Boost your business to the next level by choosing to be a corporate sponsor. Small businesses are an important part of sponsorship at the community level. Your company can benefit in several ways, including new customers that you might not otherwise reach. Sponsorship usually involves nonprofit organizations. Choose events that draw your targeted customer, such as a sports store sponsoring a Little League team.

Arts Sponsors

Art sponsorship is a wide field that can include providing costumes or art supplies for high school or community theater productions, sponsoring a child at art camp, providing products for a PBS fundraiser, or donating toward an organization that supports the arts. Sponsorship in the arts does not have to be expensive. Your small business could sponsor a local holiday production or even provide food for an Independence Day picnic.

Educational Sponsors

Schools rarely have adequate funding, so they look for sponsors for many of their activities. Small businesses with modest budgets can help by providing gardening supplies to kindergarten classes or buying advertising space in a high school yearbook. Businesses with higher budgets might provide equipment to community or school sports teams, such as golf clubs or football jerseys.

Professional Group Sponsors

This is a way that small businesses can increase their visibility and branding among a targeted customer group. Research which professional groups your targeted customer joins, and then sponsor an event for that group. It might be a monthly breakfast, a walk-a-thon, or an awards ceremony for public service, for example. Ensure that any advertising or promotion for such an event features the name or logo of your business as a sponsor.

Community Event Sponsors

Popular community events, such as county fairs and church carnivals, potentially market your small business to hundreds or thousands of people. This type of marketing is not targeting a specific group by age or income, but rather by a common interest in a community event. Some small businesses choose to be a sponsor for the same event every year.

Gifted or Special Needs Sponsors

Your small business could offer individual sponsorships to people with special talents or special needs. Some companies offer a scholarship to a deserving student, while other businesses sponsor adults for an activity such as the Special Olympics.

Professional Sports Sponsor

If your potential customer engages in professional sports activities, either as a participant or an attendee at sports events, then research ways that your small business could sponsor a professional sports event. It might include purchasing prime space to hang a banner, buying advertising space in the printed program, or donating cash in exchange for being listed among the donors when the professional sports team advertises its event.