Charity and sponsorship. Sponsorship assistance to an individual or budgetary institution

Introduction 3

Chapter 1.Corporate social responsibility 4

§1.1 Charity 6

§1.2 Sponsorship 9

Conclusion 15

References 16

Introduction

The main reason for increasing attention to corporate social responsibility of business in recent years is the increasing role of intangible factors of economic growth, directly related to the company’s business reputation. To succeed in the market, it is no longer enough to create a high-quality product; you need to be able to distinguish it from other similar products. This is achieved with the help of the Brand. In other words, social business becomes a profitable business. One of the most important components of such a business is sponsorship and charity, which will be discussed in this work.

Goal of the work– consider sponsorship and charity as PR tools for developing social responsibility.

Tasks:

Define the role of corporate social responsibility in the field of PR.

Describe sponsorship as one of the components of corporate social responsibility.

Consider charity as one of the elements of corporate social responsibility.

An object - corporate social responsibility.

Item– sponsorship and charity.

To write the abstract, only theoretical methods were used: study and analysis of literature and documents, generalization.

The literature that was used to write this work gives us an idea of ​​sponsorship and charity in general. PR specialists describe corporate social responsibility from different angles, going into various details, but the literature on this topic does not contradict each other; their authors mainly adhere to the same point of view. Corporate social responsibility is also regulated by law. Charitable activities by the Federal Law of August 11, 1995 “On Charitable Activities and Charitable Organizations”, and the relevant provisions of the Constitution and the Civil Code. Sponsorship is regulated by the Federal Law “On Advertising”.

Work structure: This work consists of three parts: an introduction, a main part that describes corporate social responsibility, and a conclusion. However, the main body has two paragraphs that describe sponsorship and charity in more detail.

Corporate social responsibility. Basic concepts.

“Corporate social responsibility, at its core, is a concept that reflects a company’s voluntary decision to participate in improving society and protecting the environment,” is the definition given in his article “The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on the Brand and Business Reputation of a Company” by M. Kulibin and V. Antonov. .

The main tools for developing corporate social responsibility today are sponsorship and charity.

You need to understand that sponsorship and charity, despite the fact that these terms are mainly used in pairs, since they are types of social responsibility of business, have different foundations. In order to understand the differences between these concepts, we present the definitions of each of them that are prescribed in the legislation of the Russian Federation.

Charity.“Charity activities are understood as voluntary activities of citizens and legal entities for the disinterested (free of charge or on preferential terms) transfer of property, including funds, to citizens or legal entities, the disinterested performance of work, the provision of services, and the provision of other support.” Federal Law of August 11, 1995 “On Charitable Activities and Charitable Organizations.” Charitable activities are also regulated by the relevant provisions of the Constitution and the Civil Code.

Sponsorship. The concept of “sponsorship” is disclosed in the Federal Law “On Advertising” and reads as follows: “sponsorship is the making by a legal entity or individual (sponsor) of a contribution (in the form of providing property, results of intellectual activity, provision of services, performance of work) to the activities of another legal entity or an individual (sponsored) on the terms of the sponsored distribution of advertising about the sponsor and his products. In this case, the sponsorship contribution is recognized as a payment for advertising, and the sponsor and the sponsored, respectively, are the advertiser or the advertising distributor.”

As we can see from the definitions, these two concepts are fundamentally different. First, the key word in the definition of charity is the word “free of charge.” Sponsorship services, on the contrary, involve a return on their contributions. Also, sponsorship is regulated by the Federal Law “On Advertising”, which already relates sponsorship more to advertising than to charity.

S. Levskoy, head of the public relations department of the International Moscow Bank, characterizes the differences between sponsorship and charity: “Real charity and sponsorship (not to mention advertising) are different things. Charity does not provide a return adequate to the invested funds: the investment in the construction of the temple, amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars, will never pay for itself from an economic point of view. Sponsorship, unlike charity, expects a tangible return on the money and effort spent.” .

However, M. Gundarin also mentions the similarities of these two concepts: “Both sponsorship and charity are united in the fact that these are instruments of social partnership aimed at bringing profit to the organization, albeit of an intangible (as in the case of charity) order . However, the last statement is not absolute: an organization that has a reputation as a philanthropist grows in the eyes of the consumer."

Thus, sponsorship and charity have different bases, but continue to be considered by specialists together as two parts of one mechanism. Now let's look at each of these concepts separately in more detail.

Charity

As we said earlier, charity does not directly bring material profit. First of all, it affects the business reputation of the company, which can subsequently lead to revenue. Our words are confirmed by M. Kulibina and V. Antonov, who note that today the role of intangible assets is high, their contribution significantly exceeds the main balance sheet assets and can amount to up to 90%. .

M. Gundarin identifies the following reasons why a company decides to engage in charity:

Participation in charitable events, events, support of charitable projects or organizations improves the reputation of the company and shows that it is a legal, recognized organization that stands firmly on its feet.

Charity is an indicator of reliability. As soon as a company ceases its charitable activities, clients realize that the company will soon collapse and stop using its services, buying its goods, and so on.

Thoroughness, legality, financial well-being - the indicator of all this is thoughtful and constant charitable activity. If a company is able to allocate a certain amount to support a charitable project, then the average person thinks that it has enough funds for commercial activities. And the average person becomes a potential client or business partner.

Participation in charity, especially in a small city, shows that the company cares about the city and its residents. This reduces aggression towards the company and private business in general, both from people and from the authorities.

Participation in solving social problems improves the internal climate in the team; decent and qualified people will work for the organization, for whom it is important not only to earn a lot of money, but also to be needed, recognized, fulfilled individuals. .

In the article “The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on the Brand and Business Reputation of a Company,” the authors note other points that distinguish a socially responsible organization from others:

The company is a responsible business partner, because only a company that plays “fairly” according to the rules of civilized business can be called socially responsible.

The company is a responsible employer because it acts in accordance with labor law standards and takes care of the working conditions and social well-being of its employees.

The company is a responsible citizen and participant in social relations, it pays established taxes and conducts its activities in accordance with established legislation, both locally and internationally. Also, the company fulfills not only the obligations that are assigned to it by law, but also assumes additional ones. .

All of these are the main factors that determine the value of a brand. M. Kulibina and V. Antonov define the concept of brand as follows: “A brand is a set of positive associations that appear among consumers in connection with the name, trademark and appearance of a certain product.” .

The state, of course, benefits from the development of socially responsible business. In order for companies to implement government programs and donate money to other social needs, the government of any country should adhere to the following principles:

Social and ethical marketing should be implemented at all levels of economic management, starting from the macro level and ending with the level of business entities.

the increase in consumer value, including social value, must be carried out consistently along the entire value creation chain in the process of formation and operation of a business, since the rate of growth of social effects depends on how unidirectional and interdependent all participants in business processes act.

The principles of social and ethical marketing must be observed at all stages of the business life cycle, that is, during its formation, operation and development.

Subject to the transition to management according to a process rather than a functional scheme, this condition presupposes the design of a management system taking into account the principles of horizontal and vertical integration. At the same time, social and ethical requirements are fulfilled more effectively, since they are taken into account systematically and comprehensively. .

At the moment, there are many different modern forms of charity, here are the ones mentioned by M. Gundarin:

Guaranteed percentage of sales

Sale of specially labeled products

Virtual assistance.

Celebrity participation

Long-range donations

Refusal of image costs.

Thus, charity helps in establishing emotional contact with consumers, which subsequently leads to specific competitive advantages and economic benefits. Charity contributes to effective corporate governance and the development of internal corporate culture, significantly greater stability in crisis situations and greater opportunities to restore market positions.

