As associations begin the necessary shift to non-dues revenue from member dues, a few tough questions will need to be asked about your current sponsorship model.
With the acceleration of access to information and data, many of your members will begin to question why they are paying dues to you for content that they can get for free on YouTube, Facebook or other social platforms.
This emerging trend will put additional pressure on you to retain and grow your non-dues revenue. The cornerstone of non-dues revenue is sponsorship. Here are six tough questions that need to be asked by every association that has sponsors.
1. Do your sponsor programs extend the reach from event audience to a broader audience?
Sponsors are looking for more Return On Investment (ROI) for each engagement. Are you offering pay-per-view and other subscription based opportunities to offer sponsored content to a broader audience?
2. Do your current partnership opportunities extend the time value to sponsors from days to months?
Sponsors are expecting you to create opportunities for them to re-purpose their sponsored content into something that will give them value for months. Are you capturing the content using video or audio for future use?
3. Are you providing a lead generation or engagement opportunity with your sponsorship model?
Whether you like it or not, most partnership opportunities are now being influenced by, or controlled by the marketing department. They really don't like the "branding" pieces, but rather they are looking for an opportunity to measure with digital sign ups or downloads.
4. Do your current partnerships offer education, or valued content to your membership?
The reason that your sponsors are sponsoring are to engage your membership base. Are your programs delivering real content value to members so they elevate your sponsors?
5. Do your current models increase your non-dues revenue?
Using strategic video as part of a sponsorship model will allow you to add dollars to your sponsorships as well as create pay-per-view and subscription non-dues revenue opportunities.
6. Does your sponsorship models enhance your relationship with your sponsors?
Sponsors are depending on you to come up with new ideas, and content opportunities that will move the engagement needle. Ideally they will come to rely on you for a big part of their content planning and deployment.
If you would like more information on how to increase non-dues revenue by changing your sponsorship model, click on the button below for a complimentary consultation.
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John Heppenstall is Director of Marketing for WorkerBee.TV