I saw this phrase on a hat recently as I was browsing through the mall, trying to tackle some early Christmas shopping… not true. In fact, I can think of very little that applies to this statement at all – there are as many variances in people as there are stars in the sky, and as many careers, hobbies and clothing styles to cater to each of them. Even grocery carts are bigger when you go to Costco or Sams Club than when you walk into Wal-Mart; and belts have multiple notches in them depending on whether you’re Cindy Crawford and it’s swimsuit season or you’re Chris Farley in the middle of the holidays. One size definitely doesn’t fit all.
When you’re talking sponsorship proposals, one size most definitely doesn’t fit all, and every seasoned Marketing Director or Executive decision maker will tell you the same thing. When you’re looking for funding, and you create a proposal, you want to give the impression that you care as much about what your sponsor (partner) is getting out of the partnership as you are – in fact, that’s what they care most about – it’s not the cherry on top, it’s the cake itself! Very rarely can you communicate this to them unless you’ve considered their unique marketing needs and incorporated them into the proposal. Let’s be honest, ConAgra definitely doesn’t have the same marketing needs as Principal Financial or Porsche North America, so why would you hand them all the same proposal? Does it take more time to research a company’s needs and write a proposal that speaks to them – initially, yes; but in the long run, you’d spend more time being ineffective in your attempts and attracting nothing than if you spend a little more time to do it the right way. Here’s another way to put it – when you’re in the dating world, if as a guy you plan out the same first date, same pick up line and same gifts for the women you pursue – and you pursue a lot, what do you think their response is going to be? As a woman I think my response would be – he doesn’t really know me, he’s not trying that hard, and all he has in mind are his own needs that he thinks I’m going to fulfill even though this is clearly about him. Don’t trust him, not going there. Wowsa! I’ll be honest – sponsors feel the same way. Remember – this is mutually beneficial, if you want their support, you have to make a unique request that indicates you have their interest in mind as well as your own. Customization is key.
Now, I’ll take just a moment to clarify how SponsorPark works, because we often hear the concern of not being able to customize a proposal. The beauty of using SponsorPark from the perspective of a sponsorship opportunity representative, is that we’re essentially cutting out the research step, and getting the most relevant pieces of your proposal in front of the sponsors most likely to consider you based on their marketing interests (target audience information, media exposure, size of audience you’re reaching, description of the opportunity) – notice these are all things that won’t change once you customize, your target audience doesn’t change depending on your sponsor. We’re introducing you to the most likely sponsors, and upon their interest you’ll uncover their needs and create a customized proposal that fits them, in the meantime, we’re helping you get in front of multiple appropriate decision makers. We’re allowing you to present the elements that they need to know before committing to a second meeting. Consider the template that we take you through a skeleton proposal, or the initial proposal – the first step. It is by no means intended to be the customized final product; once we get your foot in the door with the most appropriate sponsors, it’s your job to sell the sponsorship and customize. We strongly encourage you to do this – because let’s be honest, it might work for a hat, but one size doesn’t fit all in sponsorship.