As you start these conversations, it’s also essential that your team knows how and when to take no for an answer. Some companies simply won’t be able to contribute right now—but if you leave your conversation on a positive note, they’ll be more likely to consider partnering with your organization in the future. Ultimately, nurturing these connections transforms one-time sponsorships into enduring collaborations that drive meaningful change. Now, she loves sharing those hard-earned lessons with the Donorbox community. This relationship can be very valuable as grants can be given year after year to support a nonprofit’s important work. This involves companies partnering with nonprofits to sell a product, such as a t-shirt, hat, or bag of coffee, where part or all of the proceeds benefit the nonprofit.
Maintaining long-term relationships with corporate sponsors requires ongoing effort and strategic engagement beyond initial sponsorship agreements. Additionally, expressing gratitude through personalized thank-you notes or recognition at events reinforces appreciation for their support and fosters goodwill. Looking at real-world examples of corporate sponsorship packages can inspire your nonprofit and provide practical takeaways for crafting your own. Below, we explore three standout organizations and what makes their sponsorship materials effective. A winning sponsorship package is more than just a quick email to a local business.
Difference between sponsorship and partnership
Lists of top matching gift and volunteer grant companies can be a good place to start. corporate sponsorships for nonprofits Your ideal corporate sponsor should have a genuine interest in your cause. If their values align with yours, they’ll be more likely to partner with your nonprofit. Additionally, businesses that share your values likely have customers and employees with similar values and charitable interests. Altogether, these benefits make any corporate sponsorship a win-win with the potential for lasting, positive impacts for everyone involved.
Pitching Corporate Sponsorships for Nonprofits
Companies want to show not only that they care about their community, but that they are also investing in solutions. « Partnering with well-respected and well-sknown businesses can lend your organization credibility and give your nonprofit increased awareness in the community. » It includes space to highlight key wins, such as funds raised or audience reached. You can also add a short quote from your team or beneficiaries to make the message more personal. Templates like sponsorship decks show sponsor value, reach and activation opportunities in clear, compelling formats.
Outline your nonprofit mission
This article aims to explore the key aspects of corporate sponsorships and shed light on their significance, challenges, and potential outcomes. Corporate sponsorships play a critical role in the success of events and organizations. These partnerships provide financial stability, momentum building, relationship building, brand awareness, and volunteer power.
Applications open for Community Outreach Grants 2025-2026 (Maryland)
Keep in mind that this will vary based on the type of event or campaign you’re holding. For example, the items your team requests for a charity auction will not be the same as what you might seek for an upcoming walk-a-thon. If you want to branch out and acknowledge your sponsors using an additional free marketing channel, consider utilizing the Google Ad Grant. With this resource, you can place free advertisements highlighting your campaign and your sponsor at the top of relevant Google search results pages.
McKesson offers regional grants across Canada to organizations whose mission is to assist children and youth in the areas of health and education. This unique program allows McKesson Canada employees who volunteer with local organizations to bring forward projects that they are working on. Additionally, McKesson encourages employees to volunteer by offering a charitable incentive program, and also a matching gift program. Desjardins provides donations, sponsorships, and scholarships in communities across Canada. Committed to helping build healthy, vibrant and safe communities across the region.
Demonstrate how the partnership will benefit the sponsor’s brand and align with their community goals. A strong sponsorship proposal can be the deciding factor in gaining corporate support. The goal is to create a document that offers clear value for both parties and sets realistic expectations. And don’t forget, nonprofits, anytime you’re working with a for-profit, make sure you’re staying on the right side of the line — no private benefits! If the for-profit’s gains outweigh the nonprofit’s, you could run into some serious penalties.
- Beyond the initial agreement, maintaining transparent communication, respecting commitments, and recognizing sponsors are crucial for cultivating long-term relationships.
- If you’re seeking a sponsorship from a business who’s partnered with an organization like yours in the past, they’ll probably be more receptive to a sponsorship request from your nonprofit.
- With corporate sponsorships, you’re often benefitting from large financial donations, which can help you reach fundraising goals more quickly.
- Look for recurring themes, causes they’ve supported and how they talk about impact.
- Regular communication helps foster trust and keeps sponsors engaged in the organization’s mission.
Focus on for-profit companies that share a similar audience or work with products related to your nonprofit. This usually happens through prominent sponsor logos on signage at events and special recognition. In addition, you’ll often see events with varying sponsorship levels that provide more sponsorship benefits to corporations that contribute larger amounts. If you’re seeking in-kind sponsorships, pick your event committee strategically. If you’re seeking a sponsorship from a business who’s partnered with an organization like yours in the past, they’ll probably be more receptive to a sponsorship request from your nonprofit.
- Creating comprehensive sponsorship packages that outline these details will help potential media sponsors understand the benefits of partnering with the event and determine if it aligns with their goals.
- Explain how you could boost their brand awareness by associating their name and logo with your nonprofit’s mission.
- If you’re asking for an event sponsorship for an event you’ve hosted before, include information about the success of past events and how it’s helped the communities you serve and your past sponsors.
- Their Good Neighbours program supports the efforts of employees by providing grants to the groups for which they volunteer.
Irving Oil Company – Community Giving Program (Regional: Atlantic Canada)
These connections are especially powerful if the company is pursuing employee-driven initiatives or community engagement goals. I’ll break down exactly what nonprofits gain from sponsorships and why companies are just as eager to get involved. I’ll provide step-by-step guidance on how to identify the right partners, create compelling offers and present your nonprofit in a way that gets noticed and funded, and walk away sponsor-ready and confident.
While you’ll be sending out sponsorship letters and packets to businesses directly, it can be helpful to keep your packet available somewhere on your website. Sharing your organization’s impact will be an important part of your sponsorship packet. You can present this information however you think will be most effective, but if you want to grab a potential sponsor’s attention, try to make this part of your sponsorship packet as engaging as you can. Corporate sponsorships often end up being invaluable sources of revenue, and if you’re ready to dive in, we have the ultimate guide to help you along your sponsorship journey. These details should be part of a written agreement between nonprofit and corporate partners. Empowering nonprofits with automation insights, expert strategies, and product updates to revolutionize sponsorship and donation management.
This sponsorship focused heavily on research, education, and, of course, broad brand exposure. As always, don’t forget to show your gratitude to your sponsors for their support. Small details matter when sending a thank-you, so lean into this with handwritten notes and personal details. You can also thank your sponsors publicly with a social media shoutout to help them gain even more exposure. To keep a sponsorship categorized as a charitable contribution, you can only provide value-neutral displays of a business’s product and link only to a sponsor’s home page from your website. If you’re running an event where your sponsor provides you with free samples of a product, you can still hand them out, but you can’t provide an endorsement.
These sectors often have active corporate social responsibility (CSR) goals, meaning they’re looking for ways to give back, support local causes and show community involvement. Sponsors support nonprofits financially or in-kind and often help promote events, programs or campaigns through co-branding and outreach. Ready to elevate your sponsorship game with strategic practices that go beyond the basics? I’ve compiled best practices that can help your nonprofit stand out and build meaningful, long-term brand partnerships. What makes this package effective is how easy it is to digest at a glance.
