This article is to help fundraisers and people seeking sponsorship to understand the important of keeping balance and exclusivity.
Having too many sponsors is the problem we all want.
Whether you are fund raising for a nonprofit or seeking sponsors in a for-profit venture, it seems like there can never be too many.
Exclusivity is the one thing big sponsors usually ask for.
Recently Eli Manning who has an endorsement deal with Citizen found out his team had an endorsement deal with Timex.
That created a conflict of interesting for him.
It was reported that Manning is, for this practice and all future practices, not expected to give Timex much love due to his conflict of interest.
He's going to do interviews before practice in a t-shirt and will take off his pads for any interviews after practice.
A simple yet elegant solution.
When you are setting up sponsorships, exclusivity is a big deal.
You have to inform all players and make sure everyone is on board with the game plan.
Companies can make a big deal about this kind of thing and it can ruin your chances for getting sponsorship again next year.
The New York Giants have every right to sell sponsorships on their t-shirts.
Manning has every right to uphold his personal contract.
Sponsorships do need to be handled with care because they can yield yearly income for any organization.
Having a sponsorship manager in place can help you avoid conflicts like this.
Every company has their way of managing sponsorships.
If you can, you should provide a high level of ownership and consultation by key stakeholders.
The sponsorship manager does not implement sponsorships.
The sponsorship manager should be providing the advice, resources and impetus so the brand team and other stakeholders can make it happen.