SPONSORSHIP

Sponsorship is a promotional technique used by businesses, both large and small, for purely commercial reasons. It is a commercial transaction that the sponsoring organization uses because it believes that the event offers a communication link to its target market that is more effective than other promotional opportunities such as advertising.
Sponsorship is used to generate consumer goodwill, increase sales of their products, increase brand awareness and acceptability, access niche markets and provide opportunities for the entertainment of clients.
Sponsoring events gives businesses another medium that can allow businesses to reach a target market in an effective way that also complements existing promotional mixes. The sponsorship of an event becomes an integral part of the market plan of the business.
Sponsorship can be used as a promotion medium as it gives the company exposure every day.

Benefits from sponsorship include the increased awareness of the company and its products, opportunity to represent commitment to a particular community or market segment, image building, a mean of product and market differentiations and ability to provide merchandising opportunities.

Once the sponsorship deal is put into place the event has a few obligations to the sponsor, they must deliver all benefits that were promised without prompts from the sponsors, to protect the rights of the sponsor and to be genuinely committed to positive sponsorship outcomes for all stakeholders. They must acknowledge the sponsor at every possible opportunity; they must keep the sponsors up to date on any important decisions involving the sponsors of the event and to warm the sponsor of any potentially unpleasant publicity.
The Sponsor, however, also has an on obligation to provide the cash or payment kind and services in the time requested, to be committed to the sponsorship and to commit to sufficient fund to ensure the sponsorship is a success.