Guide to Fiscal Sponsorship and Affiliation

Sponsorship: How to Find a Sponsor

Start with your current affiliations. Make a list of clubs, professional associations, educational institutions, and work-related groups with which you are presently or were formerly affiliated. Use the worksheet we have provided to help you get started. Download the worksheet as a Microsoft Word document or in Rich Text Format. Ask yourself if any of these groups would be useful either as sponsors or as potential sources of information on who else might sponsor you. Speak with your friends and contacts at the various organizations and with their leaders. The president of the club, the dean of the college, and the pastor of the church are all useful sources of information on how to proceed. They may even be flattered that you seek their advice. When you reach an impasse or receive a negative response, however, always ask for a referral: "If you can't help me, whom would you recommend?"

If your present affiliations provide no fresh leads to possible sponsors, the next step is to look in your own backyard. Approach the established nonprofit organizations in your own locale. Depending on the situation, you might call on local hospitals, churches, public television and radio stations, civic groups, YM and YWCAs, historical societies, and even such groups as the United Way. To make optimal use of each personal contact, be sure to ask for further referrals.

Along with this local search for a sponsor, you should also conduct a detailed search in your field by thoroughly investigating your own subject area. Refer to current grants lists on the Web and elsewhere to see which organizations in your own area of specialization are presently receiving foundation, government, and/or corporate support. Make contact with the leaders of these organizations. You may be surprised to find how cooperative they will be. Ask them how they went about securing funding, what advice they can offer you, and with whom you should speak. Perhaps one of these recipient organizations might even serve as your sponsor. Since these groups already have positive relationships with funders, their leaders may welcome the opportunity of taking on additional projects for future grants.

Next, speak with your colleagues, others in your field, and, especially, with the experts. Again you may be surprised that a well-known individual will take the time to speak with you on the phone or answer your letter with some valuable insights.

An excellent resource for the grantseeker in his quest to locate potential sponsors is the Encyclopedia of Associations (Detroit, MI.: Gale Research Company), found in most large public libraries. This reference guide details over 22,000 American nonprofit membership organizations, many of which could qualify as sponsors for individual grantseekers. A number of these associations themselves award small grants, scholarships, and fellowships, run contests, and bestow medals, certificates, and trophies, all of potential benefit to the individual. Use the Encyclopedia as a source for referrals in your search for a sponsor. Call or write associations in your field to determine who's doing what, who has been funded, and who has a good reputation. Once you've established your identity as an individual with similar interests, you may find the leaders and staff of such associations more than willing to chat with you.

Use the geographic index of this national reference guide to identify local chapters of large organizations that might serve as your sponsor. Trade associations — organizations, clubs, institutes, and societies (e.g., groups of people who do the same type of work you do and are interested in the same subject areas) — are invaluable resources when it comes to information both on funding possibilities and on sponsorship opportunities.