1. Sponsorships break out session
Council Jul-16
Sponsorships break out session
July 2016
Paul Melican

2. Have a prospectus.
Make sure it accurately represents what defines your LSS/LSA. This is your first point of call to the outside world. Lots of pictures and add a splash of colour!
Ensure that it has been done in a professional format – i.e. don’t do a few pages in Microsoft word and convert it to PDF. HR can tell what format the document has been used in. I use InDesign, a professional platform which costs $11/month from Adobe. It seamlessly converts to a professional looking document once printed. It can be painful to use but entirely worth it!
Know who you are targeting

3. Contacts, contacts, contacts!
Engage with your city’s Law Society, go to their networking events and build a relationship. Drop subtle hints along the way about your LSS, what it achieves for your students and how you would like to build connections with your legal community for the benefit of your students.
Engage with your business chamber and other professional societies – build contacts outside of law too! You never know where the contacts will lead – they may give you in kind support.
Do not immediately ask for money, it sounds tacky. Build a relationship first!
Send out the prospectus
When you send the prospectus to firms/organisations, tailor the letter to the firms/organisations key business strategies and how they will benefit from sponsoring your LSS/LSA.
Call the firm you are sending the prospectus to and let them know you would like to it to them and ask for the appropriate contact person. It is usually marketing or HR.

4. Meetings
Know who you are meeting, do a quick search on the person to understand their position within the firm/organisation and view their photo (not in a stalkerish way..)
Dress to impress! First impressions matter with sponsorship.
Know where the office is and be 15 minutes early.
Make small talk at the start – don’t jump into the $$$, unless the sponsor engages the meeting in that way first. Know something key that has happened with the firm and strike a conversation about it in a casual way, they will be impressed that you know something more than their slogan!

5. Meetings
Know how your LSS/LSA performed the previous year – all the good and the not so amazing stuff. Knowing what didn’t work in the previous year will allow you to engage with the sponsor to ensure any hiccups won’t occur again and ask the sponsor their opinion with how they believe things should be handled, do this in a light- hearted way.
Have a list of all your sponsorship arrangements for the previous and know what was sponsored and by who as firms may want to pick and choose on the day – it looks bad if you aren’t prepared.

6. Meetings
Create a ‘package’ for the sponsor to maximise their brand exposure in a cost effective way. Discount items that have no operational costs to you (I usually add social media things as extra etc)
Give the sponsor a timeline as to when you would like sponsorship to be finalised so they are able to work with you
Have a catchy statement that you can use through all sponsorship meetings, for ALSA I usually said that it was a ‘unique meeting of the minds of some of the best and brightest law students in the country, that make decisions stemming from policy to advocacy for the betterment of all Australian law students’.

7. Post meeting
Send follow up s to everyone you met thanking them for their time and that you are excited about the ensuing relationship that will benefit their firm in exposing their brand to your law students.
Communication is key!
Respond to all sponsorship related enquiries in a maximum timeframe of 48 hours.
If you are not able to meet the request straight away, send an acknowledging their and give an approx. time to when their request will be answered. This shows efficiency and courtesy.
Just don’t be lazy with comms
Contact all your sponsors every month to let them know what your LSS/LSA has achieved – that way your achievements will be registering and can sway their budget allocation for the next year

8. Concluding comments:
Thanks Andy!
the environment for financial sponsorship is lessening, figure out innovative ways that your LSS/LSA can appeal to sponsors. Figure out what sets your LSS apart and drive that home with a sponsor. Also consider in-kind arrangements i.e. non- financial arrangements.