Corporate Sponsorships & Giving

Corporate sponsorships and giving work to secure private support for university priorities by fostering relationships with corporations, collaborating with CBU staff and faculty to identify and coordinate partnerships with corporations to secure support for University programs. 

Corporate Ask Procedures/Guidelines

In order to begin the process of requesting sponsorships and giving from a corporation: 

1. Inform the Assistant Vice President of External Relations & Career Services of your Corporate Sponsorships & Giving request. 

2. Review your program/event budget and determine appropriate levels of support and number of sponsors needed at each level (e.g., will the top supporter be exclusive or can there be cosponsors?).

  • Determine your sponsorship levels. Researching comparable school’s sponsorship levels will help you identify appropriate giving amounts. 
  • Determine what you can offer as benefits to your sponsors.
  • Examples: logo recognition on signage, website, social media, item giveaways; oral recognition at event, event access for employees, etc.
  • Submit an operating budget if requesting support for a program or event. 

3. In collaboration with the Office of Communications and Marketing and the AVP of External Relations & Career Services, design your sponsorship document, including a detailed description of your program/event, all sponsorship levels and the benefits for each level and information on the ROI your event provides to companies.

  • Include sponsorship information on your event website, if possible.

4. Develop a sponsorships prospect list. Look at programs/events/organizations similar to yours and identify the types of companies that sponsor them.

  • Think locally first and look at companies that are already sponsoring events in your area.
  • Relationships are key; use your existing connections to corporations to identify potential prospects. 
  • If you need help identifying potential partners for your project, ask the AVP of External Relations & Career Services. 

5. Submit final list of corporation prospects and sponsorship documents to the AVP of External Relations & Career Services who will cross-check your prospect list to see whether we have an existing relationship with the organization or if it conflicts with outstanding university asks. Please include the name of any point of contact that you have within each corporation. Once the prospect list has been confirmed, an appropriate course of action for solicitation will be determined. 

  • Final approval of sponsorship requests will be made by the CFO and VP of Advancement and Alumni. 

6. Once a corporation/company makes a commitment to sponsor your program/event, a  Sponsorship Agreement Form will be completed.