Business to Arts asked Aoife Flynn, Head of Audiences and Development at IMMA, a few questions to help shine a light on their sponsorship activities
Briefly describe your activities with your main corporate sponsors. Why do they work for IMMA? How have you developed them?
We have four main multi-year sponsors – Goodbody, Matheson, Hennessy and The Dean Dublin. They each work with us in very different ways and each support different elements of the programme. Hennessy support the purchase of new Irish work for the IMMA Collection, Matheson support the production of new work at IMMA, both Irish and International through commissions, workshops and exhibitions; Goodbody support IMMA 1000; which is a fund that supports our work with Irish artists through residencies, acquisitions and commissions, and The Dean Dublin are our hospitality partners giving us a home from home to host artists, curators and other supporters. We also work with Credit Suisse and BNP Paribas as the ‘Freud Circle’ to specifically support the Lucian Freud works at IMMA; a landmark resource of fifty art works for Ireland on loan until 2021, and our major events partners O’Hara’s Irish Craft Beer – an excellent independent Irish company who support hospitality at our openings and events.
IMMA is considered a strong sponsorship rights-holder (based on Business to Arts research for the Arts, Festival and Music Sponsorship Summary Reports), what do you think makes IMMA a leader?
The sponsorships are successful from an arts point of view because all of our partners are genuinely bought into our vision and want to support Irish art and artists. Our sponsors trust that IMMA is making the right decisions, and are not seeking to dictate or input to artistic programming. We won’t compromise artists and their work and our sponsors have a mature understanding of that.
When prospecting for sponsors, we really sought out that quality – looking for partners that aligned with the programme, not aligning the programme to sponsors. They are all forward-thinking companies who really understand the value of contemporary artists to a thriving and mature economy.
When developing an offering, we look at certain things we want to do in the programme, and see what areas might be suitable for a partnership. Based on the opportunity, we determine what kind of company are we looking for – what sector/company might be interested in it. For example, when looking at our youth programme, we need to ask if branding is suitable, and if so, what kind of products/companies are the right fit.
What business objectives are you seeing from your sponsors, and how do you report on the impact the relationship has had on meeting these needs?
Different partners have different needs and different ways of measuring their relationship. For some it is primarily a CSR based relationship, for others an internal branding piece to staff and clients and for others still it’s an external branding piece. We work with each partner to try to establish what success looks like for them and set targets together that make sense for the partnership. This varies from the number of events held at IMMA, to the number of staff engaging with IMMA activities, to press mentions, number of artists supported or number of brand recognition opportunities realised.
What type of reports do you generate – soft/metrics/etc. and how often?
They’re all different, so it’s about finding their priorities to relay back in the report. In the pitching stage, the company is interested in demographics, but once they’re on board that audience info is a given, so they’re less interested in the demographic details.
For retail brands its often press mentions or brand recognition so press reporting/media monitoring that is key– if the partner has a media /PR company we know that’s a priority. Generally companies have their own media monitoring service and then we produce a visual report of all the times the logo was used. This is particularly useful over multi-annual relationships where branding can be taken for granted as it rolls out. Business to Business companies are often more interested in how their support is relayed to our donors and stakeholders rather than in blanket brand exposure to the entire audience.
There is responsibility on both sides to be clear about what the priorities are. It can seem daunting to do that, for fear of getting it wrong, or being tied into something onerous, but actually if you don’t capture those deliverables straight-on you waste time second-guessing what might be needed, running the risk of focusing on an area that is of interest to you, but not to your partner.
The frequency and scale of reporting can sometimes be determined by what the partnership value really means to them for their budgets. An amount that makes a huge difference to our budget may only represent a small % of their marketing budget for example. We usually report in detail every year, with a mid-year update and regular (quarterly) reviews.
What structure do you have for managing/maximising these relationships internally – do you have a dedicated team/staff member?
I’m the Head of Audiences and Development, and my department encompasses the Fundraising team and the Communications team. We also work closely with Visitor Engagement and our Programming colleagues, all of whom are vital elements in supporting a successful corporate partnership. Within the Fundraising team there is a dedicated Corporate Officer who works closely with me to maximise the benefits of corporate relationships for our partners and service those partnerships effectively.
To my mind marketing and development are intrinsically linked, so it makes sense that they sit in the same department. If you don’t have a strong brand, you won’t build strong relationships. If you’re talking about true, long-term partnerships, they’re looking for a clarity of vision and mission, and the brand must be one they want to attach their company to and can derive value from. Having an awareness and understanding of the partner organisation, makes the initial contact much more streamlined.
What are the major barriers/obstacles you face with developing your sponsorship portfolio?
Time and resources. Servicing a successful partnership takes a lot of human resource time and we are a small team. We have a portfolio of significant sponsors, and each relationship takes a lot of resources to maintain.
Do you have a minimum lead-in time for any potential new sponsor that you’re approaching?
No. It very much depends on the scale of the ask. A significant multi-year partnership takes time and understanding and can take over a year to develop. Smaller partnerships, or those that are focused on support in-kind, can happen much faster – in 3months or so. We are generally led in our timelines by print deadlines or deadlines around recognition opportunities. It also very much depends on the time of year and the budget planning cycle for Corporates.
For those shorter lead-in relationships, how do you make the approach, is it companies you already work with, or do you just look at suppliers for what you need?
Yes, we usually look at organisations that are known to us, or that we have a specific need for, to support with expertise and product/services. Connections might come from the production department – dor example we partnered with a Swift Scaffolding for a really ambitious outdoor project A Fair Land last year, because we needed their expertise as well as their product. It was a great opportunity for their staff to learn and gain new skill and I think they were interested in partnering with us as an opportunity to work in an unusual way; to stretch their own skills. Those kinds of relationships are often quicker to close because there is part payment, part in-kind products or expertise.
In what ways do you feel more corporate sponsors could be attracted to cultural sponsorship in Ireland?
We can be clearer about our vision and mission as organisations – why we do what we do and how it impacts on the society we live in. We can segment our offerings better. We can be more empathetic of the corporate day-to-day and what they need. The arts organisation needs to understand speak the corporate language, and vice-versa.
At a societal level, there could be a better understanding of the benefit of corporate relationships. To be confident in the vision that you have, to look for the right relationships that will work, and to have pride in those partnerships.
The lack of media focus, and mature conversation about the work that’s being done is part of the challenge. Simple things like media dropping a sponsor’s name from a project title if they don’t understand the importance of the relationship can be very damaging, to the need for more complex discussions about how arts are funded in this country and why companies might find value in those relationships.
