Richard Woodward has expert knowledge of, and experience in, sponsorship and business development. As a seasoned facilitator, speaker, trainer, author and consultant, Richard specialises in helping organisations to attract and retain corporate partners.
Since his first experience managing a bowls sponsorship 37 years ago, Richard has worked in senior roles in leading organisations on both sides of sponsorship; on the corporate side as National Sponsorship Manager at Commonwealth Bank and Marketing Manager at KPMG and on the rights holder side as Sponsorship Manager at Sydney Opera House and Marketing Manager at Stadium Australia. These roles saw him managing sponsorships ranging from cricket and netball to ballet, festivals and community events.
Over the last 21 years, Richard has developed strategies and provided training and coaching to every sector that seeks sponsorship. He has worked with leading players in the worlds of arts, culture, sports, charities, events, music, environment, health and education as well as national and multinational corporations.
Richard is also a certified and highly experienced trainer presenting in-house workshops as well as public workshops across Australia. His workshops How to Attract and Retain Sponsors and Partners and Business Development That Works and books of the same name showcase a repeatable method and clear process that has been developed and refined through years of business experience across a variety of sectors.
His expertise has been widely recognised and he’s a popular speaker on sponsorships and partnerships, being asked to speak at events again and again, including at the Australian Sponsorship Marketing Association/Sponsorship Australasia conference on seven occasions, the Fundraising Institute of Australia (FIA) Conference on five occasions, the Big 4 Fundraising and Philanthropy Conference on four occasions, the Fundraising Institute of New Zealand (FINZ) Conference on three occasions, plus the Culture Business Conference in Sydney and Melbourne, Communicating the Museum in Paris, Audi Marketing & Corporate Communications Conference, Sponsorship News Conference, The Business of Events Conference, Associations Forum National Conference, International Not for Profit Convention & Exhibition (INCE), Professional Conference Organisers Association Conference, Asia Pacific Association Executives Congress (APAEC), Australian Business Events Expo (ABEE), Australian Events Symposium, Meetings & Events Australia (MEA) National Conference, Exhibitions and Events Association (EEA) Annual Conference and Events Queensland Regional Events Conference.
During his time at the Commonwealth Bank, the Bank won the Australian Financial Review National Sponsorship Awards in the sport category.
Richard's book How to Attract & Retain Sponsors & Partners was published in October 2017.
A robust approach to attracting and retaining sponsors and partners
To develop sustainable revenue from corporate sponsors for your organisation, you need the right strategy with a business development team that is equipped with the skills, tools, techniques and attitude to implement it.
Are you confident that your people have the specialist knowledge and insight to pursue corporate partners in a way which is methodical, repeatable, efficient and – most importantly – effective?
If your organisation has no clear plan in place to secure and retain corporate partners, you’re not clear on the value your organisation can offer a corporate partner, your team struggles to secure first meetings, your conversion rate is unsatisfactory and your existing corporate partners are demanding too much and not renewing, Richard can help.
Richard has developed a clear, robust and repeatable process to attracting and approaching prospects as well as retaining these relationships so that partners renew. Consulting with Richard is a highly personal, tailored experience that’s dependent on the particular needs and capacities of your organisation.
In this short video Richard discusses the key stages of the process for attracting and retaining sponsors and partners
What’s involved
Richard begins with a thorough briefing process so that he can understand your current approach to attracting and retaining corporates. This includes looking at what, if any strategy you already have in place, what’s working well, your organisation’s challenges and barriers to higher conversion rates, your team and their competencies, your current partners, plus a review of the sales materials you’re using to attract partners.
Richard will work with you to:
- Develop an effective strategy through facilitating workshops with key members of your organisation to engage and inspire them to reimagine what’s possible
- Help key members of your organisation understand exactly what the organisation has to offer corporate partners and who would most likely be attracted to partnering with your organisation
- Train and equip your team with the practical tools, techniques and skills of business development to implement the strategy
- Develop your sales materials to successfully engage prospects such as key facts documents, opportunity documents and proposals
- Provide ongoing coaching including invaluable feedback, brainstorming and reviewing of opportunities as they occur
- Run regular review sessions that bring your team together monthly, quarterly and/or annually, to share learning and provide additional coaching
- Be a recruitment panel member, to help ensure you recruit the right people to develop your organisation
- Facilitate corporate partners workshops as part of your partnership retention strategy as undertaken for Museum of Contemporary Art, Cerebral Palsy Alliance, Landcare Australia, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Ballet, West Australian Ballet, Redkite, Bond University, Screen Producers Australia, Learning Links and Royal Botanic Gardens.
As every client is different, there’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach. Some clients get immense value from a one-day in-house workshop version of Richard’s ‘How to attract and retain sponsors and partners’ public workshop, while others re-engage Richard year after year, as a trusted advisor and confidant.
Richard is well-regarded for his thorough approach to research and preparation, so the more background materials you can provide Richard before the first session, the better. Resources to send include strategy papers, proposals and evaluation reports.
Who should be involved?
Organisations that are most successful in attracting and retaining the right partners and sponsors involve the whole of organisation, particularly the program, marketing, and executive teams. By educating and engaging these teams about what’s required, the organisation will get a far better result.
Outcomes
Engaging Richard’s highly specialised sponsorship services means your organisation will have:
- Absolute clarity on what your organisation has to offer corporates
- A deep understanding on the types of corporations most likely to be attracted to what your organisation offers
- A unifying sponsorship plan that everyone in the organisation has bought into
- A repeatable process for use by everyone at your organisation at any time
- A business development team which has the competencies to execute your strategy
- Highly effective sales materials to successfully persuade corporates to partner with you
- A copy of How to Attract and Retain Sponsors and Partners for each team member
- Sponsors that want to stay and grow with your organisation year after year.
Get in touch
If you’re ready to secure the revenue your organisation needs to deliver its mission, services programs and events then inquire now about Richard’s suitability or availability by calling 0414 886 018, or fill out the form below.