I had a really bad experience recently with someone I had declined. A friend of his called impersonating a reporter and I was left with the feeling that if I didn’t provide product the station would do a very negative story. I was concerned because it was small market and I knew a story was being done by the station. Its all sorted itself out, especially since I spoke to the reporter he impersonated and the person who requested the sponsorship in the first place. From what I understand there will be an apology letter coming my way.

To help stem the tide of requests I get I came up with guidelines for what I am looking for. I admit fully to borrowing heavily from Vodaphone’s awesome set on their site. I even came up with a sponsorship matrix with pillars (market alignment) and platforms (business goals) to ensure I’m looking at everything objectively. Unfortunately, I am still inundated with requests that are either not aligned with our business, don’t offer a brand experience.

In the last year I have really become skeptical of the value of having my logo on stuff. T-shirts, posters, websites, etc. Personally I don’t notice any of those things. What I do notice is when I get to see a sponsor in an engaging way that allows me to experience their product.

One example for me recently was sponsoring an angler with product. She was attending an event and promised to wear the life jacket when she was out on the water. She also agreed to provide blogs and pictures from the event. In the end it worked out really well for both her and the company.