What sponsorships are available to smaller companies Essay

What sponsorships are available to smaller companies - Essay Example When the sponsorship is offered to a nonprofit organization, the sponsorship activity is called cause marketing or event marketing. In the past decade, corporate sponsorship has increasingly grown; in fact, more than the overall corporate sponsorship recorded in the 1990s (Swinbanks, 2013). Most funders of big events and activities are, of course, established companies. However, the current trends indicate that part of the increase in commercial sponsorship is attributable to developing firms that are becoming involved. In the past, only established firms could sponsor event as a means of boosting revenue and building goodwill. However, in today’s commercial environment, medium and small-sized firms have embraced the sponsorship of several events and activities from volleyball and softball teams to festivals, park clean-ups and fairs as an effective way of increasing their visibility in their local communities. Several of these kinds of sponsorships help small companies to increase their public profiles in a cost-effective manner (Steiner, 2008). Corporate sponsorship is common in festivals and museums, but it can be seen in commercial environments. For instance, a football club may bear the name of a company and the sporting contest may be proceeded by the sponsoring corporation’s name. Because corporate sponsorships can be costly, stakeholders have been cautious of the profits ascribed to the publicity in depressed economies. The sales cycle for marketing sponsors is often a tedious procedure that involves examining prospects, generating custom-made proposals based on a firms business goals, finding the right contact persons in a company, receiving buy-ins from several electorates and finally discussing benefits. Some deals can take up to one year and traders report spending somewhere between 3-6 hours a day investigating each firm that is seen as a likely prospect for sponsorship (Steiner, 2008). These are