7. Sponsorship Outcomes

To assist in my effort to garner the support of Korea / Australian corporates I had developed a detailed prospectus outlining the sponsorship opportunity, the benefits of engagement and the opportunities for co-branding and cross promotion.  I provided a demographic segmentation of likely visitors to the gallery to assist the sponsor in identifying reach and possible market exposure.

I’d gone to lengths to position the content with the reader in mind so that a non-arts professional could easily interpret and get a sense of the exhibition content, understand our cross-cultural objectives and how the project might appeal to their Australian and Korean market base.  I had tied myself in knots putting this document together and in the end I was feeling quite proud of myself!

Having made initial contact by phone and email with several CEOs, General Managers and Marketing Executives I was excited one day when I received a return phone call from the Managing Director of one large Korean based, multi-national mining company.   “Mr Woo”, I said, “Thank you so much for returning my call.” I then immediately launched into my spiel about how great the exhibition was going to be, and how we’d like to work in partnership with his company and promote continued successful dialogue between Australia and Korea etc etc.  After minutes of listening patiently to my banter Mr Woo gently broke into my conversation.  “Michael, I don’t want to sponsor your exhibition.  But I would like to make a donation.” 

In the end, Mr Woo generously contributed thousands of dollars to the exhibition.  Of course I was thrilled, but also somehow disappointed that I couldn’t help him to leverage some benefit from sponsoring the project.

I was also fortunate to secure the sponsorship of a financial services organisation.  The opportunity appealed to them, not because of the lofty ideals of our Australian / Korean content, but because of the unique corporate hosting opportunity presented by a partnership with Gertrude Contemporary.  Accustomed to sponsoring blockbuster exhibitions in guilt edged, flagship institutions, this organisation was keen to be associated with an exhibition that was a little ‘edgy’.

The exercise taught me that despite best intentions, you’re not always able to perceive the needs of sponsors or benefactors.  Sure you need to do your homework, make a considered and well articulated pitch and press the pavement.   But you also need to remain open to new ideas and possibilities – and never give-up hope of eventually making a break-through.