Sponsorship

Despite the rather long history of sponsorship, there is no single definition of this phenomenon. In this regard, different sources of information interpret this concept differently. In the article by B. Myslina “Typology of sponsorship and criteria for assessing its effectiveness,” several definitions are given at once:

Sponsorship is the provision of support (financial or otherwise) by a commercial organization to an event or activity in order to achieve its marketing objectives. T. Menaghan. [Cit. from: 3, p.327].

The mechanism of sponsorship is based on the borrowing of values, has both direct and indirect effects and creates a connection with the object of sponsorship on three levels - thematic, stylistic and symbolic. N. Wolford. [Cit. from: 3, p.327].

Sponsorship is financial support for an event provided in exchange for the opportunity to demonstrate the sponsor's logo to the audience. T. Oetker and P. Hayes. [Cit. from: 3, p.327].

An inevitable attribute of sponsorship is the risk associated with the unpredictability of its results. The issue of risk is especially relevant if the sponsored object is an individual whose behavior is extremely difficult to control, and some of his actions may adversely affect the image of the sponsor. S. Piquet [Cit. from: 3, p.327].

Sponsorship is any commercial arrangement under which a sponsor, for the mutual benefit of the sponsor and the sponsored party, provides funding or other support for the purpose of establishing an association between the sponsor's image, brands or products and a program or event, and acquires the rights to promote these associations and/or receives certain agreed upon direct or indirect benefits. International Code of Sponsorship of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC International Code on Sponsorship). [Cit. from: 3, p.327].

Sponsor is “a person who provided funds or ensured the provision of funds for the organization and/or holding of a sports, cultural or any other event, the creation and/or broadcast of a television or radio program, or the creation and/or use of another result of creative activity.” Sponsorship advertising is “advertising distributed under the condition of mandatory mention in it of a certain person as a sponsor. Federal Law “On Advertising”

The author herself singles out from all the definitions the one presented in the International Code of Sponsorship of the International Chamber of Commerce and explains her choice by the fact that it mentions the mutual benefit of all parties, the commercial nature of the shares and the two main purposes of sponsorship.

M. Nazarov, in turn, gives the following definition of sponsorship: “Sponsorship is the direction of resources of a company, organization or group of people, with the aim of carrying out activities that contribute to the achievement of the corporate, marketing or media objectives of the company.” .

In our work we will adhere to the definition given in the Federal Law “On Advertising”.

Unlike charity, sponsorship as a type of advertising can and even should bring material benefits to the sponsor. We also need sponsorship to create a brand. That is why we need to decide on a strategy that could bring us the most beneficial effect from sponsorship.

Selection of sponsorship objects.

The authors of various articles on sponsorship touch on the problem of choosing a sponsored event. And first of all, they agree that the sponsored event must be consistent with the company's strategic goals . Also, points such as similarity between the target audience of the sponsor and the sponsored , geographical scope and significance of the sponsored event , readiness of the sponsored party for creative cooperation , often coincide in different works. However, each of the authors also highlights other points that they believe are of great importance. For example, V. Myslina draws attention to the need proximity of the sponsored product and the sponsored event, However, she is well aware that in practice, companies mainly rely on their available budget or on the personal preferences of management.

M. Gundarin calls sports and culture the most profitable objects for sponsorship. Sporting events create unique advertising opportunities because the competitions receive extensive media coverage and sporting celebrities have a high degree of popularity. In addition, the company's advertising appears against the attractive background of youth, strength and health. Culture and art, in turn, attract sponsors due to their respectability.

Organization and execution of sponsorship

First of all, when organizing and executing image events to promote a brand, it is necessary that the upcoming event be well advertised. M. Tereshchenko calls this stage activation. At this stage, it is necessary to remember that the most important thing that an organization buys in a sponsorship package is the rights that need to be made to work for the brand. The author of the article insists that it is necessary to spend at least three times more money on activation than on purchasing a sponsorship package. .

Secondly, an important condition is the fact that the promoted brand must be completely present at the event, starting from advertising and souvenir products and ending with the very plot of the event and its name.

The event that an organization sponsors must attract an audience identical to the target consumer group of the product and have the same emotional impact as the brand, otherwise the sponsorship may have a negative impact on the brand image.

Also, the idea of ​​the event should be conceptual, and special events to promote the brand should take place regularly and be expected by the audience.

Models and methods for assessing the effectiveness of sponsorship

It is important to distinguish between the concepts of “effect” and “efficiency”. Effective communication is one through which the goal set before its initiation is achieved, that is, the desired and actual effects coincide. An effect can be called any process that communication generates.

Psychological effects.

The presence model suggests that the more often a visitor to a sponsored event sees the sponsor's logo or hears about it, the more positive emotions the sponsoring company evokes. However, this model works best for lesser-known brands, meaning it is especially effective when introducing a new brand to the market. This model will help the target audience become more aware of the sponsor and give the company status.

There is also a theory of congruence, that is, logical connection. It is important that the sponsored event and the promoted product correspond to each other. There are three levels of compliance:

thematic match – the closest and therefore effective direct match between the product and the sponsored object;

stylistic correspondence – there is no direct connection between the promoted product and the sponsored object, but they correspond to each other in style;

symbolic correspondence - initially there is no logical connection, however, since both the product and the sponsored object promote the same lifestyle, such sponsorship is still effective.

Social effects.

Sponsorship is a social phenomenon, as it implies mandatory interaction between individuals, and the company also acquires the image of a socially responsible market player who cares not only about maximizing profits, but also about the well-being of society.

The concept of social responsibility of business assumes that the company’s participation in any area of ​​public life has a beneficial effect on the attitude of the target audience, who are grateful for the support of an object that is important to them. This effect is stronger the more a person is involved in this event.

Marketing effects.

Sponsorship allows, first of all, to expand consumer knowledge about a brand and product - to demonstrate not only the name of the brand, but also what it is, to demonstrate the positive qualities of the product or services of the sponsoring company. .

Communication effects.

Impact stages:

Creating awareness– the simplest effect of sponsorship. Displaying a sponsor's logo in the context of a specific program increases audience awareness.

Transfer of emotional attitude. The emotions that arise in the audience in connection with the sponsored event are automatically transferred to the sponsor's brand.

Image transfer. The already established image of the event complements or transfers some of its characteristics to the brand image.

Ensuring inclusion. The audience's perception that “this brand is for people like me” is one of the factors in consumer behavior.

Company size effect. Sponsoring major events reinforces the target audience's perception of the sponsoring company as fairly large and stable.

Effect of perceived quality. If a company has the opportunity to sponsor special events, it becomes an indirect indicator for the consumer that the goods and services it provides are of high quality.

Reciprocity effect. All information that a person encounters is perceived within the context in which it is presented. If the message is related to a promotion that is of interest, it will be received more favorably. .

M. Gundarin believes that it is extremely difficult to assess the effectiveness of sponsorship. He attributes this to the fact that companies act as sponsors at the same time as other types of advertising and ways to increase their reputation. However, V. Myslina identifies three areas of efficiency analysis:

Economic efficiency assessment. Change in sales volumes. To be assessed correctly, sponsorship must be isolated from other marketing communications, but this is not possible. We can only be content with approximate data.

Assessing media effectiveness. Counting mentions in the media and assessing the market value of the advertising received. Methods: recording the time a brand or product is on a TV screen, taking into account what exactly gets into the frame and how noticeable it can be, assessing how many consumers potentially saw the brand, calculating the cost of a special event and comparing it with the price of direct advertising.

