It wasn’t that long ago that one of the keys to sponsorship success was a deep-pocketed board of directors with a network of contacts to lean upon.

Thankfully, that’s no longer the case. And I say thankfully because friends on the board are transitory. They come and they go. Their level of interest waxes and wanes.

But business relationships have staying power, and sponsorship should always be about business.

Sponsorship Week is also about business – the business of sponsorship success. It’s a professional development event for sponsorship marketers unlike any other in Canada – five conferences and workshops compressed over four consecutive days in October in downtown Toronto.  Sponsorship Week’s unique mix of workshops wrapped around a national conference allows attendees to meet the professional development needs of their entire team at once. There’s an important learning opportunity for everyone, no matter what your need or level of expertise.

And that’s what makes the Pay it Forward bursary so valuable. Every year, Hilborn Charity eNEWS, The Sponsorship Report (hosts of Sponsorship Week) and program partners have been awarding five bursaries, granting complimentary admission to all Sponsorship Week events. Bursary recipients from needing air travel to and from Toronto fly courtesy of WestJet.

This year’s Sponsorship Week includes two workshops guaranteed to raise your sponsorship sales program to the next level.

The Sponsorship Boot Camp has a well-earned reputation as a powerful, immensely practical session on sponsorship sales. Session leader Bernie Colterman has a no-nonsense approach to sponsorship. The Boot Camp is a day packed with proven tactics and specific instructions that you can apply to your sponsorship program to gain immediate, noticeable results.

New this year is the Deep Dive: What Sponsors Really Want. It’s a workshop developed for Sponsorship Week by William Pitcher of Pitcher Group Sponsorship + Philanthropy. You’ll spend the first half of the say immersing yourself in the sponsor’s mind, emerging with a deep appreciation of the factors that pull a sponsor toward an opportunity, or that push a sponsor away. In the second half, you’ll workshop your own list of top sponsors and sponsorship prospects, arriving at a clearer understanding of what they need, what you have to offer, and how construct an opportunity that they’ll find hard to resist.

In between is Sponsorship Toronto, a two-day conference that brings together sponsors, sponsored properties and agencies from across the country to learn from some of the leading sponsorship practitioners anywhere. It’s unlike any conference you’ve attended before – informal, intimate, just you and a few dozen others with a shared passion for sponsorship success, hearing from and speaking with the best in the business.

This year’s call for Pay it Forward bursary applications closed June 30, and we’re pleased to announce the five very deserving recipients for 2016. Keep your eye on them. They’ll be tearing up the sponsorship marketplace in 2017!

Congratulations to:

Jackie Mersereau, Development Manager, Artbound, Toronto, ON 

Arlene Coculuzzi, Executive Director, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hastings and Prince Edward Counties, Belleville, ON 

Timothy Brazeau, Business Development Officer, Festival of the Sound, Parry Sound, ON 

Carla Gervais, Fund Development Director, Habitat for Humanity Southern Alberta, Calgary, AB 

Donna Wawzonek, Sponsorship and Grants Coordinator, Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, Toronto, ON