Sponsorship Policy

Introduction
Beaulieu College is now established an increasingly strong brand and positive reputation in the marketplace.

Our target markets predominantly comprise parents/pupils and internal staff who represent the “upper” Lifestyle Measure Categories (LSM’s ie LSM 9, 10 and Super Group). These LSM’s include a grouping with high disposable income and are hence attractive to many suppliers of goods and services.

In the light of this, it stands to reason that the school would be approached by organisations who seek to align their brand with that of BC. This association grows top-of-mind awareness of their offerings within our market. Top-of-mind, of course, is critical in making purchasing decisions eg if MTN is a school sponsor, they would tend to have a better share of mind amongst our target, than Vodacom or Cell C.

Since this association with corporates is predominantly by way of sponsorship, there is also an “emotive connection” created between our market and the sponsor. Invariably, the sponsor has, in some manner enhanced/beautified/facilitated something within the school context or environment, which benefits the school. Yet not the school only! Sponsorship is founded on the basis of mutual value. The sponsor requires and gains something in return for their investment.

Sponsorship – The Bigger Picture
Our philosophy regarding sponsorship is not “cast in stone” as the school is young and many things change over time. Our policy should hence be seen as a “living document” guided by defined parameters.

Overall, we want all sponsorship agreements/arrangements to conform to or be aligned through the following guidelines. These guidelines will be managed by a Sponsorship Committee which has now been established within BC.

Sponsorship Committee
Use of the school logo, in any way, whether in or out of a Sponsorship Agreement must be approved by the Sponsorship Committee. This is to entrench good CI Governance. This has now been set up comprising of the following team:

Note: Once the Sponsorship Committee has agreed the “terms of engagement” with a sponsor, these must “physically” be signed off by the Head. The managing of the process is the responsibility of the staff member who is seeking to secure the sponsorship.

i. Sponsorship Types
Each sponsorship opportunity will be evaluated by the Sponsorship Committee, taking the following into account:


 * Sponsorship category – cultural, educational, sporting, other
 * Local or international
 * Length of time – seasonal or longer term
 * Financial value
 * Sponsor requirements
 * Extent of exposure
 * “Position” of exposure (eg on buildings, rugby posts, kit, tog bags etc)
 * Positioning and size of sponsor logo (which will vary dependent on whether it is on signage, merchandise etc)
 * Potential conflicts with other sponsors already within the BC stable
 * Association/relationship with school (eg parent)
 * Brand alignment of sponsor brand and BC’s ie are they aligned? eg Smirnoff and BC would not be!

ii. Sponsorship Restrictions
The intention, at all times, is to connect with sponsors in a subtle and up-market manner. At no time do we want the sponsor’s logo overwhelming the BC logo, nor do we want to apply loud, garish colours. In certain instances we may well request that a non-complementary colour logo be applied in white as opposed, for example, to magenta!

There will be no restriction in terms of embroidery vs screen-printing onto fabric – however it is essential that quality be maintained at all times.

“Conflicting” sponsor logos eg Vodacom/MTN/Cell C will not be permitted.

The general rule is, regarding sports’ merchandise is that sponsors’ logos will not be allowed on school TOPS where this represents official kit. On kit, sponsor logos can appear on the BOTTOM part of the tracksuit ie PANTS, on caps and on the normal school tracksuit (top and pants). Sponsor logos, within BC’s Corporate Identity (CI) governance, can be used on sweatshirts, T-shirts, 1st team sports bags etc.

Wherever possible, conflict between different sponsors representing “related sports” eg swimming and water polo, should be avoided.

On signage, from outdoor welcome/announcement boards to scoreboards, the sponsor logo may not dominate and overwhelm the BC logo from a size, colour or positioning perspective.

Either one or synergistic sponsors are regarded as ideal ie one sponsor looking after all boys and girls 1st teams or one sponsor looking after all drama-related activities etc.

iii. Documentation
Agreements/arrangements will vary in terms of nature of sponsorship (educational, cultural, sports etc), the duration, sponsor’/schools’ requirements, value etc.

It is essential that all Terms relating to the sponsorship be documented and that a formal agreement with the sponsor is signed. The document must cover the financial terms, VAT arrangements etc. A copy of such an Agreement is available from the Sponsorship Committee.

iv. CI/Sponsor Governance
BC has a CI Guideline in place. This governs the generic use and application of the BC identity. It pertains to the use of the logo ie size, position, application, dimensions etc. The guideline also manages the use of fonts or type faces which are acceptable in promotional application. Three font options are available, dependent on whether the application is “official”, “formal” or “fun”.

To ensure consistent identity usage, it is critical that the Committee approves a mock-up of all BC application. (This includes instances where the application is NOT sponsorship-orientated eg a group of councillors/PTF members elect to print their own t-shirts).

Colour usage in Pantone and CMYK application is also covered in this guideline.

You will note that certain more common applications are covered in the manual – but clearly not everything can be represented.

In the light of this, a line drawing/rendering, showing the sponsors’ application, must physically be signed off by the Sponsorship Committee. The sponsor must agree to the funding of good quality items/material.

C. Sponsor Database
Preference of sponsor, so long as the sponsor’s offer is commercially equitable, should be given to parents/community representatives.

Where applicable, sponsorship opportunities must be offered to parents via the school newsletter, prior to final contracting with an outside, non-school related sponsor.

Parents, companies, interested parties who identify themselves, or who are identified by pupils, parents and teachers, will have their details placed into a sponsor database, for future reference and/or approach.

This database will be managed by XYZ Committee?

D. Sponsor/Sponsored Merchandise Management and Tracking
So as not to “re-invent the wheel” with each new sponsorship requirements/season/opportunity, the Sponsorship Committee will be responsible for the running and updating of a guard book.

The purpose of the guard book is to ensure that there is a complete record and history of all aspects pertaining to interaction and engagement with a sponsoring company.

A copy of the contract, photographs of sponsored items, names of suppliers, cost estimates and quantities etc will all be recorded within the guard book.

This, over time, will allow for easy reference and enable quicker, easier and more effective decisions regarding sponsor companies and terms &amp; conditions of the sponsorship agreement.

It is the responsibility of the relevant teacher to forward photographs, copies of documents etc to the Committee.

E. Points To Remember

 * All merchandise, signage etc, for purposes of CI management, will be approved by the Sponsorship Committee
 * The Sponsorship Committee convenes on an “as and when” basis. Should you require approvals, please advise the school marketing co-coordinator who will facilitate the meeting
 * The Sponsorship Committee is solely responsible for governance. It is the responsibility of the teacher/staff member to find suitable sponsors, to engage them by way of contract supplied, and then to finally sign-off all aspects, once approved by the Committee, plus management of the back-end process
 * CI guidelines may not be deviated from ie the sponsor may not elect to change type face, size of logo etc without approval
 * Many SA and international Copyrights are in place – use of a cartoon eg Goofy, Madam and Eve etc on a T-shirt can lead to infringement and prosecution
 * From time to time, sponsor management companies may approach BC ie they are able to introduce a selection of sponsors in various areas. Such an approach should be managed in the same way that an individual company may approach BC, by way of the Sponsorship Committee