"The budget is tight this year. There is no money for incentives, new equipment or expensive programs."

These words are all too familiar to wellness managers. If austere resources are a problem for your program, it’s time to think outside the box.

Managers who have never sought corporate sponsors for their programs are overlooking a valuable potential resource. Even those who have used corporate sponsors often restrict their usage to some major event like a fitness challenge or health fair.

At some point, most managers have used the many resources available through non-profit associations (United Way, public health departments, etc.). Typically, the mission of non-profits is to raise awareness about some health or lifestyle issue. This is a form of sponsorship. And while the motivation to provide sponsorships is different for the organizations mentioned in this article, the principle is the same. It is just the methods that are different.

A corporate sponsor can be any business or organization that is willing to provide funds, services, resources or support in return for highly visible recognition from the company receiving its sponsorship donation(s). Potential corporate sponsors for worksite programs fall into four broad categories:

1. Current or prospective company customers

2. Current or prospective company sub-contractors, vendors, or strategic partners

3. Local businesses that would like to increase employees patronage

4. Traditional and complementary healthcare schools and agencies

Only you can identify and target your corporate customers and suppliers, but many local businesses represent opportunities for sponsorship (if you just ask!): medical equipment supply stores, pharmacies, local hospitals, rehabilitation centers, supermarkets, care centers for kids or senior citizens, health food stores, restaurants, movie theaters, movie rental stores, fitness centers, recreational facilities, theme parks, spas and sports apparel/equipment stores.

Whether the corporate sponsor is a customer or supplier of your organization or a local business, there are many ways to tap into their resources. Options to explore are:

• Door prizes or incentives that are either relevant to the event’s theme/message or highly valued by the target audience: For example, blood glucose monitors, blood pressure cuffs, jump ropes, exercise equipment, sports clothing, food scale, vitamins, sports/nutrition drinks, child safety seat, meditation tapes, free service(s) at a local spa, healthy prepared food choices from grocery store, fruit from a produce stand, limited time membership at a fitness center or weight loss center, dinner at a healthy choice restaurant, pass to a movie theater or local theme park, etc.
• Administrative support: manpower at events, secretarial support, collating program material or mass mail-outs, video/audiotaping, free use of equipment or a facility, etc.
• Financial support: It is important to be specific as to what the monetary support will cover, i.e., purchase of certain brochures, books, videos, office or audiovisual equipment; fees for a guest speaker or fitness instructor; printing; banners; posters; licensing of a turnkey wellness program, etc.

Many healthcare-related schools including nursing, public health, health education and dietitians have a community service requirement for graduation. Explore opportunities for internships within your company or manpower support for major events. If you need to accomplish a specific project; for example, screening healthy choices in vending machines or monitoring work stations for ergonomic problems, students may be the answer.

Complementary health schools often affiliate with their local state professional associations to raise awareness about their profession. An example would be massage therapy students providing worksite massages in connection with a stress management or injury prevention program.

What do all categories of corporate sponsors expect in return? They want to see their name used in marketing the program, displayed during the event and included in any other way possible. Make every effort to thank them publicly. Be sure to send them a sincere "Thank You" letter after the event or donation, preferably signed by the CEO or some other senior manager. Highlight the benefits your organization derived from their sponsorship.

March 4, 2010

Workplace Options conducted a survey to develop catered programs that uncovered job insecurity and financial stress as today’s main concerns.

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February 18, 2010

It is no secret among wellness managers that the most important key to the overall success of a wellness program is the support of senior management. And, the success of the Intel Health for Life 3 Step Wellness Check program is proof positive.

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January 28, 2010

The majority of wellness managers say their programs offer incentives to employees or members for participation. Some 76.6 percent of wellness professionals reported their program includes some form of formal incentives, found the results of the survey conducted by the Institute for Workplace Wellness and Health Promotion.

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January 7, 2010

Some 33 percent of wellness professionals responding to the "Wellness Professionals Salary and Benefits Survey" received a bonus, according to the results.

