The ABCs of Development Work
I once met with a program officer who ran a workforce development program for youth exiting from juvenile detention into the community. At one point during the conversation he looked me in the eye and said, “Listen. What I’m trying to teach these kids is the ABCs of finding a job: First, get A job, then get a Better job, then you can work on getting a Career.” This stuck with me over the years and I have imparted this advice to many young people (including my own children) and am usually met with a sigh of relief that seems to be releasing years of built up societal pressure and unmet self-expectations.
Recently, I was coaching a new development director who is brand new to the role and began our session with a 5 minute, nonstop blast of thoughts centered around their first sponsorship campaign.
“Who should I ask and how should I ask and should I include this funder even though they have a different geographic focus than where the event will take place and is it better to have three levels or four levels and is it better for me to reach out directly, or get introduced by the ED and if he does introduce me, should he be bringing up sponsorship or introduce me so I can bring it up —”
I waited patiently for him to run out of steam and then shared the wisdom of the ABC approach to career development. I followed that up with a development version of my own:
“Whatever you are doing for the first time – whether it’s a grant proposal or a sponsorship request or a board presentation – First, make A document. Then make a Better version while you work toward a more Comprehensive/Competitive version that you feel Confident in.”
His shoulders relaxed.
His reaction is understandable. Because somewhere along the way, we’ve convinced ourselves that before we can ask anyone for money, we need to have the perfect grant proposal, the perfect sponsorship deck, the perfect list of prospects, the perfect introduction, and a perfectly mapped strategy for turning a $2,500 grant or sponsorship into a six-figure institutional partner.
You don’t.
Especially if your organization is new or smaller or building out a new development strategy. If it’s your first time requesting sponsorship for an event, your first job is to make a one-page sponsorship proposal that lists the basics. It doesn’t need to anticipate every question a prospective sponsor might ask. It doesn’t need twelve sponsorship levels, a beautifully designed deck, or an exhaustive menu of benefits.
It needs to clearly explain what you’re doing, why it matters, who you’re reaching, and how a company can get involved.
Then use it. Send it to people. Have conversations. Pay attention to what they ask. Notice what gets their attention and what requires more explanation. Find out which benefits they actually care about instead of spending hours debating internally about which benefits you think they might care about.
Then make a better sponsorship one-pager. Now you’re improving something based on actual information rather than hypotheticals. Maybe you adjust the sponsorship levels. Maybe you clarify the audience. Maybe you realize companies care a lot more about employee engagement than logo placement. Maybe you discover that something you thought was a major selling point barely comes up in conversation.
And while you’re doing all of that, you can work toward a complete sponsorship package. One informed by what you’ve learned from actual sponsors and prospects. That’s the part we sometimes get backward. We try to build the complete package before we’ve learned enough to know what should be in it. Strategy matters. Preparation matters. Good materials matter. But your first sponsorship one-pager doesn’t need to be the one you’ll use forever. It just needs to be good enough to start the conversation.
This same lesson can be applied to grant proposals, individual donor appeals, introduction emails, and more. Learn your ABC’s with the RRR team. Make something. Use it. Learn from it. Make it better.
