Industry Training Graduations

Sponsorship Guidelines

In November 2007 the Mayors Taskforce for Jobs Core Group made the decision not to seek a National Sponsor for the graduations because each Local Authority has relationships with different organisations and having a National Sponsor could easily cut across these existing relationships.

Mayors and event managers are therefore encouraged, if necessary, to seek local sponsorship for the graduations.

Because the Graduations are a Civic Event run under the Mayors Taskforce for Jobs banner (similar in many ways to events such as Community Awards or Business Awards which celebrate the success of people in the local community), the Local Authorities involved need to be seen to be contributing a significant portion of the costs of the graduation. This can be “in-kind” contributions such as allocating a staff member to organise the graduation as part of their existing job, holding the graduation in a council venue, covering the costs of printing, photocopying and postage, etc.

Ideally the costs involved in running the graduations will be built into council annual plans so the long-term viability of the graduations is assured.

Finding sponsorship for the graduations takes time, effort and requires a specific set of skills which are quite distinct from Event Organisation skills. It may therefore be best to have one person solely responsible for finding sponsorship and one person responsible for organising the graduation. Of course, any additional costs for this would need to be factored into the budget. Sponsorship gurus are often willing to have payment built into the success of their fundraising – ie if they raise $x they will receive $y in payment.

The key with finding sponsorship is to remember that it takes time and depending on the organisation, you may have to go through a funding application process. Therefore, start looking for sponsorship as early as possible – preferably at least 6 months before the graduation if not earlier.

The best sources of sponsorship are businesses that have trainees. Spend some time identifying the major businesses with trainees in your community and start with them.

Other organisations that could be approached for sponsorship are:

Trade Associations – eg ECANZ, Master Builders, Master Plumbers, Collision Repair Assn, MTA, etc These usually have a local branch and they are very supportive of industry training.
Chamber of Commerce and or/Employers Association – they often don’t have money but can put out fliers as part of their newsletters, print programmes, etc
Local Community Newspapers – if they get enthusiastic about the graduation they may do some editorial and/or advertisements for free.
Service Groups – eg Rotary and Lions. The Rotary Clubs have a committee called the Vocational Committee which often finds it hard to find suitable projects to put money/time into. The Lions Club will have a similar committee. Rotarians and Lions are often wonderful sources of people power if you need things set up or ushers, etc. Many Rotarians and Lions are business people who have trainees so talking to these clubs could provide other contacts as well. Service clubs have guest speakers at their meetings. Offering to be a speaker can be the way to promote the idea of them sponsoring the graduations.
Local Charitable Trusts – eg Community Trust
Organisations that do pre-apprenticeship training - polytechnics, private training establishments
Banks – they may be willing to put some money in, in exchange for having fliers about accounts sent out with invitations or inside the programmes on the night. The Manukau graduation in 2007 had sponsorship from the BNZ.
Large Local Businesses- Go for the ones that could have the graduates as their clientele eg Mitre 10, Placemakers, Master Trade, etc. Don’t forget that graduates come from service industries as well, so approaching [the local kayaking (or whatever) company] may also bear fruit.

Sponsors may not be in a position to give money, but they may be able to give – “in-kind” donations – eg printing the programmes, providing the technology for data shows, sponsoring ads in the newspapers. If you have a large hotel chain in your district they may be willing for you to use their venue and/or caterers etc.

A suggested process for gaining sponsors

Start by putting together a Sponsorship Proposal Package. A good example of this, which was prepared for the Coastal Otago Graduation, is attached.
Include in the Package:

Information on what the sponsor will get for their contribution
Several options for different levels of sponsorship
The Mayors Taskforce Brochure on the graduations
If you’ve had a graduation before, photos from this
Quotes from participants at graduations – these can be sourced from the National Co-ordinator, Sally Gray, if you don’t have any
Statements from previous sponsors (if you have had them)

The Office of the Mayor holds considerable power in a community, so one really good way to kick start the process of getting businesses to provide sponsorship is for the Mayor to ring up the CEO and personally ask them. Otherwise make initial contact with potential sponsors by phone. If they are interested in hearing more, make a time to meet with them and/or the appropriate person in the organisation. The Manager may not be the one to make these decisions so if at all possible, arrange a meeting with the decision makers.
Take your sponsorship package to the first face-to-face meeting,. This is the main opportunity for selling the idea, so be positive. It would be wonderful if they made a decision on the spot but this is rare. Leave the sponsorship package with them and let them think it over.
After a few days, follow up with an email and/or a phone call. If they are interested, see if you can get them to put a timeline on when they will make a decision.
Follow up with a phone call or email at about the time the decision is supposed to be made.
Once they have committed to the sponsorship. Send a letter confirming the sponsorship and what they will get from it. Clearly state in the letter how any monies should be paid and to what account and/or how any “in-kind” donations will be worked.
After the graduation, make sure a letter is sent to all sponsors thanking them, including any publicity about the event and encouraging them to consider sponsorship of the next graduation.

Some things that can’t be part of a Sponsorship deal

The Graduations are a Mayors Taskforce for Jobs initiative and need to remain so. Therefore sponsors cannot be offered naming rights to the graduation.
Sponsors cannot be allowed access to graduate contact details. These have been provided by the ITOs specifically for purposes of organising the graduation. It would be a breach of the Privacy Act for graduate details to be given to sponsors. If sponsors, eg banks, want to get information on their services out to the graduates, this could be sent out with the invitations, or be included in the programme. Sponsors may also be able to have a booth in the foyer of the venue.