure that both you and the sponsor understand exactly what your agreement is. For some sponsors, this simply required an email, for others we used a formal Memorandum of Agreement.

• And finally - 2 tips for greatly increasing your chances! 

1. It’s true - it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. Do everything you can to find someone who knows the right person to talk to. Get a personal introduction.  I found that sending “cold” letters and emails alone are a waste of time – a phone call at the very least was necessary, but still less effective than knowing someone in the first place. In most “successful” cases, I had used my network of contacts to enable me to speak directly to the right person.

2. Meet the decision maker in person, and give them information and materials to take away and consider your request. Our sponsors were much more committed once we had met.
 
At the time of writing, Summer of Discovery has been released in stores for 3 weeks. While we won’t know how successful (or otherwise) it has been for a couple of months, we are starting to get feedback coming in from the children who hired it. The ratings and comments have been overwhelmingly positive! Of course, the project would not be half as attractive or engaging if we did not have the assistance of all our sponsors. The generosity and enthusiasm of all those involved has been critical to the production of the final product, and ultimately the success of the project.