May 30, 2002 | Read Time: 1 minute
Nonprofit organizations that are looking for corporate sponsors for their events and companies that are looking for events to support now have a place to find each other online.
The new site, IEG SponsorDirect, lists sponsorship opportunities and allows companies to browse them at no charge.
The company that runs the site, IEG SponsorDirect, in Tarrytown, N.Y., will pay for the service by charging charities 2 to 6 percent of the amount they receive from a corporate sponsorship that results from the listings.
IEG SponsorDirect also charges organizations to enhance their listings, such as by adding photographs or logos or using bold or highlighted text to call attention to their listings.
The highest-profile companies and organizations running events find each other through existing relationships, according to Mark F. Rockefeller, chief executive officer of IEG SponsorDirect. “Coke knows how to find NASCAR,” says Mr. Rockefeller, the son of former Vice President Nelson A. Rockefeller.
The process for finding corporate sponsors for lower-profile events and causes, especially at the local level, has been much more random, and is often the result of the company and the event “stumbling across” each other, he says.
IEG SponsorDirect will focus its attention on these lower-profile sponsors and events, which the company sees as the greatest potential market for its services, says Mr. Rockefeller.
“We’re trying to facilitate relationships that otherwise never would have materialized, because the barriers in place of these buyers’ and sellers’ finding each other are so enormous,” says Mr. Rockefeller. “It’s like finding a needle in a haystack.”
To get there: Go to http://www.iegsponsordirect.com.
