When the word sponsorship comes up the first thing I think most people think about is charities or other non-profit organizations like that. These are bigger groups that companies often extend out a hand to in order to help them out by sponsoring them.

This leads to a win-win situation for both because the sponsorship gets additional money and attention and the company gets some good publicity, but there are other things you can sponsor, and other ways to draw attention to yourself through this style of marketing.

A local company is going to have access to a lot of different things within their community to sponsor. You might go for a little league team or you might find some other local event you can lend a helping hand to. Maybe there's some kind of awareness program where you can pay for the brochure printing for them so they can get their message out to people.

For things like this there are two different ways to go. The first is the sponsorship that has a specific connection to your business. These will be along the lines of a grocery store of some kind helping out with a poverty program to keep people fed. You can match donations made, or just encourage people to buy cans of food to donate in your store.

These kinds of sponsorships can do wonders to directly promote your business because of the strong link between the event and you, but not all businesses have this as an option.

The second is a sponsorship that has nothing to do with your specific business, but where you can still get your name out there. Little league teams are a great example, just like on the larger scale you have something like Nascar racing. The company name is easy to see to let people know about the sponsorship.

But let's go beyond organizations to events instead. Ever considered sponsoring a seminar or workshop related to your field? You can get brochure printing done to hand out to people at a tradeshow telling them about a big seminar you have coming up.

These are going to work best when specifically related to your field. These can help you make a name for yourself as a leader in your industry, an image solidified by the fact that you're willing to host something like this. You can alter a lot of your marketing to fit in with the event, and further connect yourself with the idea of leading your industry.

Each one of these has clear strengths and benefits to the company doing them. You'll have to decide what you think could work best to improve your company and your image. Just be sure that you pick something that can help you in some way, and that can work well within your industry.