Counterpart

The counterpart is what the sponsor receives in exchange for its funding: visibility (logo, mention, page), access (invitation, contact), a service (consulting days). It is what distinguishes sponsoring from a donation.

What it is

Without a counterpart, funding is a donation. With a proportionate counterpart, it is sponsoring. The counterpart must be described, dated and delivered: it is the basis of the contract, what the invoice pays for, and what the final report checks. It is not a courtesy of the sponsored party, it is the very object of the agreement.

A counterpart is recognised by three questions: what (a logo, a page, a day), where (on which medium, at which place), when (from which date, for how long). A line that answers all three is a counterpart; a line that does not is an intention.

The families of counterparts

Visibility: logo, name, profile, dedicated page, mention in a campaign, presence on printed media
Access: invitation to an event, meeting with the supported associations, direct contact with the teams
Service: consulting days, an hour of strategy, an offered training, reusable content (photos, texts, report)
Proof: a report documenting all of the above, reusable by the sponsor in its own communication

How it is measured

Each counterpart has its proof: a screenshot of the logo in place, the link of the dedicated page, the date of the thank-you campaign, the attendance sheet of a consulting day. These proofs are gathered as you go, not at the end: that is what makes the final report quick to produce and impossible to dispute. The article Measuring the visibility of a social sponsoring proposes a model dashboard.

Pitfalls to avoid

The vague counterpart: "visibility on our media" says neither where, nor when, nor for how long
The forgotten counterpart: the logo promised for go-live and placed six months later, without anyone checking
The disproportionate counterpart: a mere mention against a large amount, which looks like patronage and is taxed as such
The counterpart that commits the association beyond its mission: a sponsor does not buy a say on the activity

In Kern4Good

Each pack lists its counterparts: mention in the thank-you campaign, logo in the partners section of the websites, profile, promotional campaign, dedicated page, exclusive label, service days at KERN-IT, an hour of strategic advice. They add up from one pack to the next, they are written on the Companies page, and the end-of-cohort report checks that each one was delivered. If a counterpart is missing, KERN-IT delivers or replaces it, and the report says so.

Can a counterpart be in kind?

Yes: consulting days, a training, access to an event. In Kern4Good the Impact and Association Sponsor packs include service days at KERN-IT and an hour of strategic advice.

What if a counterpart is not delivered?

The end-of-cohort report says so, and KERN-IT delivers it or replaces it with a counterpart of equivalent value. The programme's transparency rests on that.

Must the counterpart be proportionate to the amount?

Yes, that is what makes a sponsoring and not a donation. A logo on five websites against 1 000 EUR is proportionate; a mere mention against 10 000 EUR is not, and the agreement would look like patronage.

Can tailor-made counterparts be negotiated?

Yes, for a free amount or a whole cohort: region, theme, event, content. They are written before signing, with their date and their proof, like the others.