Have you ever thanked a sponsor from the stage? Did you pay careful attention to your wording? Probably not, right? Probably you were just happy to have the whole event over with. However, in this article, I’m going to tell you what you can say and what you should not say from the stage at your next fundraising event.
One of the things I’ve been learning about is the risks you run when you have sponsorships from corporations.
Here is the thing you’ve probably already done to jeopardize your sponsorship
When you thanked your sponsor from the stage, did you say “Thank you to X corporation for sponsoring us” or did you say, “Thank you to X corporation who is the BEST accounting firm in the world!”
If you said the former, you have no problems.
If you said the latter, you have a problem. You’ve just endorsed them, which means that their sponsorship is no longer 100% tax deductible, and it’s going to be a big headache for them.
Don’t give benefits until you have the contract!
If you need more information about what is allowed and not allowed in your state, check out http://NASCOnet.org.
Also check out IRS Publications 1771 “Charitable Contributions” and 526 “Charitable Contributions”.
If you’d like even more sponsorship support, check out my e-course on sponsorships, starting July 25th!
