Advertising Sponsorship Opportunities
The following question and answers come from posts on SHSMD’s online discussion groups. Join the conversation at my.shsmd.org.
Q: What is your criteria for community sponsorships and how do you advertise the opportunity?
A: We implemented a survey internally around what was important to our shareholders. From there, we developed three pillars of support and a thorough application that needs to be filled out. We have a committee who reviews the applications and decides support. Our application is available online. Your question, "How do you advertise the opportunity," if you can explain that more to me, I would be happy to try and help.
A: My Public Relations/Community Outreach Coordinator and I were recently discussing developing pillars of support so that we have more direction on who we choose to give our sponsorships dollars to. In the past, our CEO focused more on touching as many entities as we could. Lately, I have been thinking that it might be more beneficial to have pillars based on our CHNA that we would like to impact (i.e., mental health or food insecurity). Then, in one year, we would focus on one of the three pillars that we invest more money in with community partners. That way, we can develop clear goals for that sponsorship/outreach fund and outline our metrics. We would also have additional sponsorship money used to help other non-profits that fit within one of our three pillars, but for at least one or two years, we would be able to show the clear impact of our sponsorship investments.
A: We developed a sponsorship policy outlining criteria for consideration (i.e., we have a close relationship, or the org must have a relation to our mission or strategic objectives, must have an active 501C3, etc.). If a sponsorship request meets the initial criteria for consideration, I then evaluate against a sponsorship matrix to determine how it meets our requirements for sponsorship and what level of support we will provide. The matrix includes more discrete factors like how the request is related to our strategic objectives, anything in the latest CHNA, service line tie-ins, etc. Happy to share that document if at all helpful!
Q: How are y'all handling 501(c)6 requests?
A: Great question! These are generally ones we treat as marketing (vs. sponsorship) and evaluate differently in terms of benefit to the organization, brand awareness opportunities, downstream impact, visibility, etc. vs. CHNA or service line tie-ins. These are a newer endeavor for us and our approach may change over time, but definitely a different approach vs. 501(c)3s thus far.
A: I have addressed (have had to address) this issue for more than 30 years. First, there is no simple answer.
First of all, never mistake one of these opportunities as an advertising opportunity. We're talking about community involvement/leadership with these things.
Yes, if there is an employee connection, that's important. Beyond that, the real question has to be "does this opportunity advance our 'ball,'" in terms of where we are trying to get. Now, taking that tact means that you might put off certain employees or employee groups, mostly because that's how we've always done it.
Think how and why law firms take pro bono cases—not because they believe that some client is "right" or some client has been "wronged." Rather, because they need to do it (for Bar Association/Court reasons), but also because that involvement advances the firm's broader goals, objectives and priorities.
Whatever criteria you attempt to sew into your policy must, first and foremost, reflect the broader goals and objectives of the hospital/system. Yes, you can provide special considerations for employee involvement, etc., but do so carefully, because the larger the organization, the more that any special considerations can cause trouble for you.
