Changes

Corporate sponsors, incredibly beneficial for getting the funds necessary to implement your project ideas are slightly harder to come by than faculty sponsors. While the time commitment for a corporate sponsor does not come close to your faculty sponsor, they are donating something else of value: money. When approaching an outside sponsor it can be helpful to follow what Dale Carnegie suggests, not only should you promote what your campus will gain from this sponsor’s involvement, you should also list the many benefits an outside sponsor will receive: “free” marketing, brand recognition, and priceless good will from the student, parent, and faculty populations.

Communication, communication, communication. Communication. Seriously, the best thing Chris Ashley could recommend was that you keep your sponsor up-to-date with what is happening with your project or event, and that she or he does the same for you. Ideally, at least one member from your team should be seeing your sponsor each day to aid with communication, but at very least there should be some form of electronic communication daily. If talking to your sponsor feels like a chore more often than not, then the fellow-sponsor match probably isn’t a good one, and it may be time to look for another sponsor. Forming a friendly relationship with a sponsor is one of the most effective ways of making sure a working relationship stays strong and productive — a sponsor can’t help if they are out of the loop.