Assessing communicative effectiveness. Impact on the consciousness and behavior of the target audience. A survey of the target audience is necessary, which is divided into two groups: people who do not know about the event and people who attended it. It is best to conduct ongoing surveys and monitor the dynamics of changes in indicators. .

Sponsorship, as a type of advertising, must have a specific sample agreement that describes the specific details of the sponsored event. Sponsorship package - a list of sponsorship opportunities offered to a specific sponsor in accordance with the sponsorship structure of a specific event.

Sponsorship package.

Components of the sponsorship package for M. Gundarin:

Literary description of the project. A document compiled in the form of a popular article, highlighting those details that are most significant to the sponsor. The literary description determines the significance for the country, region, city or significant social groups, and also outlines the direction of advertising and PR for the project and for the sponsor as a whole.

Software description of the project. This document describes the venue, the project scenario, its time-based program, and lists the authors, organizers and participants of the action. It also contains characteristics of those people who offer cooperation to the sponsor, with reviews and recommendations.

Project support. This part of the sponsorship package indicates the names and evidence of support from government agencies, prestigious scientific and cultural institutions, charitable foundations, as well as famous and respected people.

Project budget. This document indicates the total cost of the project at maximum and minimum, expenses that must be covered by sponsorship contributions.

Sponsorship gradations. What kind of sponsor do companies propose to become in this project? Sponsorship gradations:

Title sponsor

The general sponsor

Official Sponsor

Sponsor participant

Sponsorship advertising and PR. The most detailed part of the sponsorship package, which includes the official part, namely: announcements of company names at events and presentations, speeches by top officials, logo and name of the sponsoring company on printed materials, souvenirs, and so on.

Media coverage. A document that includes media plans, preparation of television and radio programs, articles for newspapers and magazines, advertising booklets and brochures. The volume of advertising is fixed in contracts and corresponds to the sponsorship gradation.

Forecast of sponsorship effect. The calculation of the direct impact of advertising, the media audience, and the number of people who will see external advertising are indicated.

Thus, sponsorship affects the consciousness of consumers through a number of emotional and psychological mechanisms that are not characteristic of direct advertising, and is a more complex communication tool. The results of sponsorship cannot be quickly measured: the effect of events is long-term. Sponsored events work best for their image through the emotional involvement of participants.

Behindinclusion

We analyzed the work of several specialists in working with corporate social responsibility:

We defined the role of corporate social responsibility in the field of PR.

Sponsorship was described as one of the components of corporate social responsibility.

We considered charity as one of the elements of corporate social responsibility.

Managing a company's brand and business reputation is one of the most important areas of modern corporate management, because not a single company is immune from a scandal or an unfavorable market situation. Therefore, protecting a business by building a positive reputation is an important task. This is what corporate social responsibility is aimed at. It contributes to effective corporate governance and the development of internal corporate culture, significantly greater stability in crisis situations and greater opportunities to restore market positions. .

Bibliography

Gundarin M. Book by the head of the PR department: practical recommendations. 2nd ed., expanded. – St. Petersburg: Peter, 2009.

Kulibina M. The influence of corporate social responsibility on the brand and business reputation of the company / Kulibina M., V. Antonov // Marketing. – 2008. - No. 5.

Myslina V. Typology of sponsorship and criteria for assessing its effectiveness // Advertising. Theory and practice. – 2008. - No. 5.

Nazarov M. Sponsorship as a means of marketing communication // Advertising technologies. – 2005. - No. 4.

Tereshchenko M. Sponsorship and communication or how to choose the right sponsorship package // Advertising. Theory and practice. – 2008. - No. 1.

http:// banker. ru/ technology/ article/1376596

http://bo.bdc.ru/2007/11/sponsor.htm

http://www.sovetnik.ru/prbooks/view/?id=362&view=book&type=01&order

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Sponsorship and charity

practicing accountant

Perhaps each of us has helped those in need more than once. However, this can be done not only by individuals, but also by organizations. In light of recent events related to Ukraine, many organizations, including those using the simplified tax system, have decided to provide assistance to refugees. At the same time, accounting for charitable assistance has its own characteristics.

Any help is free of charge. And therefore, many will immediately think about donating. However, this is not the only way. As a special type of gift agreement, the Civil Code of the Russian Federation considers a donation - the donation of a thing or right for generally beneficial purposes.

IMPORTANT IN WORK

The Civil Code of the Russian Federation does not provide for the possibility of making a donation in the form of exemption from property obligations to oneself or to a third party.

Donations can be made to citizens, medical, educational institutions, social protection institutions and other similar institutions, charitable, scientific and educational organizations, foundations, museums and other cultural institutions, public and religious organizations, other non-profit organizations in accordance with the law, as well as the Russian Federation , constituent entities of the Russian Federation and municipalities. The main difference between a donation and a gift agreement is the direction of the will of the parties to achieve some socially useful goal as a result of this donation.

No one's permission or consent is required to accept a donation. Based on clause 3 of Art. 582 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the donation of property to a citizen must be, and to legal entities may be conditional on the donor using this property for a specific purpose.

Since a donation agreement is, in fact, a type of gift, when drawing it up, it is necessary to be guided by the rules governing the procedure for concluding a gift agreement. Thus, in cases where a donation is made by a legal entity and the donation amount exceeds 3,000 rubles, the agreement must be concluded in writing (clause 2 of Article 574 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Civil legislation does not provide for the need to draw up any other documents, however, it would be advisable to draw up an act of acceptance and transfer of donated property. The form of the act is not established by current legislation, therefore this document is drawn up in any form. When developing it, you can use general recommendations for drawing up a document confirming the acceptance of execution.

It is necessary to distinguish between donation and charitable activities. The transfer of property under a donation agreement in most cases is a form of charitable activity. The provision of charitable assistance in the form of a donation is also regulated by the provisions of Art. 582 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. However, not every donation can be considered charity. Charitable activities are carried out only for the purposes listed in paragraph 1 of Art. 2 of the Law on Charitable Activities No. 135-FZ. In accordance with paragraph 2 of Art. 2 of the Law on Charitable Activities, sending money and other material resources, providing assistance in other forms to commercial organizations, as well as supporting political parties, movements, groups and campaigns are not charitable activities.

In addition, from the definition of charitable activity it follows that in addition to donation (donation of a thing or right for generally beneficial purposes), charitable activity also includes the transfer of property on preferential terms, as well as the disinterested performance of work, the provision of services, and the provision of other support.

ORIGINAL SOURCE

Sponsor is a person who provided funds or ensured the provision of funds for the organization and (or) holding of a sports, cultural or any other event, the creation and (or) broadcast of a television or radio program, or the creation and (or) use of another result of creative activity.

What is charity?

For tax purposes, this concept is not separately defined by the legislator, therefore, by virtue of paragraph 1 of Art. 11 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, it is necessary to turn to other branches of law so that there are no disagreements and discrepancies among taxpayers and tax authorities. The basic document should be considered the Federal Law of August 11, 1995 No. 135-FZ “On Charitable Activities and Charitable Organizations” (hereinafter referred to as Law No. 135-FZ). It says that charitable activity is understood as the voluntary activity of citizens and legal entities in the disinterested (free of charge or on preferential terms) transfer of property, including money, to citizens or companies, the disinterested performance of work, the provision of services, and the provision of other support. At the same time, sending money and other funds or providing assistance to commercial organizations is not recognized as charitable activity (Article 1 and paragraph 2 of Article 2 of Law No. 135-FZ).

