Impact sponsorship: what companies look for, and what makes these partnerships possible

By Géraldine Heinen28 August 20268 min read

Brands are funding more and more projects with a social purpose in sport. Understanding their logic makes it possible to see clearly what a sports organisation needs to build to become a credible partner: a written strategy, an action plan, clear governance and regular reporting. Good news: that is exactly what it needs to protect its members properly.

1. A set-up that says a lot

During the UEFA Women's EURO 2025 held in Switzerland, Lidl, an official partner of the tournament, deployed an Awareness Team in every stadium, a team for watchfulness and welcome.

The set-up rested on three elements. Trained staff and experienced members of the Guardian Angels moved around the grounds. Posters with a QR code made it possible to contact this team discreetly, from any point in the stadium. First-line psychological support was available on site when the situation required it.

The brand presented this initiative by linking it explicitly to its social responsibility strategy, structured around health, equality and inclusion.

This detail deserves a pause, because it contains the whole mechanism of impact sponsorship. The company funded a service that benefits the public directly, and it did so because that service matched a pillar already written into its strategy. The project therefore found its place in a framework that existed before it.

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2. Why a company funds this type of project

A company that commits a sponsorship budget to a social project pursues several objectives at once, and it is worth naming them precisely.

It provides concrete proof of its commitments. A social responsibility strategy is made up of principles and objectives, which remain abstract for most audiences. A visible, dated set-up turns these principles into something that can be shown, filmed and told. The statement becomes an achievement.

It gains credibility with its customers. Consumers place their trust in brands whose commitment is expressed through actions that are situated, at an identifiable place and time. A project run with a respected sports organisation also benefits from the trust that organisation enjoys.

It mobilises its own teams. Lidl's set-up relied in particular on staff trained for the occasion. A company that offers its employees the chance to take part in a useful project strengthens their attachment and their pride in belonging, which counts more and more in human resources policies.

It feeds its non-financial reporting. The European framework invites large companies to report precisely on their social and environmental contribution. This obligation creates a very concrete need for projects whose effects can be described, quantified and documented. A well-built and well-measured action therefore becomes doubly valuable, since it serves both the commitment and the report. We detail this framework, and the GRI, CSRD, ESRS and VSME standards, in our article on sustainability reporting in sport.

It is part of a long-term approach. A project aligned with its strategic pillars can be renewed from one year to the next, which brings consistency to its communication and amortises the initial investment in designing the set-up.

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3. What a sponsor needs in order to commit

Understanding these motivations immediately sheds light on the expectations. A company considering funding a social project needs several things, and clarity comes first.

A simply worded objective. The manager defending the budget internally must be able to explain the project in two sentences to their management. A project whose objective is hard to sum up rarely gets past the approval stage.

Visible alignment with its own pillars. Every company structures its strategy around a few pillars, for example health, inclusion, equality or the environment. A project that explicitly connects to one of these pillars sells itself, whereas an excellent project that sits outside them requires an additional effort of justification.

A defined scope and responsibilities. The sponsor wants to know who does what, who decides, who carries the operational responsibility and exactly what its funding is used for. This clarity protects it as much as it protects the sports organisation.

Indicators agreed from the start. The number of people trained, the number of venues covered, the number of requests handled or the number of participants reached are simple reference points. They are defined before the launch, because an indicator reconstructed after the fact loses much of its value.

A report at the end. The sponsor needs a document that describes what was done, what it produced and what it suggests for the future. This report feeds its communication, its sustainability report and its decision on whether or not to renew the partnership.

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4. What makes these partnerships possible on the sports organisation's side

This is the point we want to highlight. A partnership of this kind is not built at the moment of the funding request. It becomes possible because the organisation already has a solid framework.

A written strategy

A company is glad to partner with an organisation whose commitment is written down, structured and made public. A safeguarding, integrity or well-being strategy formalised in a few clear pillars fulfils exactly this role. It tells the potential partner that the approach exists independently of them, that it rests on reflection and that it is part of a long-term effort. For a club or a federation, this formalisation often takes the form of a safeguarding policy.

This formalisation has an additional advantage. It allows the organisation to identify the companies whose strategic pillars overlap with its own, and therefore to approach the right contacts with an argument that is already aligned.

An operational action plan

A strategy indicates the direction, and the action plan shows the path. It describes the planned actions, their timeline, the people responsible and the resources needed (our 5-step toolkit offers a template).

This document plays a decisive role in the conversation with a sponsor, because it makes it possible to identify precisely what can be funded. A company then chooses an action, a year or an area, and knows exactly what its support fits into.

Clear governance

The partner wants to identify a designated person, understand how decisions are taken and know how sensitive situations are handled. Clear governance reassures, and it considerably speeds up implementation once the agreement is signed.

Regular reporting

This is the link that organisations most often underestimate, and yet it is the one that turns a one-off partnership into a lasting relationship.

Reporting means collecting a few pieces of data throughout the year, then presenting them in a readable document. The level of requirement remains reasonable: a few well-chosen indicators, tracked consistently, produce a far more convincing report than a long list of information gathered in a hurry.

Solid reporting opens three doors at once. It allows the current sponsor to showcase its commitment and renew it. It is the best proof to present to a future partner. And it gives the organisation itself a precise view of its own progress.

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5. The approach serves the organisation first

There is good news in all this, and it deserves to be said clearly.

The strategy, the action plan, the governance and the reporting are exactly what a sports organisation needs to protect its members properly. These elements serve first of all the quality of its work, the safety of the people who attend it and the peace of mind of its teams.

The fact that they also make it attractive to financial partners is an additional benefit, obtained without extra effort. The organisation builds its framework for good reasons, and that framework then opens up funding possibilities it could not have considered otherwise.

This is also what gives the relationship its balance. The organisation arrives with an approach that belongs to it, and the company chooses to support it. Each keeps its role, and the project gains in strength.

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6. To go further

At Actitude 360, we support clubs and federations in building this framework, from formalising the strategy to the action plan and the monitoring tools. We have designed this type of approach at the scale of a national federation, and we now adapt it to organisations of all sizes. To find out where your club stands, start with our free self-assessment.

If your organisation wishes to structure its commitment and give itself the means to report on it, we will be happy to discuss it with you. Contact us to talk about your project.

Sources: Lidl Switzerland, "Never stop growing" press release and review of the UEFA Women's EURO 2025 (in German); UEFA, stadium guide, Awareness Team.

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