Corporate giving is a huge part of philanthropy in Canada and a cornerstone of many non profit development plans.

While corporations remain generous – even through periods of sustained economic stress – the narrowing of program focus, the introduction of competitive granting processes, and a shift to funding programs that serve high risk and underrepresented target groups means that some non profits are receiving fewer or smaller corporate grants compared to previous years. To exasperate challenges even further there is also in increase in the amount of competition for funding. Corporations have experienced a tremendous growth in the number of organizations asking for grants and an upswing in requests for support for large-scale capital projects to replace aging infrastructure (i.e. hospitals, schools, and recreation and arts centres.) 

So, with this in mind where can organizations look for new funds?

The Canadian Sponsorship Landscape Study (CSLS) is an annual study (now in it’s 7th year) “providing Canadians with the most comprehensive information on the scope, scale and trends of the nation’s sponsorship industry, and in turn, enabled deeper understanding of its strategic use.” 

Sposnsorship agreements (which are programs assigned to the marketing department budget and not to the philanthropy branch of a corporation) have risen steadily as a percentage of corporate marketing budgets – moving from 16% in 2009 to nearly 30% in 2011. Industry spending on sponsorships have also risen a massive 43% since 2006, now reaching an estimated value of more than $1.5 billion.

But, before rushing into sponsorship discussions with corporations, you might wish to consider a few things:

– Sponsorship is a reciprocal agreement where each party has something of value to share  and a preferred target market to connect with,
– Each party in a sponsorship agreement receives a benefit and for this reason tax receipts cannot be issued to the corporation for the value of the sponsorship,
– Sponsorship agreements  are legally binding,
– What do you have that has marketing and/or placement value  (this could be a product, program, or audience) and what do you think the product is worth in sponsorship value,
– What is the opportunity cost of a sponsorship with a corporation (are you providing exclusive rights to a program or service and how long with exclusivity last?)
– What conditions/policies/practices have to be in place for a sponsorship agreement to be successful?

For more information on sponsorship trends in Canada visit www.sponsorshiplandscape.ca