When you consider why a business sponsors a community group (such as a primary school or a sporting club), there can really only be four reasons; –
- A Donation- The business wants you to succeed and doesn’t expect anything in return;
- Public Relations- The business wants to be seen to be contributing to the group;
- Return on Investment- The business sees the investment into your group as an opportunity to grow sales; and
- A combination of the above 3.
With regards to what a group can offer to a business, community groups are often limited with what we can offer business and struggle to answer the question businesses often ask us “what can you offer me if I sponsor you?”
Some groups are poor at promoting sponsors (~33%) and really see sponsorship as a donation that once it has been received in the bank account, no further servicing is required.
Some groups promote their sponsors ok (~33%), with old school benefits such as logos on uniforms, signs on walls, and the trusty newsletter used to give the sponsor something they can hang their hat on.
The best 33% of groups are looking at innovation, using things such as social media and website presence to form a business directory for sponsors.
However, the top 1% of grassroots groups in Australia have discovered the holy grail of sponsorship servicing -by joining COZ APP. COZ APP places this group’s business directory on a community’s smartphones so that the connectivity between the sponsor and the community is unrestricted.
Each business placed on the APP receives an ad and a tailored offer to further encourage members to patronise them.
The offer presented is not only important to incentivise the community, but ensures they present COZ APP instore (to claim the offer) saying “I’m here COZ you sponsor my group”. This reinforces to the sponsor the connectivity and benefit of sponsoring the respective group.
The holy grail is thus, demonstrating to sponsor that you’ve increased their business far more than their sponsorship investment i.e. a positive ROI. For groups that can do this, sponsors will grow on trees and signing sponsors will be the easiest fundraising activity you coordinate all year.
The good news is that the 1% may qualify for early adopters’ terms when registering prior to 2020.
To enquire about terms, contact us.