Sponsorship support should be distinguished from charity when a sponsor, in exchange for advertising about him and his activities, provides funds for organizing or holding a sports, cultural or any other event, creating or broadcasting a television or radio program, or creating or using another result of creative activity (Article 3 of the Law about advertising). Recipients of charitable donations do not owe anything to anyone, including not having to advertise for anyone or take other counter actions in exchange for support. Let us repeat, selflessness (free of charge) is a characteristic feature of charity. At the same time, philanthropists have the right to determine the purposes and procedure for using donations.

The law under consideration specifically identifies charitable organizations. Does this mean that only they can help those in need? Of course not. After all, according to Art. 4 of Law No. 135-FZ, citizens and legal entities have the right to freely carry out charitable activities on the basis of voluntariness and freedom of choice of its goals, individually or in association, with or without the formation of a charitable organization. If only special organizations were engaged in charitable activities, this would contradict the forms and goals of charity (they, by the way, are listed in Article 2 of Law No. 135-FZ; if the goals of the assistance provided are different, it is no longer charity).

GOOD TO KNOW

If the agreement with the sponsor does not imply any obligations on the part of the sponsored person, gratuitous sponsorship can be recognized as charitable.

Single tax under the simplified tax system

It is no secret that costs that cannot be taken into account when taxing profits for organizations under the general regime are even more problematic for “simplified” people to recognize as part of their expenses (when choosing the object of taxation “income minus expenses”). This means that if expenses are not listed (such as expenses related to charity), then they cannot reduce taxable income. But there should be no problems with the costs of sponsorship, since sponsorship is not free charity, but a paid advertising service. The sponsorship contribution is recognized as payment for advertising, and the sponsor and the sponsored are recognized as the advertiser and the advertising distributor, respectively.

For the purpose of calculating the single tax paid when applying the simplified tax system, the amount of the sponsorship contribution is taken into account as part of advertising expenses. Let us remind you that such expenses can be standardized - 1% of revenue from the sale of goods, work or services.

However, do not try to disguise charitable support as sponsorship. Even if the agreement states that the assistance is sponsorship, but in fact it is not aimed at advertising goods or services produced or sold by the organization, then the corresponding expenses will be excluded by the auditors from the calculation of the single tax on the simplified tax system (FAS Decree UO dated June 26, 2012 No. F09-4813/12).

The only thing that can save a risky accountant from sanctions is the mistakes of the tax authorities - for example, the use of the calculation method in relation to goods donated as part of charitable assistance and the associated costs (FAS PO Resolution No. A72-7911/2008 of May 21, 2009).

To help, we transfer OS objects

As we have already said, a donation is a gratuitous transfer, accompanied by the direction of the will of the parties to achieve some socially useful goal as a result of this donation. When transferring fixed assets free of charge, the organization does not increase its economic benefits; accordingly, income is not reflected in accounting. The residual value of a gratuitously transferred fixed asset and expenses associated with such a transfer, if they occurred (for example, transportation costs), are other expenses for the organization and are reflected in account 91. In accounting, depreciation on a gratuitously transferred object stops accruing from 1 the th day of the month following the month of write-off of the fixed asset (clause 22 of PBU 6/01).

At the same time, please note that in case of gratuitous transfer of fixed assets that have been owned by the organization for less than three years, the LLC, just as when selling this property, has the obligation to recalculate the tax base according to the rules established by clause 3 of Art. 346.16 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated 04/06/2012 No. 03-11-06/2/51).

Accounting

When transferring materials free of charge, the organization does not increase its economic benefits; accordingly, no income arises in accounting (clause 2 of PBU 9/99).

Materials transferred free of charge are deregistered at actual cost, that is, at the cost at which they were previously registered (clause 132 of Methodological Instructions No. 119n). At the same time, there are situations when it is physically impossible to determine which batch of materials in the organization the materials being sold belong to (for example, in a situation where all materials are stored in bulk or in one container, etc.). In this case, in our opinion, the organization has the right to establish in its accounting policy another economically justified method of write-off, for example, similar to the procedure for writing off the cost of inventories when they are released into production (clause 16 of PBU 5/01). Clause 7 of PBU 1/2008 allows you to do this.

The cost of valuables transferred free of charge is included in financial results. In accordance with the Chart of Accounts, the cost of materials donated free of charge is included in the debit of account 91, subaccount “Other expenses”.

"Simpler" as an intermediary in charity

From the news we hear that some refugees from Ukraine are being resettled in various sanatoriums and camps. Let’s imagine a situation where a similar organization using the simplified tax system prepares meals for free or produces culinary products from food received in the form of charitable assistance. How can a “simplistic” person keep accounting records in such a situation?

Based on the fact that the organization will use the donated food products to produce culinary products intended to feed refugees living in a sanatorium (camp), these food products should be taken into account as inventories in accordance with clause 2 of PBU 5/01.

Inventory and equipment are accepted for accounting at actual cost. The actual cost of inventories received by an organization free of charge is determined based on their current market value as of the date of acceptance for accounting. The current market value is understood as the amount of money that can be received as a result of the sale of these assets (clause 9 of PBU 5/01). Data on prices valid on the date of acceptance of the inventory for accounting must be confirmed by documents or through an examination (clause 10.3 of PBU 9/99).

Considering that the food products donated free of charge will be intended for the preparation of dishes for refugees from Ukraine, that is, for the implementation of targeted activities, we believe that the organization has the right to take into account this assistance to a third-party organization as targeted funding.

"Trade: accounting and taxation", 2006, N 12

In Russia, 2006 has been declared the Year of Charity. Providing assistance to those in need, including the disabled, veterans, low-income citizens and orphans, social and other institutions, has become a matter of honor for many entrepreneurs and commercial organizations. Unfortunately, good intentions do not always turn out to be good for the one who provides this help. The fact is that its taxation depends on the conditions and purposes of providing assistance. In this regard, tax authorities often recognize the use of benefits and other tax benefits associated with the provision of one or another type of assistance as unlawful. This article will discuss how to prepare documents and reflect transactions for the provision of charitable and sponsorship assistance in accounting in order to avoid disputes with the tax authority.

Let's understand the definitions

In practice, the concepts of charitable assistance and sponsorship are often confused: charitable assistance is called sponsorship and vice versa. But this is not always true. Until recently, these were two mutually exclusive concepts. The line between them was the condition that the person receiving assistance publicly mention information about who provided this assistance. If this condition was met, then the help was recognized as sponsorship; if not, it was considered charitable. Now these concepts are not mutually exclusive, since sponsorship in some cases can be recognized as charitable. But nevertheless, there are some differences between them.

Why is it important to distinguish charitable assistance from sponsorship? The fact is that the documentation of assistance, as well as its reflection in tax and accounting, differ. Incorrect application of the concept can lead to disagreements with both the counterparty and the tax authorities.

Let us consider in detail what is meant by charitable and sponsorship assistance.

Charity

The concept of charitable activities is disclosed in Art. 1 of the Charity Law<1>. This is the voluntary activity of citizens and legal entities for the disinterested (free of charge or on preferential terms) transfer of property to citizens or legal entities, including funds, the disinterested performance of work, the provision of services, and the provision of other support.

<1>Federal Law of August 11, 1995 N 135-FZ “On Charitable Activities and Charitable Organizations”.

But not every selfless support is charity. To be recognized as such, it must be carried out strictly in accordance with Art. 2 of the Law on Charity Purposes, for example:

• social support and protection of citizens;
• preparing the population to overcome the consequences of natural disasters, environmental, industrial and other disasters, and preventing accidents;
• providing assistance to victims of natural disasters, environmental, industrial and other disasters, social, national, religious conflicts, victims of repression, refugees and internally displaced persons;
• promoting activities in the field of education, science, culture, art, enlightenment, spiritual development of the individual;
• promoting activities in the field of prevention and protecting the health of citizens, as well as promoting a healthy lifestyle, improving the moral and psychological state of citizens.

