Who doesn’t like the story of Cinderella?! It’s a classic, for so many reasons. She’s likeable, we relate to her, and she is classified as one in a million according to the glass slipper. Prince Charming just wouldn’t pick anybody to marry – he wanted the woman he danced with until midnight when she went running out to her pumpkin carriage, leaving her glass slipper behind. That glass slipper was the qualifier for his commitment. If Prince Charming became desperate to find a bride, and he forsook the glass slipper and started trying to find somebody, ANYBODY, to fill the position, the movie wouldn’t have made it into multiple generations of bed time stories. Cinderella was… special. Your partners want the same thing out of you.
I’ve had couple of calls recently from potential clients who (as much as it breaks my heart) I’ve had to honestly break the news that we aren’t likely a good fit for them. SponsorPark walks opportunity reps through a process of creating a foundation level proposal. This is meant to help sponsors weed out and target the most appropriate potential partners – once interest is established, most next steps involve a customized proposal listing sent to the sponsor with interest and a dialogue around a possible partnership begins. This process all takes time; so when an individual reaches out and says, “I have 3 weeks until my major event, I’m desperate for some possible new attention from sponsors – can you help me?!” I just ache for these people. Anyway… this got me thinking, when you’re desperate for a new partner, you open yourself up to bad choices. The whole concept of “desperate times call for desperate measures” only makes you look… desperate.
Who do you think would really be a “glass slipper partner?” If you start asking everyone to “partner” with you, it honestly just starts sounding like “I really need money to make this thing happen and I’m wondering if you can spare a few bucks.” If you can sit down, take the time to really investigate who a good partner might be, know why, and then pursue, you’ll sound so much more credible, and so much less selfish. You’re also going to be able to express your value to this new partner so you’ll come across like Prince Charming and not the wicked witch from the west. You’re better off taking a year off your event or program than attempting to sign up a partner that doesn’t make sense. Your image is at stake, and your intentions are going to be interpreted from the lens of your partners and audience, and the last thing you want to do is damage the trust and rapport that you have built. People aren’t stupid, they’ll read between the lines when you start taking measures that don’t honestly benefit them… and if you don’t sign up a glass slipper partner, it doesn’t typically benefit your audience. Both because you simply don’t have time, and because there’s not cohesion in your purposes. If your goal is to grow your event to the next level, touch your audience in a new way, manage your partners and activate with brilliance, you simply can’t do it at the last minute. It’s like trying to sell ketchup to a woman in white gloves – it’s not going to happen.
Now, one option is that you reconsider your packages – you might not have to abandon ship for a year if you redefine who Cinderella might be for the time being. Perhaps you break down some of your options and sign on more partners than you would normally be comfortable with. You don’t have to commit to long term, but this is going to mean that you work triple time to make up for it next year if you want to simplify. Is this ideal – NO; but it might keep your head above water and maintain the value of your assets until you can get back on your feet and you have time to respond to a competitive sponsorship environment.
So, as you start out your sponsorship efforts, consider your glass slipper partner, and if you start to get too close for comfort then sit down and get serious about what’s best for everyone involved. But never, NEVER, commit to anything less than Cinderella.