Do you use “sell sheets” in your nonprofit’s sponsorship packages? Commonly used in corporate product launches, a sell sheet (or sales sheet) offers at-a-glance information about the benefits, features and specifications of an offering. Since they are concise and benefits-oriented, sponsorship sell sheets can be useful supporting materials when showcasing your organization’s products, programs and services to potential sponsors.
To really put your sell sheet copy to work for you, avoid copying and pasting internally focused product and service descriptions pulled from reports, planning documents or other sources that weren’t written with potential sponsors in mind. To ensure fresh, compelling promotional copy, I like to use a copywriter’s technique called the motivating sequence; have you heard of it? Created by legendary copywriter Bob Bly, the motivating sequence is a way to structure your direct mail and other sales copy.
How to structure sponsorship sell sheet copy
I was recently brought on to write a large number of sponsorship sell sheets for a client. For this project, I developed a variation of the motivating sequence that addresses the fact that the people we’re ‘selling’ to in the nonprofit context are usually not the same group as those benefitting from our offerings.
Here’s an outline to follow when writing sponsorship sell sheets for your nonprofit’s products, programs or services.
Create a clear title
Based on the motivating sequence, I’d normally go for an attention-grabbing headline. However, in this case (we were creating more than a dozen sheets), our priority was clarity – for both the sponsors and internal team members using the sheets – so we used program or service names as the sheet headline/title. If you’re writing a small number of sheets, you might consider the attention-grabbing headline approach.
Identify the problem
Use your opening paragraph to describe the problem, issue or need that exists and must be addressed. It’s not time to talk about your offering just yet; that’s next. For now, just share a few sentences about the external situation that prompted your organization to create the product, program or service in question.
Position your offering as the solution to the problem
This is your opportunity to describe your product, program or service, but remember to write it in a way that explains how it’s meeting a need and solving a problem. Keep the language simple and emphasize the benefits vs the features of your offering.
Provide proof that what you offer really solves the problem
This is where you include ‘belief builders’ to prove that what your nonprofit is offering is, in fact, the solution. Belief builders can come in a number of forms, including endorsements, testimonials, outcomes, personal pledges and awards. For this project, we used testimonials for the most part; from program participants, product users and funding recipients.
Explain how sponsorship can benefit the sponsor
Now it’s time to talk about how sponsoring this offering benefits potential sponsors. To address this, we included a ‘benefits revisited section’ that isn’t part of the traditional motivating sequence. Since we’re talking about sponsorship, this is where you’ll talk about brand recognition, organizational/cause alignment and any other benefits you’re providing to potential supporters.
Describe your sponsorship opportunity
Flowing from the previous section, this is where you can describe the sponsorship ‘features’; include specific examples of things like logo placement, exhibitor opportunities, brand mentions, etc. For this client, I kept it very top-level, leaving the in-depth conversation about specific sponsorship tiers to personal conversations and follow up – and to ensure a longer shelf life for the sell sheets once printed.
Ask the potential sponsor to take action
Using the sequence above, you’ve walked your reader through the decision making process, so it’s time to make the ‘ask’. Be as specific as you can about the next steps you want your sponsor to take. Is it to call you to discuss the sponsorship opportunity further? Then explicitly ask them to make the call and include the right contact information. In our case, we included a central phone number and email address to make sure every sheet had contact information, but we also included a space for individual, internal team members to write a personal note and include their direct contact information.
A few other tips on writing sponsorship sell sheets
- As always, write with your reader in mind. Lose the acronyms and insider jargon and make sure you’re including “you” and “you’re” in the copy frequently.
- Include only one product, program or service per sheet.
- Keep your copy very concise. Leave room for visuals and keep each sheet to a maximum of one page, double sided.
Why this sequence works
This sequence walks the reader through the decision making process without asking for anything too early. The reader:
- Starts out by learning about a problem
- Discovers how your nonprofit organization is solving the problem
- Learns how they can benefit from sponsoring the offering and what their sponsorship levels might include
- Finishes reading with a clear understanding of next steps
From a writing point of view, I love using this sequence because it makes it very easy to get out of the boring, copy-and-paste rut and forces you to think about what you’re offering in a new way. You can work on one section at a time and the sequence forces you to do a little extra thinking or digging around for compelling details.
Will you use this sponsorship sell sheet structure?
Will this sequence work for you? How do you sequence your sponsorship sell sheet copy? Please share your tips and experiences in the comments.