Pharaoh Mitchell

Fundraising for Social Change Pharaoh Mitchell

Corporate sponsorship of charitable causes is enormous. IEG, the organization that tracks these things, reports that total sponsorship spending by businesses just in North America was likely to reach $23.2 billion in 2017. Those numbers include all sponsorships, not just those for charitable causes and events. Still, the corporate interest in nonprofit sponsorships has been impressive and grows more so each year. Why? Because business has been brisk for those companies with a heart. Consumers want socially responsible products and companies, plus today's employees want to work for socially responsible companies. Of the total dollars spent by businesses on sponsorships, nine percent goes to causes often through cause-marketing partnerships, four percent to the arts, and four percent to festivals, fairs, and annual events. Your nonprofit could be among the fortunate causes or events to receive some of this corporate generosity. The question for your charity is: how can you attract a share of this money?Fortunately, more and more charities have learned how to approach a potential sponsor, prepare a proposal, and persuade a sponsor to sign on. Even smaller nonprofits have gotten into the act. Good nonprofit sponsorship partners realize that this is a business deal, not a donation. They also know that the skills to get corporate sponsorships are different from those that work in everyday fundraising.