How to Get Corporate Sponsors for Your Nonprofit

Most nonprofits look for corporate sponsors the hard way: a list of the biggest companies in town and a stack of cold emails. The sponsors you'll land first are usually much closer than that. They're the businesses your board, donors and volunteers already know, and the companies that want to reach the people you already reach.

Here's how to find corporate sponsors, approach them and turn a first gift into a lasting partnership. Before you start, have your offer ready. Here's how to create a sponsorship package.

1. Start with who you already know

Your best prospects are one introduction away. Ask your board members, major donors and volunteers three questions:

• Where do you work, and does your company sponsor community causes?
• Which business owners do you know well?
• Which companies do you buy from or do business with?

Then add the businesses already giving in your community. Look at the sponsor lists in other nonprofits' event programs, at your chamber of commerce members and at the companies whose names you see on youth sports jerseys and charity runs. A company that sponsors one local cause is likely to sponsor another.

2. Look for a match with your audience

Companies sponsor to reach people. A pediatric dental practice wants to reach young families. A bank wants to reach new homeowners and small business owners. A grocery chain wants to be known as a good neighbor.

Make a short list of companies whose customers look like your supporters. That's where your sponsorship has real value to them.

3. Get a warm introduction

A cold email to a large company rarely gets read. An introduction from someone the decision maker knows almost always does.

Ask a board member, donor or volunteer to make the connection. Make it easy: write a two-sentence introduction they can forward. LinkedIn can show you who in your network knows someone at a company. Local networks like the chamber of commerce and Rotary are worth the breakfast meetings. Here's more on the role of board members in securing sponsorships.

4. Learn what the company cares about

Before the first conversation, spend 15 minutes learning about the company:

• Does it have a community giving page, a corporate foundation or a social responsibility report?
• What causes has it supported before?
• Does it encourage employee volunteering?
• Who decides? At a small business, it's usually the owner. At a larger company, it may be a marketing manager, a community relations lead or a regional manager.

5. Ask for a conversation, not a check

Your first contact should ask for 20 minutes, not money. Keep it short and specific: who you are, why you thought of them and what you'd like to talk about. Here are phone scripts for corporate sponsorships and help with your sponsor elevator pitch.

6. Listen first, then propose

In the first meeting, find out what the company wants. Visibility? Something meaningful for employees to do together? A way to reach a new group of customers? Ask, and listen more than you talk.

Then shape the offer around what you heard. A sponsorship built around a company's goals, like a volunteer day for their employees or a naming opportunity for a program they care about, is worth more to them than a standard level from your package.

7. Follow up with the package and a deadline

After the meeting, send a short thank-you and your sponsorship package, with the level or custom option you discussed highlighted and a date you need an answer by. A deadline tied to real things, like printing the event shirts, helps a busy person decide.

8. With large corporations, find the right door

Big companies often handle giving through a corporate foundation or an online application with set deadlines. Find out how the company gives, and apply well before your event. Local branches and regional managers can often approve smaller sponsorships faster than headquarters, and they're more likely to care about your community.

9. Treat sponsors as partners all year

The sponsors who renew are the ones who hear from you between events. Invite them to see the work. Send photos and results after the event. Thank them publicly and personally. Introduce their employees to volunteer opportunities.

Do that well, and next year's conversation is about how to grow the partnership. Here's how to renew and upgrade sponsorships and how to give sponsors more exposure.