Workplan, do you?

I've been interviewing a lot of candidates lately and one question that I ask is, "how do you prioritize?" The typical response is "to do lists" or "Post-it Notes" which makes me cringe. It also tells me that this person is probably not familiar with workplans. With a workplan, you can map your goals and objectives, set dates and see progress. Very similar to a project plan but I view a workplan as a broader tool.

Workplans help to prioritize and the organize. When people come up to me and ask for help getting a $5,000 sponsor for a last minute project, I can look at my priorities and say well, I'm focusing on a $15,000,000 project now which is priority. I can also show my colleagues the plan which always seems to impress them.

Start on your 09 workplan now and you'll be way ahead of the game.

Sponsorship, what is

I think sponsorship is about innovation and mutual benefit. I don't think the "sponsorship benefits" model works any longer. I'm talking about this:

PLATINUM SPONSOR
- Your logo plastered over everything
- Your name on every piece of collateral
- Tickets to everything
- Your statement in the catalogue
- Listing as a Platinum Sponsor in the credit line
- VIP invitations to a part with soggy sandwiches and flat champagne

GOLD SPONSOR
- Your logo plastered over almost everything
- Your name on almost every piece of collateral
- Tickets to almost everything
- Your statement in a smaller font in the catalogue
- Listing as a Gold Sponsor in the credit line

Somewhere along the road we got lazy and took the passion and innovation out of sponsorship.

We need to listen to our partners and come up with cool ways to achieve mutual business goals. Lets move away from the listings of benefits and really put some effort into our partnership. Lets create long-term partnerships so that we don't have to start from scratch every three months.

I work for the Guggenheim museum now which is a dream job. I took the job to change the way museums raise money and develop business. My approach is to apply the consultative selling model and work with CMO's (Chief Marketing Officers), not just the philanthropic arms of corporations.

In the next few postings, I'll talk about ways that I've revamped the "old" sponsorship model and how my new approach is working (or not working). I hope to share with you my findings so that we can change the face of sponsorship before it dies.