Assistance provided for other purposes is not recognized as charitable activity. Thus, any assistance to commercial organizations, as well as support for political parties, movements, groups and campaigns, is not considered charity.

Example 1. In 2006, Ariadna LLC donated the following as gratuitous assistance:

• city ​​secondary school - computers;
• clinic LLC "Medical Center" - x-ray equipment;
• Municipal Unitary Enterprise "Polyclinic" - laboratory equipment;
• employee A.N. Petrov, who suffered as a result of the theft, - cash;
• Fedorov P.S., who suffered as a result of the flood, - cash.

In addition, the organization donated funds for the election campaign to the election fund.

The transfer of X-ray equipment to the Medical Center LLC clinic, as well as the transfer of funds to the election fund, are not charity, since in the first case the assistance is provided to a commercial organization, and in the second - to a political campaign. Helping an employee who has suffered from theft also cannot be regarded as charitable, since assistance to victims of theft is not mentioned in the list of charitable purposes in the Charity Law.

Participants in charitable activities are philanthropists, volunteers and beneficiaries (Article 5 of the Law on Charity). Philanthropists are citizens and legal entities who make charitable donations in the form of disinterested (free of charge or on preferential terms) transfer of ownership of property, as well as disinterested granting of rights to own, use and dispose of any objects of ownership. If assistance is provided by an individual in the form of unpaid labor, then such a person is recognized as a volunteer. Those citizens and legal entities in whose interests charitable activities are carried out are called beneficiaries.

Sponsorship

The concept of sponsorship was previously contained in Art. 19 Law No. 108-FZ<2>and was defined as the making by a legal or individual (sponsor) of a contribution (in the form of providing property, results of intellectual activity, provision of services, performance of work) to the activities of another legal or individual (sponsored) on the terms of the sponsored’s distributing advertising about the sponsor and his goods. In this case, the sponsorship contribution was recognized as a payment for advertising, and the sponsor and the sponsored were recognized as the advertiser and the advertising distributor, respectively.

<2>Federal Law of July 18, 1995 N 108-FZ “On Advertising”.

Thus, any sponsorship was not recognized as charity, since its mandatory feature was the distribution of advertising about the sponsor, which excluded its gratuitousness.

However, as of July 1, 2006, a new Law on Advertising is in force<3>, which does not contain the concept of "sponsorship". At the same time, paragraph 9 of Art. 3 of this Law defines that a sponsor is a person who has provided funds or ensured the provision of funds for the organization and (or) holding of a sports, cultural or any other event, the creation and (or) broadcast of a television or radio program, or the creation and (or) use of another result creative activity. In addition, in paragraph 10 of Art. 3 of the Law on Advertising provides a definition of sponsorship advertising, which is understood as advertising distributed subject to the mandatory mention in it of a certain person as a sponsor.

<3>Federal Law of March 13, 2006 N 38-FZ “On Advertising”.

Consequently, since July 2006, a sponsor is recognized as a person who not only provides assistance in exchange for the dissemination of information about himself, but also provides it free of charge, that is, who does not expect his name to be mentioned. The only criterion for recognition of sponsorship is the provision of funds for certain events.

If the agreement with the sponsor involves the dissemination of information about him, then the relationship between the sponsor and the sponsored is considered as the provision of advertising services. It should be noted that the agreement may provide for the distribution of not only sponsorship advertising (mentioning a person as a sponsor), but also advertising of the sponsor’s goods, works and services, for example, by placing its logo on clothing without mentioning this person as a sponsor.

Gratuitous sponsorship, when the sponsored person does not advertise his “benefactor,” is recognized as charitable, but only to the extent that the sponsored events meet the goals provided for by the Charity Law.

Example 2. OJSC "Trading House":

• donated 100,000 rubles to an orphanage for the purchase of clothes for children;
• acted as a sponsor of the children's drawing competition "My Family" and transferred 200,000 rubles to the organizer of the competition - the non-profit association "Soyuz". According to the sponsorship agreement, the provision of information about the sponsor is not provided;
• acted as a sponsor of the children's creativity competition "World of Childhood" and donated 200,000 rubles. the organizer of the competition - the non-profit association "Akvarel", which granted the society the right to open an award ceremony for the winners on its behalf;
• acted as a sponsor of the competition "Best Trading Company of the Year" and transferred 150,000 rubles to the organizer of the competition - the "Union of Wholesalers".

In this case, assistance to the orphanage is recognized as charitable. Funds transferred for competitions represent sponsorship. At the same time, sponsorship assistance to the non-profit association "Union" is also charitable, since it is free of charge and provided to support family and childhood, which is provided for by the Law on Charity.

Types of sponsorship are not regulated by law. Organizers of events, broadcasts, etc. has the right to independently determine the types of sponsorship based on the volume of sponsorship. In practice, such types of sponsorship as general, official, informational, and technical are widely used. The type of sponsorship determines the amount of information disseminated about the sponsor. As a rule, the general sponsor has the greatest privileges.

Procedure for obtaining assistance

The Civil Code does not contain provisions on either a sponsorship agreement or an agreement for the provision of charitable assistance. But this does not mean that the parties cannot enter into an agreement. On the contrary, both parties are interested in concluding such an agreement.

The provision of charitable assistance is carried out, as a rule, under a gift agreement, the requirements for which are set out in Chapter. 32 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Such an agreement is free of charge. It is advisable to indicate the purposes of providing assistance in accordance with those established in the Charity Law. Otherwise, doubts may arise regarding recognition of the assistance as charitable.

In addition, if property is transferred, the benefactor has the right to determine in the contract the purpose of its use by the beneficiary. If it is used for other purposes, the benefactor has the right to demand cancellation of the donation and termination of the contract. This rule is provided for in Art. 582 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

Sponsorship without a condition on the distribution of advertising can be provided on the basis of a sponsorship agreement, which, according to the legal structure, like the agreement for the provision of charitable assistance, must correspond to the gift agreement. It must provide not only the amount of funds transferred, but also the purpose of the assistance provided: for organizing or holding an event, for creating or broadcasting a program, etc. If an event or broadcast or other result of creative activity is created and broadcast for the purposes provided for by the Charity Law, then this must also be indicated in the contract.

If sponsorship is provided with the expectation of distributing advertising about the sponsor, then a sponsorship agreement must be concluded between the parties, the legal structure corresponding to the agreement for the provision of advertising services (Chapter 39 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). In accordance with the terms of such an agreement, the sponsor undertakes to finance the event or program or provide other support provided for in the agreement, and the sponsored person undertakes to disseminate information about it during the event or program by placing a logo, mentioning the name of the sponsor, granting him the right to make a speech at the event, or otherwise Express yourself. In addition, the contract must specify all the requirements for sponsorship advertising (type, duration, location, etc.).

If the agreement is not concluded in writing, then it is advisable for the counterparties to exchange letters indicating the purpose of the assistance provided or to reflect it in the primary documents. Otherwise, disputes with tax authorities cannot be avoided, since the qualification of assistance as charitable or sponsorship depends on the purpose pursued by the taxpayer when transferring property. In this case, the purpose for which the property was actually used does not matter. This conclusion was reached by the FAS VSO in Resolution dated August 18, 2005 N A58-5044/04-F02-3966/05-S1.

In addition to the contract, the transfer of funds and property itself must be properly formalized. Thus, when providing assistance by transferring cash, the recipient organization must issue a cash receipt order and issue a receipt to the benefactor as a document certifying the contribution<4>. For non-cash payments, supporting documents are a payment order and a bank statement.

