Top 10 Corporate Sponsorship/Partnership LinkedIn Posts of 2023: 1, 2, 3
By Bruce Rosenthal Associates, LLC
Bruce Rosenthal regularly posts on LinkedIn with advice, ideas, and strategies about creating successful corporate sponsorship and partnership programs that increase revenue and add member/constituent value.
We’ve compiled his 10 most popular LinkedIn posts of 2023. Here are 1, 2, and 3.
Corporate Partners Can Fill Information Gaps for Associations
I read two “game-changer” headlines for associations:
- Major Trends Expected to Impact Associations
- Expectations are Changing, and Associations Must Adapt
The “Major Trends” headline comes from McKinley Advisors. According to McKinley, “association leaders predicted that workforce shifts, economic disruptions, regulatory and legislative developments, sustainability commitments and digital transformation would majorly influence their association and industry.” (https://bit.ly/41GT1QR)
The “Expectations” headline is from Forj’s “State of Association Member Experience” survey of more than 1,000 members that revealed members “are unsure if their associations can continue to meet their needs”. (https://bit.ly/41GT1QR)
Corporate partners to the rescue!
Most associations can’t hire enough staff or consultants to fulfill more members’ needs for more information on more complex topics more of the time.
Companies have experts, expertise, R&D, trends data, market research, and information about their customers (aka association members). These companies can partner with associations to produce white papers, webinars, reports, podcasts, and other useful content (with guidance from the association’s staff).
A win-win-win:
- Members get useful information.
- Companies are positioned as thought leaders.
- Associations receive revenue from corporate partners.
Effective Ways to Recognize Sponsors at Conferences
A recent Facebook post suggested eliminating sponsor recognition at conference general sessions to reduce session length. I agree that traditional, transactional recognition like “Thanks to our Gold Partner Acme Widgets for their support” can be cut; neither sponsors or members will notice the missing recognition.
A better way is to focus on value for members and sponsors. For example
- “Our sponsor Acme Widgets worked with Smith Company, a long-time member, to help Smith reduce widget lubrication costs by 15% in the past year”
- “Acme Widgets has partnered with our association on a series of educational webinars for members on how to use widgets to improve operational efficiencies”.
- “Acme Widgets developed a guide for our members on how to comply with federal safety regulations for widgets.”
This is recognition with meaning and value.
How Paper Napkins can Provide Sponsor Value
Small paper napkins can add a lot of sponsor value at association events … if done creatively. I realized this on a recent flight that had co-branded United Airlines / Coca-Cola napkins.
Napkins were imprinted with various engaging things:
- Soar to Victory! Challenge your seatmate to a friendly match and a tic-tac-toe game.
- Making Napkins Fly Planes. Investing more in sustainable aviation fuel production made from trash like this.
- Get into the Groove with Your Own Summer Jam and fill-in-the-blanks (add an adjective, month, verb, noun, location, etc.) to create song lyrics.
Think about the sponsor of a meal, reception, or coffee break at your association’s event. How about working with the sponsor to create fun napkins? These will be much more memorable than simply printing the sponsor’s logo on the napkins.