We’ve all seen it – a nonprofit website or Facebook Page filled up with pixelated, cut-off corporate logos, often accompanied by a generic caption such as “Thank you so much to Great Local Business for sponsoring our gala.”
That is how so so many nonprofits end up thanking event sponsors they worked so hard to acquire!
Eye-catching? Nope.
Interesting? Nah.
Inspiring? Not at all.
Nonprofits everywhere are wasting valuable online real estate and squandering the miniscule attention spans of their supporters and potential fans.
Here are 5 BETTER ways you can show love and appreciation to your biggest and best corporate sponsors, no matter your budget:
1. Post a short video of a staff member thanking them.
Bonus points for incorporating something in the video with the corporate logo on it – their t-shirt, tote bag, pen, for example.
Sample script: “Hi, I’m Julia, Development Director at Wonderful Nonprofit. We are so thankful to have the support of Great Local Business
Tools needed: Smartphone, and maybe some corporate swag or a print out of their logo and website URL.
2. Impact photo with short history of the sponsor’s involvement.
Upload a colorful, eye-catching photo that represents the fantastic work that you do, and in the caption, add a short history about your relationship with the corporate sponsor.
Sample post: “Great Local Business has sponsored our event for 10 years running. This is such an important program to the founder, because he himself grew up a food insecure household.”
Tools needed: Smartphone, great photos, and the ability to tag the corporate sponsor on social media (find out their Facebook name, Twitter handle, etc.)
3. Use a mobile app to enhance your text posts.
Download one of these 14 Instagram apps and take your text from boring to visually appealing in seconds.
Two fantastic mobile apps that I use on the regular to create great visuals and graphics are Canva and WordSwag.
Tools needed: Smartphone.
I created this graphic using the mobile app WordSwag.
4. Post a virtual thank you card.
Design a custom thank you card with the free graphic design tool Canva.
They have over 100 layouts to choose from, so you will never be stuck for inspiration. You can then save the thank you card to your desktop or phone and upload to your social media site of choice.
Tools needed: Smartphone or desktop, Canva.
5. Film a short video of the corporate sponsor, in their words.
Ask the corporate sponsor for a short testimonial and 2-3 sentences about why they give to your organization and what the cause means to them. Explain that you will be using this video on your social media sites as a way to help promote their charitable giving and their involvement in the community.
Sample script: “Hi Corporate Sponsor, this is Julia from Great Nonprofit. We are so thankful that you have decided once again to partner with us on our walk a thon. This year, we are showcasing our most valuable sponsors and partners with short videos on our Facebook Page. Would I be able to take a short video of you sharing 2-3 sentences about why you are committed to our organization?”
Tools needed: Smartphone, Skype or Zoom to film the video if they are not local.
So there you have it! No more excuses, and no more posting grainy corporate sponsor logo photos all over social media! Pretty please!
If you have other ideas or examples of ways to thank corporate sponsors, please share them in the comments!