<4>The procedure for conducting cash transactions in the Russian Federation, approved. By decision of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation on September 22, 1993 N 40.

The transfer of property is formalized either by an acceptance certificate or an invoice. In addition to these documents, a sponsor counting on advertising about himself, unlike a benefactor, must have an acceptance certificate signed by both parties for the advertising services provided, as well as material confirmation of the fact of dissemination of information about the sponsor (advertising text, on-air certificate, copy of a printed publication, etc. .P.). These documents serve as the basis for recording the costs of providing assistance in accounting and tax accounting.

Accounting and taxation Reflection in accounting

Funds, contributions, payments, etc. transferred to charity or sponsorship without the condition of distributing advertising, in accordance with clause 12 of PBU 10/99<5>, are taken into account in accounting as part of non-operating (from 01/01/2007 - other<6>) expenses. These expenses, in accordance with the Instructions for using the Chart of Accounts<7>, are recorded in the debit of account 91 “Other income and expenses”, subaccount 91-2 “Other expenses”.

<5>Accounting Regulations "Expenses of the Organization" PBU 10/99, approved. By Order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated May 6, 1999 N 33n.
<6>Order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated September 18, 2006 N 116n “On amendments to regulatory legal acts on accounting.”
<7>Instructions for the use of the Chart of Accounts for accounting financial and economic activities of organizations, approved. By Order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated October 31, 2000 N 94n.

The expenses of a sponsor providing assistance on the terms of advertising distribution are, in fact, a payment for advertising and are reflected as part of the advertising expenses associated with the sale of goods. According to clause 5 of PBU 10/99, such costs are expenses for ordinary activities and are recognized on the date of signing the acceptance certificate for services provided (clauses 16, 18 of PBU 10/99).

The sponsorship fee is associated with the financing of a specific event. Therefore, as a rule, the sponsor must pay it before the event, that is, make an advance payment. In this case, the sponsorship contribution must initially be reflected in the debit of account 60 “Settlements with suppliers and contractors” (sub-account “Advances issued”) in correspondence with the cash accounts. After the parties sign the acceptance certificate for advertising services, the sponsor's expenses, in accordance with the Instructions for using the Chart of Accounts, should be reflected on the credit of account 60 in correspondence with the debit of account 44 “Sales expenses”. The sponsorship contribution, like all expenses for ordinary activities, is accepted for accounting in the amount of expenses actually incurred, which is calculated in monetary terms and equal to the amount of payment in cash and other forms or accounts payable, determined on the basis of the price and conditions established in the contract (clause. clause 6, 6.1 PBU 10/99).

Income tax

When calculating the tax base for income tax, the taxpayer has the right to take into account the costs associated with the provision of sponsorship on the terms of advertising distribution, provided that these costs are economically justified, documented and aimed at generating income. The costs of making such a sponsorship contribution are recognized by the sponsor as advertising expenses. After all, according to paragraphs. 28 clause 1 art. 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, expenses for advertising purchased and sold goods (works, services), taxpayer activities, trademarks and service marks, including participation in exhibitions and fairs, are considered other expenses associated with production and (or) sales.

Based on clause 4 of Art. 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation when taxing profits the following can be taken into account in full:

• expenses for advertising the sponsor through the media (including print advertisements, radio and television broadcasts) and telecommunication networks;
• costs for illuminated and other outdoor advertising, including the production of advertising stands and billboards;
• expenses for participation in exhibitions, fairs, expositions, window dressing, sales exhibitions, sample rooms and showrooms, production of advertising brochures and catalogs containing information about advertised goods, works and services performed and provided by the organization, and (or) about the organization itself organization, discounting of goods that have completely or partially lost their original qualities during exhibition.

All other expenses may reduce taxable profit in an amount not exceeding 1% of sales revenue, determined in accordance with Art. 249 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Such expenses, in particular, include the cost of purchasing prizes for the winners of sponsored events, as well as placing information about the sponsor on athletes’ sports uniforms and equipment.

Unlike sponsorship with the condition of advertising distribution, charitable and gratuitous sponsorship are not taken into account when calculating the tax base. This conclusion follows from paragraphs 16, 34 of Art. 270 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, according to which expenses do not reduce taxable profit:

• in the form of the value of gratuitously transferred property (work, services, property rights);
• associated with such transfer;
• in the form of deductions for the purposes specified in clause 2 of Art. 251 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (donations, assistance to foundations, charity, etc.).

In this regard, in the taxpayer’s accounting according to clause 4 of PBU 18/02<8>a permanent difference arises, which leads to the formation of a permanent tax liability (clause 7 of PBU 18/02).

<8>Accounting Regulations "Accounting for income tax calculations" 18/02, approved. By Order of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated November 19, 2002 N 114n.

Example 3. In December 2006, Home Goods LLC sponsored a football match broadcast on television. The sponsorship agreement stipulates that during the broadcast of the match, information about the sponsor is brought to the attention of viewers by expressing gratitude to him. The sponsorship fee is 100,000 rubles.

That same month, the society sponsored a non-televised football match. At the same time, the sponsor (the football players' association) placed the company's logo on the athletes' clothing. The amount of sponsorship contribution is 50,000 rubles. In addition, the society provided the football club with free sponsorship in the amount of 20,000 rubles.

The amount of revenue of Household Goods LLC for 2006 amounted to 600,000 rubles. The company had no other advertising expenses in 2006.

In the first case, the sponsor's expenses reduce his taxable profit in full, since information about the sponsor is provided on television, that is, advertising expenses are non-standardized. In the second case, expenses can be taken into account only in the amount of 1% of sales revenue, that is, 6,000 rubles. (RUB 600,000 x 1%).

The following entries will be made in the accounting records of Household Goods LLC:

Value added tax

Charitable and sponsorship assistance is often provided through the transfer of property, performance of work, and provision of services. In this regard, a logical question arises: should such a transfer be subject to VAT?

As a general rule, according to paragraphs. 1 clause 1 art. 146 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the sale of goods, works and services is subject to VAT. In this case, the gratuitous sale is also recognized as a taxable transaction. However, gratuitous transfer of goods, performance of work, provision of services within the framework of charitable activities, carried out in accordance with the Law on Charity, with the exception of excisable goods, are exempt from VAT (clause 12, clause 3, article 149 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). In addition, by virtue of paragraph 2 of Art. 146 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation is not subject to VAT on the free transfer of fixed assets to budgetary institutions, state and municipal unitary enterprises.

Thus, transactions involving the transfer of goods (work, services) (with the exception of fixed assets to the above organizations) as sponsorship and other assistance that does not fall under the concept of charity must be subject to VAT.

If an organization takes advantage of the charity benefit, then it must be remembered that VAT amounts related to the transferred goods (work, services) are not deductible. According to paragraph 2 of Art. 170 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, VAT amounts charged to the buyer when purchasing goods (work, services) used for transactions exempt from taxation are taken into account in the cost of such goods (work, services). If the taxpayer has already deducted VAT amounts, then the tax amount must be restored and paid to the budget (clause 2, clause 3, article 170 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Example 4. Accent LLC donated furniture worth a total of 295,000 rubles to the disabled people's society as a charitable donation. (including VAT - 45,000 rubles), as well as three computers with a total cost of 59,000 rubles. (including VAT - 9000 rubles).

The furniture was originally purchased for resale, so the amount of “input” VAT was claimed for deduction. The computers were purchased with the purpose of donating them to charity.

