Ökosponsoring – mehr als eine neue Einnahmequelle? | Environmental sponsorship – more than a source of revenue?

With the current emphasis on the term “sustainable development” in society and politics, it is becoming more and more important and economically effective for a business to seek public recognition through its ecological and social services. This can be seen in the increased significance of environmental sponsorship. This is one method of marketing and financing an environmental project. With the financial contribution from sponsors, income can be generated and measures carried out which with the normal budget could not have been taken into consideration. However, environmental sponsorship goes a lot further than the provision of funds for an environmental service. A service bundle is marketed, which includes for example contractual rights for advertising, appearances in the media, the organisation of events or other exclusive rights for the sponsor. Through these a great benefit arises for all the partners involved. Since 1997 the City Forestry Service of Baden has carried out a number of successful environmental sponsorship projects. Altogether about 850 000 Swiss francs were collected which could be invested in nature and educational projects. This represents about 3–6% of the total turnover. Above all, experience shows that the new contacts established with commerce and society through the sponsoring projects are of great value. Through the additional activities of the sponsors within the framework of their project, such as events for customers, the distribution of brochures and advertising, they succeeded in making people attentive to the importance of forests and nature, who up until then had hardly addressed the issue, but were often employed in influential jobs in the economy, in society or in cultural activities.