Program Information and Guidelines

This page contains all of the information about Sponsorship School and how to apply. If you'd prefer, you can download the Sponsorship School 2010 Information and Guidelines in PDF form.

About Sponsorship School

Sponsorship School is an initiative of Power Sponsorship, developed for the purpose of upgrading the sponsorship and marketing skills of participating charitable organisations. This six-month, intensive program provides participating organisations with an unprecedented level of education and expert coaching with me, Kim Skildum-Reid, and peer support, all designed to increase their revenue-raising capacity.

This program is offered at no charge to the organisations selected to participate. Requirements and selection criteria are outlined below.

Two people from each organisation will be the primary participants, but the whole organisation is welcome to share the learning experience. Again, details on this are outlined below.

History

The first SponsorshipSchool took place in 2003 in Sydney, Australia. Twelve people from six charitable organisations participated in a program of workshops, homework, peer support, and coaching over the course of six months. The results were amazing and the people who took part continue to be way ahead of most of their peers in skill, and loved by their sponsors.

It has been a few years since the first SponsorshipSchool. Technology has now advanced to the point that we don’t have to be in the same city to recreate the impact of the original.

The program

As with the first SponsorshipSchool, there is a six month program of education, homework, peer support, and professional coaching. The monthly core topic will roughly follow the sponsorship process, from getting your marketing plan right to sponsor identification, offer development, proposals, pricing, the sales process, and servicing.

If your organisation is selected to be a SponsorshipSchool participant, the typical monthly program will look like this:

Webinar

You will “attend” a live, 90-minute webinar, hosted by me, on the monthly topic. You will be able to ask questions during the webinar by typing them – with all participants able to see your questions – and I will be able to answer them. Webinars will be private, attended only by SponsorshipSchool participants.

You are welcome to include any or all of your team in the webinar. The webinar will be recorded, so if you want to review it or were not able to make it live, or if you want to share it with your work colleagues, you are welcome to do that.

Homework

At the conclusion of each webinar, you will be assigned homework. Unlike homework from high school or uni, this homework is specifically about applying what you’ve learned to the process of sponsorship within your own organisation and your own situation. The homework will take 5-10 hours per month, maximum, and should be replacing, not adding to, some of the work you’re already doing.

Peer support

You will be provided with contact details for the primary participants from all participating organisations. During the course of the month, your two primary participants are asked to have a “meeting” with at least one other SponsorshipSchool organisation. As most of you are likely to be in other places, these meetings will be virtual, taking place primarily via Skype (more info on Skype below).

You can discuss any sponsorship subject you want, including working through specific issues you may be having. Many of the past SponsorshipSchool participants found it very useful to use these meetings to discuss and fine tune their homework.

I will also be setting up a private, collaborative workspace – probably Google Wave, but we’re still assessing options – so that participants can upload documents, ask questions, get input, etc whenever required through the duration of SponsorshipSchool. This will be a private platform, open only to primary participants in SponsorshipSchool. Depending on the usage level, I’m happy to keep that going after SponsorshipSchool has ended.

Coaching

Every participating organisation will receive complimentary coaching from me. In addition to short, ad hoc advice, you will be welcome to have one formal coaching session from me every month. I will review any background information you may want to provide, such as a proposal, marketing plan, or hit list, and provide feedback via a Skype meeting. The coaching session will be recorded, so you can review it later or share it with colleagues.

Industry up-skilling

In addition to providing intensive skill-building to participants, I want SponsorshipSchool to have broader relevance for the industry. To that end, I will be hosting a SponsorshipSchool group on LinkedIn. Every month, I will be posting a copy of the homework provided to you.

For each of the participating organisations, your role is to post a comment addressing the following question every month:

“As you worked through this month’s topic, what were the three main takeaways, opportunities, or challenges you experienced?”

This is not meant to be an extensive treatise on the subject, and only needs to be three paragraphs or bullet points long. You are also not expected to share anything that might be commercial-in-confidence. The goal is to give other charitable organisations some insight on the process, from people who are going through it.

Sharing SponsorshipSchool across your organisation

You are welcome to share SponsorshipSchool across your organisation. If you have multiple offices, they can all attend the webinars. I do have a limit of 50 connections to any given live webinar, so depending on how many offices you have, individual connection limits may be placed. Eg, if your organisation has offices in 50 states, we will not have the capacity for all of them to participate in the live webinars, but they are welcome to view the recording.

Sharing the program with your colleagues and other offices (if applicable) is a great way to introduce a new approach to sponsorship across your whole organisation at once. You can work on homework together or individually, concentrating on different programs or events. Note: While I encourage sharing of the Sponsorship School materials and IP across your organisation, sharing my materials with other organisations, consultants, industry bodies, media, etc is strictly prohibited.

Only the primary two participants can avail themselves of the coaching services. I have to have some time to earn a living!

The cost

There is no cost for participating in this program. You will need to apply, and not all organisations will be chosen to participate.

The value of this program is approximately US $10,000-12,000. I say “approximately” as this program is only available through SponsorshipSchool and has never been commercially available. There really is no way to put a value on having this kind of training, feedback, and support through a positive, revenue-improving change.

