VCG offers our secret formula for sponsorships. Are you spending sponsorship dollars? Wait a sec. At Virginia Creative Group, one of the many things we do is help our clients with their community support efforts. Of course, we recommend that our amazing medical practices support their local communities—but does this mean saying yes to ALL sponsorship opportunities? Heck no!

sponsorshipsSponsorship dollars must be spent in a smart way. Otherwise, your sponsorship budget will be flying out the door and making no impact! How do we ensure our clients engage in sponsorships that provide a good return on investment? We refer to our “secret formula” and ask three questions when considering a sponsorship:

  1. Does it fit your practice’s demographic? Determine whether or not your prospective patients are going to be there. If you’re an orthodontist who mainly serves young adults and their parents, and you are asked to sponsor a local youth soccer tournament—this would likely be a good fit. If on the other hand, you’re asked to sponsor a golf outing for retired folks, this probably does not fit.
  2. Does it align with your practice’s core values? When something doesn’t align with our mission and values here at Virginia Creative Group, it’s an easy “no”—and we encourage the same for our clients. It’s not worth being involved with an event that doesn’t support your practice’s core values.
  3. Can someone from your practice be there? This is essential! More important than being named on a banner or t-shirt, you want the ability to physically be there—talking with potential patients, giving stuff out and letting them get to know your practice. Human interaction is the biggest benefit of any sponsorship opportunity.

And here are a few sponsorship-savvy tips:

  • If you pay for it, do it fullyToo many medical practices out there are paying for sponsorships but not utilizing the benefits. If you choose to do a sponsorship, we will make sure you’re maximizing every dollar.
  • Go big or go home. We have found that visibility-wise, it’s more effective for our clients to do a few large sponsorships throughout the year rather than many small ones.
  • Decline with grace (and an offer). If sponsorship is appealing but doesn’t fit into the overall budget, decline with an offer that could help them and get you some exposure: “We can’t sponsor but would be happy to send over some pens for the goodie bags.”

Want help choosing and implementing community sponsorships that work? Let’s talk.