The Ancillary Opportunities Section of Your Cause Marketing Proposal

At the end of your cause-marketing proposal to prospective sponsors there should be a section called something like “Ancillary Opportunities.”

It’s the place where you add the other stuff that came out of brainstorming sessions which you can execute and which complements the principal part of the promotion.

Ancillary means ‘subordinate’ or ‘of secondary importance.’ But don’t think that just because ancillary opportunities are subordinate or secondary that you can leave this section out of the proposal.

For one thing, you may have spent a lot of time researching the target sponsor and still missed their hot button. Your proposal is meant to start the conversation, not finish it. So it’s possible, even common, for things to come out during your pitch that will open up new avenues of thought for you and prospect alike.

Remember, Hotmail was the second idea that Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith presented to Silicon Valley venture capitalists Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

The ‘Ancillary Opportunity’ section is also a place to showcase your creativity and generate trust in your capabilities.

And like the book title says, “You Don’t Get what You Deserve, You Get What You Negotiate.” In other words, you’re unlikely to secure the campaign element that you don’t raise in the proposal or otherwise address.

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