The following entries will be made in the accounting records of Accent LLC:

Contents of operation	Debit	Credit	Sum, rub.
During the acquisition period
The purchased furniture is reflected in the composition goods (295,000 - 45,000) rub.	41	60	250 000
	19	60	45 000
The amount of VAT claimed for deduction	68	19	45 000
Payment has been made to the furniture supplier	60	51	295 000
The received computers were capitalized (59,000 - 9,000) rub.	41	60	50 000
The amount of “input” VAT is reflected	19	60	9 000
VAT amount presented by the seller included in the price of computers	41	19	9 000
Computers paid to supplier	60	51	59 000
During the period of charitable assistance
Previously presented to deductible VAT amount on furniture	19	68	45 000
Recovered VAT is included in the price furniture	41	19	45 000
Furniture and computers donated to the community disabled people (295,000 + 59,000) rub.	91-2	41	354 000
Reflects permanent tax obligation (RUB 354,000 x 24%)	99	68	84 960

Simplified taxation system

A taxpayer using the simplified tax system does not have the right to reduce the income received by amounts of charitable assistance. This follows from Art. 346.16 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, which contains a closed list of expenses that can be used to reduce the tax base for a single tax. Charitable expenses are not included in this list. The Ministry of Finance adheres to the same position (Letter dated April 15, 2005 N 03-04-14/06). In addition, expenses do not include the amount of “input” VAT on goods (work, services) transferred as part of charitable activities (clause 8, clause 1, article 346.16 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

The situation is similar with free sponsorship. However, if the sponsor provides assistance with the condition of distributing advertising about him, then such costs can be taken into account as advertising expenses in accordance with paragraphs. 20 clause 1 art. 346.16 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Personal income tax

When providing assistance to an individual, the question arises about the need to withhold personal income tax from his income. In accordance with paragraph 1 of Art. 210 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the object of personal income tax is income received by a taxpayer - an individual, both in cash and in kind, as well as in the form of material benefits.

Organizations and individual entrepreneurs providing assistance to an individual, including sponsorship, act as tax agents and, in accordance with Art. 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation calculate, withhold and transfer to the budget the corresponding amount of personal income tax. If the tax cannot be withheld, then they report this to the tax authority at the place of their registration.

However, when deciding on the need to withhold personal income tax, it is necessary to take into account the provisions of Art. 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, which lists income that is not subject to taxation, in particular:

• amounts of one-time financial assistance to victims of terrorist attacks on Russian territory, regardless of the source of payment.

For information: the concept of “one-time financial assistance” includes such material assistance that is provided to the taxpayer for certain purposes no more than once in the tax period for each of the grounds (Letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated May 22, 2006 N 03-05-01-04/130 );

• the amount of compensation for the cost of vouchers (except for tourist ones), paid by employers to their employees and members of their families, disabled people who do not work in this organization, as well as vouchers for children under the age of 16 years, but only to sanatorium-resort and health-improving institutions located on the territory RF;
• amounts paid by employers out of profits for treatment and medical care of their employees, their spouses, parents and children (subject to the conditions provided for by the Tax Code);
• amounts paid to orphans under the age of 24 for education in licensed educational institutions or for their education in these institutions;
• amounts of payment for disabled people for technical means of disability prevention and rehabilitation of disabled people, as well as payment for the acquisition and maintenance of guide dogs for disabled people;
• the cost of gifts, the amount of financial assistance provided by the employer to employees, including former employees who retired due to disability or age, compensation (payment) by employers to their employees, their spouses, parents and children, former employees (age pensioners), as well as for disabled people, the cost of medications purchased by them (for them), prescribed by their attending physician, is within 4,000 rubles. for each reason;
• assistance to veterans and disabled people of the Great Patriotic War, widows of a number of categories of military personnel, former prisoners of concentration camps, prisons and ghettos and other places of forced detention within the limit of 10,000 rubles. for the tax period.

Unified social tax

According to paragraphs. 1 clause 1 art. 235 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, organizations and individual entrepreneurs making payments to individuals are payers of the Unified Tax. In this regard, the question arises about the need to calculate the unified social tax on the amounts of charitable and sponsorship payments to individuals.

The object of UST taxation is payments and other remuneration accrued by taxpayers in favor of individuals under employment and civil law contracts, the subject of which is the performance of work, provision of services, as well as under copyright agreements (clause 1 of Article 236 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Since no work is performed or services are provided within the framework of charitable activities, such payments are not included in the tax base under the Unified Social Tax (Letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated September 20, 2001 N 04-04-07/158, dated March 20, 2001 N 04-04-07 /37). This conclusion was also reached by the FAS ZSO in Resolutions dated January 5, 2004 N F04/73-2225/A45-2003, dated June 10, 2003 N A56-40065/02, as well as the FAS PA in Resolution dated December 18, 2003 N A57-3825/ 03-26. Moreover, charity is provided on the basis of a gift agreement, the subject of which is the transfer of ownership, and in accordance with paragraph 1 of Art. 236 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, payments made within the framework of civil contracts, the subject of which is the transfer of ownership of property, are not subject to UST taxation.

For the same reasons, payments for gratuitous sponsorship are also not subject to UST. However, if sponsorship is provided subject to the distribution of advertising about the sponsor, then a relationship arises between the parties under a civil contract for the provision of advertising services. In this case, payments are subject to UST.

D.A. Elgina

Journal expert

"Trade: accounting

and taxation"

Sponsorship is a fairly common type of activity in Russia. The business models of many companies necessarily include activities related to the provision of monetary assistance to certain budgetary, non-profit structures, sports organizations, and individuals.

A type of activity quite close to sponsorship is charity. A large number of Russian organizations are also involved in this. According to a number of criteria, various types of activity related to the provision of financial and other types of material support by firms in relation to budgetary structures and individuals are defined as entrepreneurial activity. In some cases - as a charity. There are interpretations of a mixed nature.

By virtue of what characteristics is the difference between the activities of these types determined? What criteria are important from a tax point of view? Why is sponsorship profitable for many businessmen? What principles does the Federal Tax Service adhere to in calculating fees from sponsors and recipients of assistance?

Who is a sponsor?

The term "sponsor" is quite common. Depending on the context, its interpretation may vary from one case to another. Let's try to determine the meaning of the word "sponsor" by referring to the sources of law. Do they have any definition of this term? Yes, and it’s quite clear. It is contained in the Federal Law “On Advertising”. According to this law, sponsorship is an activity that involves some kind of response from the sponsored object regarding the provision of financial and other types of support.

A person who contributes money through sponsorship usually expects a return on the investment.

As a rule, the main mechanism used in such cases is advertising.

For example, let’s say that sponsorship is provided to a school.

Employees of this educational institution, it turns out, are then obliged to post information about the subject who helped in accessible media channels, booklets, and talk about him at public events.

Subject of sponsorship

What kind of assistance, from the point of view of Russian legislation, can be recognized as sponsorship? Paragraph 9 of Article 3 of the Federal Law “On Advertising” states that this can be the provision of funds for the purpose of holding a sporting event, cultural or in other areas, or creating a product for broadcast on TV, radio or other creative work.

Differences between sponsorship advertising and regular advertising

As we said above, sponsorship involves a subsequent reciprocal gesture on the part of the sponsored object in the form of assistance in posting information about who helped in the media and other channels. This type of action is classified by law as “sponsored advertising.” At the same time, according to a number of by-laws, it differs from the traditional commercial one.

Firstly, according to one of the FAS letters, advertising cannot be considered sponsorship if it involves the publication of information about a brand or trademark without reference to the funded event or project.

Secondly, if the person who helped with money controls the campaign to promote his name in the media, then, according to the FAS position, he still uses the commercial advertising channel. The criteria here may be different. For example, the fact that the newspaper where the advertisement about the sponsor is published belongs to him.

