This document summarizes a seminar on obtaining corporate sponsorships for ideas, events, books, and businesses. The seminar will be facilitated by Chinedum Azuh and held in Lagos, Nigeria on August 30, 2013. The purpose is to show attendees how to get corporate sponsorships for their ventures. Common misconceptions about sponsorship will be addressed, such as that sponsorship is only for large companies or those who can offer significant value. The seminar will provide tips on determining an audience's value, building event credibility, and finding corporate partners.

1. SEMINAR ON:
Getting Corporate
Sponsorships for
Your Ideas, Events,
Books, Business and
Dreams

2. Facilitated By
Chinedum Azuh
CEO Learning Lab Nigeria, Online
Consultant With USA Learning
Annex, Self-Publisher, Radio/TV
Personality and a Syndicated
Columnist with Over 500 Articles.
Empowerment Speaker and
Gospel Preacher on High Demand.
Producer of the Motivational
Radio Program “Motivation To
Prosper with Chinedum Azuh”.

3. Presented @
Success Attitude Development
Centre
36 Esuola Street ,Off Ago Palace
Way Ikota, Isolo, Lagos, Nigeria
Date: Friday 30th August 2013.

4. Direct
Contact
Mobile: +2348032069925
www.facebook.com/learninglabnigeria
www.learninglabnigeria.com
learninglab4@gmail.com
info@learninglabnigeria.com

5. Purpose of
Presentation
To show you how to get
corporate sponsorships for your
business, ideas, books, events
etc.

6. “My business is too
small. Sponsorship
is for “big”
Companies
“We cannot offer much
value to sponsors”.
By answering the following questions, you
will realize that your company can add value
to sponsors by building relationships with
brands that fit your mission.
Common Misconceptions

7. Why is my audience valuable?
This is perhaps the most important thing for your sponsor.
Consider which companies align with your brand and want
To talk to your audience.
Information you should provide:
• Who is your audience?
• How many will come?
• Demographic information (age, education, profession,
income group
• Promotion and Media Plans to attract the audience

8. How is my event credible?
Build Credibility
A company is always weary
about what the outcome of
their sponsorship will be. They
might no get what they signed
up and for and end up losing
money. In order to build your
credibility as the host, provide
the potential sponsor some
information about previous
events.
To include in proposal:
CD full of images, videos, and
highlights
Testimonials from attendees
and sponsors
Add some PR clippings
List of previous sponsors and
their benefits
Attendance highlights and
demographic

9. Seeking sponsorship is not
necessarily about seeking for the big
money upfront, it is about finding
your company a new partner that
wants to work with so you both
grow and both become more
successful.
Keep in mind

10. How to Get Corporate
Sponsorship for Your Small
Business
Sponsorship is a mutual business proposition that
offers something in exchange for a financial
commitment from a corporation. Corporations get a
return on their financial “investment,” enhance their
profile, associate their brand with a cause or attract
customers who support that cause. Sponsorship
typically involves a contractual relationship between
the non profit and the corporate sponsor.

11. How do you even get started
pursuing sponsorship?
Getting funding from corporations may be a great opportunity
for your organization to increase your budget but– you should
never haphazardly create a corporate sponsorship program for
the sake of filling a budget deficit Before pursuing support from
corporations, you first need to know your organizations
goals, and then ask and answer these questions:
 What is your organization trying to achieve?
 Can you effectively tell your organizations story?
 What value could your organization provide to a prospective
corporate sponsor?
 What impact could a corporation make by partnering with your
organization?

12. Why would a corporation want to
sponsor me, my brand or my
organization?
Corporations must market, sell, build
brand loyalty and long term repeat
customers. The bottom line is if you can
offer an opportunity for a corporation to
positively influence their ideal customer
or advance their marketing objectives,
there is an opportunity for you to get
sponsored.

13. What are some of the biggest
challenges when seeking
sponsorship?
Two of the biggest challenges are crafting a
strong value proposition: What can you offer that
will give sponsors a good return on their financial
investment. The second big challenge is getting
the attention of a sponsor when you don’t already
have a relationship with them.

