If you’re up for a giving challenge and keen to do more than just give from your own pocket, put your efforts towards fundraising through sponsorship. By enlisting the support of others, you can raise significant amounts of money, publicise a cause and motivate others to participate.

But these transactions can be tricky, especially when family, friends and associates are involved. Consider our sponsorship etiquette ‘Do’s and Don’ts’ to set the parameters, avoid the pitfalls and improve the stakes.

The Do’s:

Do approach your potential sponsors early on in the fundraising drive. Give them the opportunity to consider your request and make their donation without the pressure of having to do so just before the event.

Do spread your requests for sponsorship across as wide a network as possible, particularly if you’re working in a team. You’ll not only avoid calling on the same old support crew of family and friends, but there’ll be less chance of you and a team-mate approaching the same person.

Do make it as easy as possible for your sponsors to support you. Approach people with your paperwork (sponsor sheet and receipt book) on-hand, or email them with a link to your personal online fundraising page. That way they can make their pledge electronically, pay by credit card and be emailed a tax invoice all with the click of a button…and no receipt writing or cash handling for you!

Do provide as much information to potential sponsors as possible so they understand the importance of your work and respond generously. Take the time to write a heartfelt letter with links to the cause in question. Give details of your challenge: where, when and how you will accomplish it, and where the money will go.

Do try to be realistic about estimating your goals, especially if you’re being sponsored per unit, e.g. the number of books read. Some sponsors won’t appreciate having to pay considerably more than they had expected. Consider offering to cap donations beyond a specific amount.

Do get permission from the cause to use official logos and graphics in your promotional material. They will appreciate your fundraising efforts but will want to ensure that your usage is consistent with their branding. Similarly, if you secure corporate sponsorship in exchange for some public exposure, make sure you only use official logos provided by the company.

Do provide sponsors with updates whenever possible. Many fundraising challenges facilitate personalised web pages where participants can blog about their training regime, fundraising targets and event progress. The more information you feed your sponsors, the more they will recognise your commitment, appreciate your efforts and take up the spirit of the challenge.

Do be politely persistent at collection time. Ideally most of your sponsors will have pledged and paid online, but others may need a friendly nudge to follow through commitment. Put a formal process in place and keep reminders friendly but business-like.

Do thank each and every one of your sponsors when the event is over. Email a bulletin or send personalised letters with a final wrap-up of the challenge: the total amount you raised and the impact that money can have. Your sponsors will be encouraged by your appreciation and the knowledge that, with their support, a great deal has been achieved. They may even be motivated to become a regular donor.

The Don’ts:

Don’t let a child seek sponsorship without a supervising adult. There are privacy and safety issues to consider.

Don’t take a rejection of your request for sponsorship personally. You never know what circumstances are informing a person’s response. They may already give to a wide variety of causes, or perhaps alternate their support for fundraising challenges from year to year. Thank them for their time and move on.

Don’t turn your fundraising tally into a popularity contest amongst your team members or fellow participants. Your networks will comprise all manner of different people who have their own reasons for sponsoring or not (see above). If a little healthy competition is good for the cause, you can always look beyond the standard requests for sponsorship and host a simple fundraiser to boost your tally.

Don’t be shy to call in favours from business associates or other people you’ve sponsored, in the spirit of like-minded generosity. While you can’t expect matched funding, you should both be able to see the advantages of giving and giving back in return, or quid pro quo. Be upfront, but bear in mind that not everyone is in a position to give the same amount. It might sound very business-like but it’s all for a good cause.

Don’t take advantage of people’s generosity by asking them to sponsor you more than twice a year. It may spark animosity that extends beyond you to the cause itself. It may even discourage them from giving to others in the future.

Tips from the Top

Amongst the other 731 teams that took up April’s Melbourne Oxfam Trailwalker challenge (walk or run 100 km within 48 hours), team ‘ FareShare ’ not only finished with its four members intact, but exceeded its expectations almost four-fold to end up the second highest fundraising team in the event. All $26,151 they collected will go towards Oxfam’s poverty relief work around the world.

Team member Marcus Godinho is CEO of the community organisation FareShare which rescues food and transforms it into nutritious meals for donation to thousands of Melbourne’s homeless and hungry each year. Of their fundraising success, Marcus said it was mainly due to the team’s professional approach to sponsorship and a commitment to the challenge.

His top sponsorship etiquette tips are:

•  Make the donating process as easy as possible: ideally online, with emailed receipts.

•  Identify and group sponsorship networks across different sectors without overlap.

•  Send well-written requests for sponsorship, friendly reminders for payment and personal thanks once the funds are in.

•  Communicate regularly with sponsors through a blog or team homepage that includes photos, training updates, information about the cause, and a wrap-up after the event.

•  Tailor the approach to different types of sponsors and reciprocating supporters based on goodwill, not dollar amounts.

The Oxfam Trailwalker Melbourne event has raised $2,897,820 and the total is still climbing. Good luck to the teams, organisers and support crews for the Sydney event on 27-29 August 2010. Sponsors: start making your pledges.

Happy Endings

In 2007, family and friends of eight-year-old bookworm Joey found themselves in the thick of a sponsorship etiquette dilemma. Nobody had anticipated Joey’s voracious appetite for reading. By the end of the MS Readathon , Joey had enthusiastically read 41 books and his sponsors owed upwards of $100 each; almost five times the amount they had expected to donate.

Not wanting to dampen Joey’s fundraising spirit, his parents dug deep and ‘subsidised’ his sponsors’ dues as part of their annual giving budget.

The experience was invaluable. As the 19 th highest fundraiser in Victoria (at $800), Joey was invited to the following year’s MS Readathon launch where he met people who live with multiple sclerosis and benefit from fundraising efforts like his.

In the name of sponsorship etiquette, all the parents in Joey’s extended family of school-aged bookworms made a collective decision to cap future sponsorship donations. But they wholly embrace each of their fundraising efforts.