We obtained sponsors for about 85% of our furnishings. They are listed on our site but the biggest benefit is that people love to shoot pictures within the space and then post them, and then their friends/followers ask about the sofa/rug/light fixtures.
We also tell the sponsors they can throw an event in the space (like a product launch) or otherwise do something for our members. Our membership truly is our most valuable thing to offer so getting in front of them is a draw for our sponsors, and we guide them as to what kind of events are appropriate. For example, our lighting sponsor is hosting a launch party for a new line made in collaboration with a local designer. The party is for our members only and also includes a panel discussion about creative collaborations, which is part of our purpose and charter. Rena Makeshift Society, SF On Nov 6, 2012, at 10:26 AM, Shenoa Lawrence <[email protected]> wrote: > I'm also curious to hear other space manager's perspectives on this. We > started out with a few sponsors right out of the gate when we opened in June, > under a "one-time only" availability, called the Founding Sponsor. These are > companies we'd developed relationships with who wanted to support our vision > from the get go. We have a special level of acknowledgement for them, the > Wall of Fame, where they appear alongside a list of Founding Members. We > asked for $500, and some gave that and others gave up to $1500. For those > who gave more, we made up benefits as we went along, extra day passes, > t-shirts (to be printed, of course), etc. This was not as well thought out as > I would have liked, but it's what we did, and our sponsors seem happy with > it. I think that's because we try to involved them as much as possible, > offering a year of Basic membership with the sponsorship gave us the excuse > to have them coworking with us occasionally and be involved with events. > > One other sponsorship option we have is the "Internet Sugardaddy" - one of > our member companies bought us 6 months of business class internet, they > receive acknowledgement on our wifi login page and in a few other spots. > > So far, involvement has been our guiding principle. I'm in the middle of > retooling our sponsorship options, so that's why this comment intrigued me. > I'd like to continue the involvement aspect, but I feel like I'm looking for > a more robust sponsorship options set, without going into the realm of > plastering logos all over our space. > > Shenoa Lawrence > Room to Think > http://rm2think.com > -- > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > > -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com