The only direct cost I ask you to bear is to ensure that all participants in SponsorshipSchool (including any other participating offices) have access to a copy of The Sponsorship Seeker’s Toolkit 3rd Edition. It can be purchased at good bookstores, Amazon, and other online retailers for around US $22 each.

The commitment

While there is no cost for this program, I do expect a commitment.

If you’re just looking at this as free training and coaching, but aren’t prepared to provide support and input to your peers or actually do the homework, don’t bother applying. If it is apparent that you are not fully participating at any point in the program, you’ll be dropped. This program is a lot of work for me and has a huge value to organisations prepared to make the most of it. I don’t want it wasted.

By the same token, if your senior executives are not open to exploring new ways of doing things and supportive of your participation in Sponsorship School (including homework), it is unlikely to be effective for you, and the place should be taken by someone that has more buy-in.

Finally, you are expected to treat your peers, their questions, and any information supplied with respect and utmost confidentiality. SponsorshipSchool has been developed as an open, safe environment for elevating skills and sharing challenges.

Participating organisations

I am not going to pre-determine the number of participating organisations, but will be aiming for 8-12 organisations in total. I will be choosing the participants based on a number of factors and all decisions are final.

The composition of the group will be diverse. I am aiming for a mix of small, medium, and large organisations, as well as organisations from different regions and sectors (ie, arts, humanitarian, medical, etc).

All participating organisations must have charitable status, as determined by your own company’s tax office. Your organisation must have that status in its own right.

Your organisation must currently raise at least US $30,000 (or equivalent) per annum in corporate sponsorship. This ensures that you a) have some context; and b) will be able to put your new skills into practice immediately. This is not negotiable.

All participating organisations must be current members of Power Sponsorship. If your organisation receives the monthly Power Sponsorship Update newsletter, you’re a member.

Technological requirements

As this program is delivered on a global scale using a lot of technology, you must either have or be willing to get the following technology infrastructure:

• Broadband internet connection (you will not be able to use Skype or view the webinars without broadband)
• Skype – This is a free videoconferencing service and will be used to do coaching sessions and for your virtual meetings with peers. You can download the software for free from www.skype.com.
• Computer with a webcam – In order to participate in virtual meetings, you will need a computer with a webcam and microphone. Chances are, you already have this infrastructure, whether you’re using it or not. Most newer laptops have the camera and mic built in. Most webcams for desktops have the microphone built in. Skype has a lot of information about setting yourself up and a nice testing facility so you can try it all out.
• LinkedIn account – To participate in the industry up-skilling (and network with a lot of very smart people), at least one of your primary participants will need a LinkedIn account. Accounts are free from www.linkedin.com.
• Gmail – One of your primary participants will need a Gmail address to access Google Wave. Google Wave is a new web-based collaborative workspace. I will be able to invite you onto the platform, but you will need a Gmail address for me to invite you. Go to www.gmail.com. Getting an address is quick and easy.

In case you are unfamiliar with Gmail, Skype, or LinkedIn, please be assured that these are all industry standard services, relied on heavily by many, many businesses worldwide (including mine!). Using tools like this is the only way we can make this global initiative work.

Timing

Sponsorship School will kick off the last week in April. The final session, wrapping up the program, will be in September.

Applications for SponsorshipSchool will be accepted until midnight, Friday 19 March 2010, AEST (Sydney-time).

Terms and conditions

Sponsorship School is an initiative of Power Sponsorship, 25 Samuel Street, Tempe NSW 2044 Australia. You can reach us at school@powersponsorship.com, AU +61 2 9559 6444 or US +1 612 326 5265.

Sponsorship School applications are accepted online only. The application can be found on the following page: http://blog.powersponsorship.com/index.php/sponsorship-school-application/  

Applications for SponsorshipSchool will be accepted until midnight, Friday 19 March 2010, AEST (Sydney-time). Applicants will be notified whether they were successful during the first week in April. I will be choosing the participants based on a number of factors and all decisions are final.

All participating organisations must have charitable status, as determined by your own company’s tax office. Your organisation must have that status in its own right. Proof of this status must be furnished on request.

Your organisation must currently raise at least US $30,000 (or equivalent) per annum in corporate sponsorship.

All participating organisations must be current members of Power Sponsorship.

Your two primary participants may be made up of two paid organisation employees or one staff and one board member. One of the primary participants must be a decision-maker in the area of sponsorship and/or marketing. Consultants and volunteers are not eligible for this program.

If one of your primary participants is no longer able to participate, you will be expected to replace that person, so you always have two primary participants. One of those participants must always be a decision-maker in the areas of sponsorship and/or marketing.

Your primary participants must both be comfortable learning and conducting meetings in English.

Power Sponsorship has the right to cancel an organisation’s participation in Sponsorship School if any of the following occurs: Your organisation is not fully engaged with the program; you are disrespectful of other participants; you breach confidentiality of any of the participants; or you share any aspect of program materials with anyone besides paid staff and board members of your organisation.

Power Sponsorship accepts no liability for any issues that arise due to technological problems, although best efforts are made to provide recordings and/or alternative access when possible. (Eg, if your broadband fails, you will still be able to watch the recorded webinar at a later time.)

I'M READY TO APPLY!