$630-Million Spent on Sponsorship Deals

According to a new report, companies spent $630-million last year on marketing deals that benefit charitable causes — 16 per cent more than they did in 1998.

The report, released annually by IEG, a Chicago consulting company, tracks corporate sponsorship arrangements with both commercial entities and charities; such deals generated a total of $7.6-billion last year, an increase of 12 per cent. The company projects that another double-digit increase of 14 per cent, to $8.7-billion, will occur this year.

For charities, the marketing deals consist of companies’ sponsorship of charity events, promotions in which a company pays a royalty fee for the use of a charity’s name or logo on its products, and arrangements in which a charity gets a portion of the proceeds from the sale of certain products.

In addition to the $630-million spent on charitable causes, many non-profit groups also benefited from corporate deals involving arts groups, which generated $460-million last year.

For a free copy of “Sponsorship Industry Projections,” contact IEG, 640 North LaSalle, Suite 600, Chicago 60610-3777; (800) 834-4850; ieg@sponsorship.com.