14. Who makes funding decisions
within a corporation? Who
should you approach?
There are no hard and fast rules about who makes the
funding decision in corporations. Many companies
have multiple buckets of funding available through
different teams, products or business lines. It’s
important to do your research about the funding
available and evaluate whether your value proposition
fits within what the corporations goals for the funding.
The Community Relations, Marketing, Public
Relations and Sales Teams are great teams to contact
first.

15. How do you even reach
those people?
The best approach is to identify your
“connectors” and leverage the relationships that
exist between you and your prospective sponsor.
Take some time to write out that list of
“connectors” that you know, then think of their
potential connections.

16. How do I determine my value or
what to “sell” to an organization?
 First, you need to determine what your prospective sponsors
business goals are and how what you and your organization can
help them meet those goals. This can require some digging.
Great places to start researching the goals of a prospective
sponsor include: their recent press releases, annual reports.
 Find out what demographic audience your potential sponsor is
most interested in. One great way to collect a demographic
analysis is to collect the press and or media kits from the types
of magazines or radio station that audience reads or listens to.

17. As you craft your sponsorship
offerings, what should you keep
in mind?
It’s not all about offering to promote a sponsors
logo. Think of meaningful opportunities to
connect your sponsor to their core audience–
that goes beyond logo recognition. Think about
it–does an organization like Pepsi really need
to splash their logo on your event or project so
that people will continue to drink Pepsi?

18. What makes a great
sponsorship proposal?
Overall, your proposal should be a through
representation of your organization, and the
value of partnering. View your sponsorship
proposal as a business pitch, with professionally
presented content and layout, and make sure
the proposal can stand on its own if you are
unable to get a face to face meeting with your
prospect.

19. What other types of benefits
can an organization offer to a
potential sponsor?
 Access to VIPs
 Client entertainment opportunities
 Complimentary or discounted admission tickets to special events
 Opportunities for employees to participate/volunteer
 Employee team building
 Sampling, couponing and sales
 Access to Mailing Lists
 Opportunity to collect data from constituents
 Mention in press releases
 Access to promotional giveaways
 Mailing inserts
 Discounted media buys

20. How to Submit a Proposal
We are always looking for exciting new platforms
and experiences to bring to our audience. Our
goal is ultimately to find ways to meaningfully
connect with our subscribers and market. If you
feel you have an interesting proposal we must see,
let us know.
What we do not support :
Short term opportunities. We understand that the
relationship between a sponsor and a property
takes time and so we are looking for opportunities
that we can learn and grow over the years
Sponsoring Individuals
Religious or political activities
Activities unrelated to the Nigerian market
Opportunities that do not show a clear reason for
Etisalat’s involvement.
Sponsorship
Guide

21. Sponsorship Guide Cont’d
(Sending your Proposal)
Who you are, what you stand for, what you have done
Description of the sponsorship property – date(s), location(s)
Detailed timeline of activities
•Target audience – including relevant market research
•Details of other confirmed sponsors and level of spsonsorship rights
owned, references from past and existing sponsors
•Media plan and partners, details of confirmed commitments
•Details of all on-going media exposure, television, print, radio where
Etisalat would receive exposure
•Level of sponsorship sought and number of sponsors being sought
•Sponsorship amount requested (cash and/or in-kind)
•Benefits of sponsorship with an estimation of worth
•Expected participation/attendance/viewing numbers
•Specific ideas that will differentiate Etisalat and make our involvement
relevant.
The completed proposal should be sent via email to
sponsorships@etisalat.com.ng
Proposals for the coming year should be submitted prior to October of
the current financial year.
Thank you and we look forward to potentially building a relationship

22. Contacts of MTN and Airtel
Corporate Communications
Airtel
Emeka Oparah
Director, Corporate Communications & CSR
Airtel Nigeria. Airtel Head Office, L2 Banana
Island, Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria. Email:
Emeka.oparah@ng.airtel.com
MTN
Funmi Omogbenigum
GM Corporate Communications.
Email: funmilom@mtnnigeria.net

23. Sample Sponsorship
Proposals

24. Final Tips
 Approach potential sponsors with
confidence and remember that you are
offering value that can advance their
objectives. Be persistent as you will hear
“no” much more than you hear “yes”