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December 17, 2009

How to motivate employees to get up and get active: Send them an e-mail message. That’s why a group of employees who were not regularly active before increased their participation in moderate intensity physical activities by almost an hour a week and decreased the amount of time they spent in sedentary activities.

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November 19, 2009

We have been spreading our wings by attempting to serve those interested in the workplace wellness and health promotion no matter where they are. While we are not using homing pigeons, we have established a presence on Twitter.

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November 5, 2009

The value of incentives for participation in workplace wellness programs has increased this year averaging $329, according to the results of a new survey of employers on the use of incentives in corporate wellness programs.

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October 22, 2009

Americans rank prevention as the most important healthcare reform priority, and overwhelmingly support increasing funding for prevention programs to reduce disease and keep people healthy, according to the results of a new survey.

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October 8, 2009

People are taking less care of their health as a result of the nation’s economic downturn by skipping doctor and dentist appointments, medications, and canceling gym memberships, according to the results of a new national survey.

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September 24, 2009

Corporate wellness programs and incentives can positively influence healthcare outcomes, said Augusta Martin, corporate vice president of MVP Health Care, at a meeting of the New Hampshire Association of Health Underwriters (NHAHU).

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September 10, 2009

Seventy percent of working adults think employers should offer programs that address important health issues such as diet, exercise, stress reduction, and how to manage chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, according to the study "Healthy at Work?" released by Rutgers University’s John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development.

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August 20, 2009

Underscoring the enormous strain that obesity places on our nation’s healthcare system and economy at-large, the National Business Group on Health (NBGH) called on Congress to make important tax changes to encourage employees to participate in employer-sponsored health and wellness programs.

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June 11, 2009

Essential as healthcare reform is, it will not be enough to close most of the gap between how healthy Americans are and how healthy they could be.

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June 11, 2009

Legislation which aims to fight the growing prevalence of chronic disease and improve the quality of life for the 135 million full- and part-time workers in the United States was reintroduced in both houses of the U.S. Congress.

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May 28, 2009

Poor health among workers is far costlier to U.S. employers than they realize, impacting their profitability and undercutting the nation’s overall productivity, according to a study by the Alere Center for Health Intelligence.

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May 14, 2009

Over 50 percent of wellness executives do not believe an adequate job is being done to educate senior management and employees on the value of wellness programs.

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April 30, 2009

Here at WellnessJunction.com we have been studying and following the trends toward the business uses and benefits of what is now called "social media."

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April 14, 2009

Sixty-five percent of workers say that their loyalty to employers would be improved or significantly improved by having a wellness program available to them, according to a poll by LifeCare Inc.

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April 2, 2009

The rising cost of chronic diseases, including direct medical costs and indirect costs associated with lost productivity, is a growing burden for businesses, according to research prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers in conjunction with the World Economic Forum.

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March 19, 2009

As an added service, your editors have created a Workplace Wellness Management on LinkedIn. If you are a LinkedIn member now, click here to join our group.

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March 3, 2009

As wellness programs grow in popularity, employees overwhelmingly see value in these healthy activities, but don’t stay committed to them, according to a  survey from the Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian).

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February 19, 2009

The term "disenfranchisement" usually refers to a segment of voters who feel their opinions have not been heard or that their needs aren’t being considered in some way by the government. Segments of your wellness program target audience can feel the same way if program planning does not consider their unique needs.

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February 5, 2009

Health management programs should be designed to retain employees, according to EmployeeWellnessUSA.com.

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January 22, 2009

Corporate wellness programs are best supported by individualized health coaching to drive lasting behavior change among employees, according to a white paper by Hummingbird Coaching Services.

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January 8, 2009

Americans may need a reality-check when it comes to their health. Though most Americans consider themselves to be in good health, according to Health and Wellbeing in America, a survey sponsored by CIGNA HealthCare and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports differently.

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