Sponsorship by Itself is Performative

Giving money to an LGBTQ+ org or event is a great way to support our community, but it can’t be the only thing your company does. 

Check out this ep for guidance on navigating sponsorship to support DEI. 

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Show Notes:

Welcome to part nine of my series LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace. On the previous episode, I talked about the importance of knowing exactly what to say and do when someone at your company comes out as LGBTQ+ at work. Today, I will be talking about the importance of sponsorship. Sponsoring an LGBTQ+ organization and or event is a great way for a company to uplift our community and to demonstrate its own inclusion efforts.

A good rule of thumb here is for this to be an annual thing that a company does. So at least once a year, not just a one-off thing, but part of your ongoing efforts. This is a win-win here on the one hand you're helping to fund an LGBTQ+ advocacy group that is good in and of itself. And bonus, it also looks really good for your organization, too.

It could be the start of potential future collaborations. It helps support recruitment of Queer talent and strengthening your Queer and allied customer base. Now, earlier in the days of DEI or diversity, equity and inclusion. Sponsoring an organization was often all that was done and like, it's not like it was ever okay.

But back then it was kind of more acceptable and more revered, like, oh wow. You're sponsoring a Queer organization. Like that's so woke. That's such a big deal. That no longer flies. So yes, this is one of the things that you should be doing, but it can't be the only thing. That's why it's one out of the 10 essential inclusion components.

So do the rest of the other 10 as well, or even do some of them. And then you can answer to people who are saying, oh, you're just throwing money at an organization for performative allyship, cuz that's how it can look. And we as Queer people and people who work for Queer organizations, we're kind of used to that.

We're like, oh, gotcha. Okay, cool. You thought you could just kind of give somebody to an organization and then you're done since we're kind of used to that. We're kind of on the lookout for it, even when it's not actually what's going on. So this way, you can have an answer to that. No, this isn't the only thing that we've done.

This is one of the things that we've done, and we think it's very important to sponsor an organization. And here are the other inclusion initiatives that our organization has also done. So how to participate in sponsorship. First off, not only could you contribute financially to become a sponsor, you could table at a pride event.

If you're actually there, there's more of a presence. There's more of an effort being done to actually show people like it's more than just money to us. We're actually here. We're part of this event. We're part of the work that is happening and bonus. You also get more content here and kind of like more social proof to show people what you're doing for me as a consumer and as a professional, this is something that I want to be able to see.

I want to be able to go onto a company's website and see that the work that they're doing, I want to be able to go on their social media and see the inclusion work that they're doing. So it's not like you're not like just doing it for the gram. It's not that that's just sort of a bonus if you're actually there and being a part of it and attending in person and tabling show people that work that you're doing.

In addition to tabling, you could also purchase sponsorship at a pride event at any LGBTQ+ focused event. Many organizations will have an annual sponsor package that you can be a part of. And usually that entails dedicated sponsorship for one of the events that they're gonna host that year. My recommendation is to find an organization that does similar work to yours.

And if applicable, that's also in your region, that way you can support local organizations and the partnership would be more fulfilling for both parties. If it's actually related to the work that you do. There's more potential for future collaboration and it also doesn't seem so random. Hey, everyone, Eric here with a question for you.

What's your company's inclusion score if you're like, um, I don't know. How do I measure that? Don't worry. I've got you. I've created a free checklist of the 10 essentials. Your organization needs to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community. It only takes a few minutes to discover your score and you'll get practical ways to make it higher.

Hashtag winning to level up your diversity, equity, and inclusion. Head over to Be Proud With Eric dot com slash inclusion checklist. Now in addition to sponsoring the event, it's really important again, to publicize this work that you're doing both internally and externally. Let the people that work for, you know, about where you're putting your company name and where you're spending your company money, let that be a part of your email, blast out your monthly newsletter.

However, that is that you communicate to your people. And also external, let this be known because again, like this is good work that you're doing. You're not doing it just to look good. But if other people can't see it, they have no way to know about it. And to put this into some context, I had someone reach out to me recently from an organization asking for me to partner with them now, to be clear, they weren't asking me, Hey, we want your hell to increase our inclusion.

We want to hire you that wasn't the case. They wanted me to join a project of theirs and sort of put my name to it and put my time to it and be a part of it. And the very first thing that I did was I looked them up. I went on their website. I found no mention of working with the LGBTQ+ community. I went to social media again, I found nothing and I brought this up with them on the initial interest call.

I said, Hey, I've done some research and can't find anything that your company has done to support my community. And that's who I am. That's also the work that I do. So I'm not gonna put my face a name to your company unless I can see the work that you're doing. I'd rather not have to do that. I'd rather no one have to do that.

I would rather it just to be a known thing and part of the conversation and part of the visibility, that's also really important for representation, and then you're taking the guesswork out and it should just be a known thing that anyone who's looking into your company can see and can know about. So this is a great way to do that.

It will mean a lot for your LGBTQ+ staff and consumers, to know that you are recognizing and supporting our community. And it's also good for anyone who supports DEI to see that work, as well as consumers, Queer people, we do our research. We spend our money at businesses that support us. We wanna work for companies that have demonstrated inclusion for us.

We want to be a part of those organizations. And if we don't see anything that speaks to that one, that's problematic on its own because it's showing that the company doesn't understand the importance of representation for marginalized groups, and we are not welcomed. In the world and in the workplace and in professional settings by default.

So we need to see that work that companies are doing. We need to see those inclusion efforts, let them be known. So what to do with this information, if you're out there and you're like, okay, yes, sponsorship. It does sound helpful. These are great ideas. Why we're down to implement them. Why not? Hey, if you want to, you could take this information, go forth on your own secure, an organization to sponsor.

You'll be increasing inclusion. You'll be elevating my community. I'm cool with that. Or if you want my help, I can do the legwork for you to help secure sponsorship opportunity. I'm very active in my community. I love volunteering. I've worked for so many LGBTQ+ organizations. These are people that I know these are my friends.

And so I would love to be able to help them out and help you out in the process. So I already have a long list of organizations that if you're like, okay, we are down for a sponsorship. Well, we don't quite know who to do that with. Can you gimme some ideas? Absolutely. Here's another good point if I'm involved and I'm the one that's curating your sponsorship opportunity that already gives you some cred with these organizations that you might wanna work with, because remember they don't just want anyone to sponsor them gone.

Are those days organizations are not just like, oh, okay. If you have money to give us, we'll take it. They have so many people that want to do that now that they get to be more selective. So similar to how a company reached out to me wanting to partner. And I was like, uh, what do you all do for us though?

I'm the one that's reaching out to them. Hi, I'm Eric. I'm a Queer person. What I do is help businesses to be more inclusive. That already helps get a foot in the door for you. So I'm happy to be that person and be that facilitator. Now, of course, this is part of my LGBTQ+ inclusive certification program for businesses.

So if you're participating in that program, securing your sponsorship is already gonna be built into that. If you found this information helpful and you just want to start with having me help you secure a sponsorship opportunity, holler at your boy. We can just do that part. All right. D thank you for tuning in and for hearing about how sponsorship can benefit your organization as well as Queer companies.

Talking about, this has to be thinking about different events and festivals and networking, all things which I love to do. So this is exciting for me. And I love thinking about the prospect of getting to be a part of this for so many of you out there. The next and final episode in my workplace inclusion series will be focusing on the dos and don'ts of organizational partnerships.

I look forward to connecting with you again there. Until next time, stay proud.

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