My French consideration of sponsorship…

To be honest, I have never had any experience in the sponsorship world. I only know that it exists, I only know some rudiments.

In France, most of the sponsors work with sportive events, rarely with cultural ones. Indeed, when companies take part in a cultural event by giving money, it is mainly through mécénat, rather than sponsorship strictly speaking. The difference is in line with the advantage you can get if you are a sponsor or a mécène. A sponsor invests money to be seen during the event and actually to create an image and make the most of that investment in a long term. Whereas, in theory, a mécène does not wait for direct advantages from his donation. It is a disinterested act.

I said “in theory”, because I think it is not as simple as it seems. Firstly, when you donated as a mécène, you can get some fiscal advantages (discount on your taxes on profits). Secondly, as a matter of principle, most of the cultural events organizers make mécènes visible, through logotypes, public thanks… And, in fact, company takes advantage of this communication.

I can give you a recent example, which involves the most well-known French museum : Le Louvre. In the hope of acquiring the Lucas Cranach’s painting, named The Three Graces (late Renaissance) and listed as a National Treasure, Le Louvre launched a campaign of mécénat, on November 13^rd 2010, in order to gather 1 million euros (the last sum it needed to acquire the painting. The complete necessary sum was 4 millions). Anyone was able to donate any sum he wanted to.

At the end, the million has been gathered in only one month, thanks to 26 companies and more than 5 000 private individuals.

The reason why I know how many companies participated is that they appeared on the official website of the campaign (http://www.troisgraces.fr/EN/#/home). It is already a form of communication for these companies which, in theory, did not want to enjoy direct advantages…

Moreover, Le Louvre will organize a special exhibition, for one month, from March 2^nd to April 4^th 2011, in order to thank all the contributors. The painting will be shown in a room where donors will be named and introduced to the audience.

I think the giver companies got a considerable communication and fame since they participated in this project, even if they were just mécènes.