Your new year resolutions as Sponsorship Manager

The year has started and now is the time to take a look at all the things you've accomplished last year...and want to do better this year!

As a sponsorship manager, you must you have a passion for the sponsorship activities itself, but you're also expected to have a knowledge and natural curiosity concerning many areas in order to be sponsoring the right project and for the right purposes.

Your creative skills and knowledge must be combined into one. You must have natural leadership skills to run each project the best way possible. You must be able to negotiate to get above what you need. Be accepting with whatever the result of the sponsorship.

Finally, be passionate for what you do because it takes the right person to do the right job. Since there is really no set qualification that one can study in order to become a professional at sponsorship management, give this articles a read to find out what traits are required.

No pressure, of course. Nobody is perfect and you might find yourself drowning when facing all the tasks and things you have to manage. That's ok. With a bit of structure, organization and calm, you'll go through it and you will be up for the challenge. We thought we'd gather for you the 4 elements that will most certainly help you become more efficient and at ease with all the projects you manage.

#1 Embrace your creative side

Above the analytical skills that are already required within the role, you also have to be able to look at any data or any research you have found and creatively link information together for opportunities in each sponsorship activity. Stay tune and look at what's happening in the industry that you will be sponsoring, this will come handy and will be beneficial because this is where you will see the pattern for opportunities.

#2 Negociation = Collaboration

This doesn’t mean you stand on your grounds and get exactly what you want. A good negotiator is a good collaborator. A good collaborator is more likely to get a better result by negotiating and working as a team than being demanding. Working together with your sponsee will give you the opportunity to hear the views from the experts within the industry you are sponsoring. It may be information you have not come across before. From this, you will be able to figure out a better solution towards the sponsorship if there is something that needs negotiating.

#3 Be passionate

Anyone can claim that they have a passion for the industry. Having a passion in a sponsorship sense is knowing what works for you, the sponsee, and the audience because you and your sponsee must work together for the end result which is your audience. Your aim is to make sure the process runs smoothly during the sponsorship activity to get the best outcome from the audience. You must have passion to know what works for all parties because there is no point if you meet your objectives but the process was rocky and audience isn’t happy. That is just job not done well.

#4 Report to do even better

No matter how the result is towards the end, you have already managed that sponsorship activity. It will either be above your expectations or below your expectations but there is nothing else you can do about it no matter the result. What you have gained from this sponsorship activity though is a collection of data which you can use towards future sponsorship activities. From the data you have collected from previous sponsorships, you can measure and compare results to make your future sponsorship activity even better through your creativity.

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BONUS TIP - #5 GET DIGITAL

You have enough to manage. A sponsorship project implies many tasks from administrative to budgeting to organizing to keeping in touch with your partners and your team. You don't need the information to get spread around and get lost at the end because your management tools are too numerous. Trust the power of softwares. There are a lot of advantages for you: saving time, getting more flexiblity, having a global view of your activities, keeping in touch with all people involved. You might be dubious but that's fine. Just take a look at it to get more information on the topic or get in touch with us!