7
Steps to Securing
Sponsorship
Once you have decided to start or expand a de-
partment health and wellness initiative, you may
nd you need additional resources and sponsors to
support your program. Perhaps you want to offer
health screenings to department members, or ensure
each member has access to tness equipment. May-
be you want to host health talks or team sporting
events. Many departments don’t have the budget
for extra health and wellness expenses, but don’t
let this deter you from implementing your program.
You will nd that reaching out into the community
can provide the sponsorship and support you need
to keep your department healthy and strong.
The steps below provide a basic outline for securing
sponsors. The following sections of this toolkit pro-
vide further details, samples, and tips to help you as
you implement your sponsorship outreach plan.
Step One: Get Started
1
Designate a leader. Choose someone to be in
charge of the sponsorship outreach effort who
can keep everyone motivated and will be
diligent about following up and checking on
progress.
2
Hold a brainstorming session with department
members. Discuss ideas for whom to approach
for sponsorships. Find out who in your depart
ment has connections with local businesses or
hospitals. Remember that donations don’t
have to be monetary – maybe a health club is
willing to provide free or discounted member-
ship to your personnel, or a local doctor might
provide free health screenings. Be creative.
3
Do your research. If you do not have a pre-
existing contact at a particular business, nd
out who is in charge of community relations or
corporate giving and address initial correspon-
dence to that person. Also, see if you can nd
any information on the company’s past com-
munity philanthropy or sponsorship, as this
may help you in your current outreach.
4
Create a written plan. Decide who will be
contacting each person/company on your list.
Determine your objective beforehand – what
are you asking from each prospective donor?
5
Get ready to ask for donations. Make sure each
person who will be talking with prospective
donors or sponsors is prepared to talk about
your department, the health program, your
goals, and what you are asking from each
potential donor. Create hand-outs to give to
prospective donors. Remind prospective donors
of the importance of your department to the
community. If you are a volunteer or combina-
tion department, use the NVFC Cost Savings
Calculator (page 14) to show the nancial
impact that your department has on the
community.
Utilize information from www.healthy-
reghter.org to demonstrate why a depart-
ment health program is so important. Show
your prospective donors that you are serious
about getting healthy and how it benets the
community.
6
Inform the public. Send a press release, using
the Seeking Support Press Release template
(page 12), to local television stations, news-
papers, radio stations, and community group
newsletters explaining your health initiative,
why it is important, and that you are seeking
SECTION 1: Getting Started