The Links Between Objectives and Function in Organizational Sponsorship

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a postal survey of 54 large companies who use some form of sponsorship in the UK. The main purpose was to examine the links between the objectives of sponsorship, and the main types of sponsored activity and to achieve an insight into which organizational functions are responsible. The results indicate that functional objectives for sponsorship generally differ, and that this is reflected in the choice of sponsorship activity. However, the primacy of the corporate image objective is manifest. The number of arts and sports events sponsored are about the same for all organizations, but arts sponsorship is mainly a public relations activity. The marketing function is most concerned with sports sponsorship. Community sponsorship is still commercially unimportant.