Thus, a message like “Buy the goods of OJSC “Fresh Pineapple” as part of a branded retail chain in the central districts of our city” is in the nature of commercial advertising. In turn, the phrase “We thank the company OJSC “Fresh Pineapple”, represented by a retail chain in the central part of our city, for its assistance in organizing a sports rally for students in grades 9-11 of secondary schools” may well be classified as a typical sponsorship advertisement. The difference is quite noticeable.

Documentary support of sponsorship

Sponsorships usually have formal registration procedures. The relationship between the object of assistance and the financing entity falls under the rules set out in Chapter 39 of the Civil Code. That is, here we are talking about the provision of services that have a sign of remuneration. A sponsorship agreement is drawn up. A sample of it may contain the following items.

1. The subject is determined: the sponsor finances the event (creation of a creative product), and the recipient of the assistance undertakes to post information about who helped through available mechanisms.

2. The terms of the agreement are indicated:

• the content of information published about the sponsor, the method of its distribution (mass media, leaflets, oral announcement, etc.);
• the place where the event will be held;
• duration of the sponsorship advertising campaign;
• type of assistance provided (cash or property);

3. Information is noted that reflects the method of confirming the fact that the obligations of the parties have been fulfilled. Usually this is an acceptance certificate (supplemented by relevant documents - certificates, advertising banner layouts, etc.).

Taxation of sponsorship

Taxation of sponsorship is carried out in accordance with the norms of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. In accordance with them (in particular, Article 1 of the Code), the subject of support must include VAT (regardless of whether it is cash or property). The rate is 18%. From the point of view of the Federal Tax Service, the object of sponsorship is the advertising distributor.

He receives compensation for his services from the sponsor, that is, the advertiser. And therefore is obliged to pay VAT for the services provided. In some cases, it is possible to offset the VAT accrued on sponsorship and a similar tax on expenses associated, for example, with interaction with contractors during an advertising campaign. This concerns aspects related to the object of the transfer of assistance.

Is sponsorship a benefit for business?

How are things going with taxes for the party that provides support? The most remarkable thing is that the provision of sponsorship can be considered an expense of the organization.

That is, the amounts of money transferred to the object of support (or the cost equivalent for property) can be used to reduce the tax base if, say, the sponsoring organization operates under the simplified tax system.

COURSE WORK

Sponsorship and charity as a means PR

Introduction

The concept of sponsorship and charity activities

Areas of sponsorship

The other side of sponsorship is fundraising

Evaluating the effectiveness of sponsorship and charity activities

Charity and sponsorship activities and PR

Conclusion

List of used literature

Introduction

Sponsorship and charity are concepts that are often confused. These days, charity, like sponsorship, is in most cases seen as a core part of marketing activities. Among the variety of PR tools, sponsorship and charity are perhaps the most popular and successful.

Taking into account the fact that PR activities in Russia have been developing relatively recently, the study of sponsorship and charity from the point of view of PR technologies has not yet been completed. The scope of sponsorship activities is constantly expanding.

The downside of sponsorship is fundraising, namely, the search for investments for one’s projects, i.e. search for sponsors. Studying this type of activity helps to see sponsorship from a different perspective.

In order for sponsorship, like charity, to be effective from the point of view of PR technologies, many factors should be taken into account. If we talk about the reasons for failures for a company, then there is only one - an incorrectly planned action: the return received does not justify the investment.

Accordingly, the success of the project will depend on clear and correct planning of the action, fine points discussed in advance, the desire of the sponsoring company to actively participate in the project and competent performers.

This paper examines the features of sponsorship and charity activities from the point of view of PR, methods of using these funds and assessing their effectiveness.

The concept of sponsorship and charity activities

In S.I. Ozhegov’s dictionary, charity is defined as follows: “In bourgeois society: the provision by private individuals of material assistance to the poor out of mercy.” PR classic S. Black defines sponsorship as “one of the types of entrepreneurial activity, the main goal of which is to act for the benefit of both the sponsor himself and the buyer of his assistance.” The well-known specialist PRE.V.Romat believes, like many other experts, that sponsorship has an element of charity, but does not equate these concepts.

According to many experts (including E.V. Romat), sponsorship is a comprehensive means of marketing communications. In earlier times, sponsorship (philanthropy, patronage of the arts) was used by monarchs and nobles who “patronized the arts.” Nowadays, industry is increasingly sponsoring modern sports and art. Philanthropy is essentially a precursor to sponsorship, but sponsorship is characterized by broader patronage.

The commercial benefit of sponsorship depends on the effort and financial resources invested. Sponsorship is financed through advertising expenses, but at the same time, this activity, according to E.V. Romat, is a separate element of marketing.

Sponsorship activities include justifying the goals of sponsorship and the results of investing funds, and drawing up a report on expenses. Sponsorship involves receiving benefits. But this benefit is not always directly expressed in financial profit.

If we perceive sponsorship as an effective PR tool, then it can be considered as a payment for advertising, in which case the main purpose of sponsorship is to obtain an advertising effect.

Other desired results of sponsorship activities include the creation of an attractive image of the company and its top officials in the eyes of various public groups; building trusting relationships with influence groups on which the success of the business depends; assistance in forming public opinion about the company’s activities; establishing permanent relations with the media and authorities.

The effectiveness of sponsorship is so significant that nowadays companies are ready to fight for the right to sponsor profitable and large-scale projects. Naturally, when sponsoring large and popular projects, the advertising effect achieved by sponsorship activities is much greater than when sponsoring small projects.

In order for sponsorship to achieve the required results, special technology is developed to ensure the effectiveness of sponsorship. We are talking about sponsoring. Sponsoring involves developing a sponsorship package, selecting or organizing an event at the request of a potential sponsor, conducting and/or monitoring the sponsor's advertising campaign within a specific event, and preparing reports on sponsorship participation in the project.

Thus, sponsoring is a technology for organizing sponsorship activities, from selecting an event/event for sponsorship, to maintaining and controlling PR, advertising campaigns, and reporting. Sponsoring allows sponsorship activities to be carried out taking into account the interests of the sponsor.

The concepts of sponsorship and charity are often used in the same sense. Charitable activity is the voluntary activity of citizens and legal entities in the gratuitous (or on preferential terms) transfer to other persons of property, funds, and the provision of other support.

The Law on Charity defines: “charitable activity is voluntary activity, expressed in the disinterested provision of strength and means and aimed at achieving the public good.”

Charity implies gratuitous assistance that does not seek to obtain any benefits. However, like sponsorship, charity is great advertising for businesses and individuals.

The main difference between sponsorship and charity from the point of view of PR technologies is that sponsorship is an official tool of advertising companies, PR. The contribution of sponsors is considered as a payment for advertising, and the sponsor and the sponsored are, in fact, an advertiser and an advertising distributor.

According to many educational publications, sponsorship is a component of charity. There are several types and forms of charity. To begin with, let’s define who is the subject and object of such activity. Subjects of charity: people, commercial, non-profit, government structures. Objects of charity: people, intermediaries (charitable organizations).

Direct charity is the provision of assistance “from hand to hand”. The advantages from a PR point of view are undeniable - this type of charity has a living effect, there is direct confirmation of the donor’s good deed. Direct charity allows you to have tax benefits if legal entities provide assistance to other legal entities (not organizations). The disadvantages include the unsystematic nature of such charity.

Trust - assistance through charitable organizations and foundations. Such charity is closer to sponsorship; this type of charitable activity is entrusted to specialists, but the risk of their dishonesty cannot be excluded. This type of charity is more organized and systematic than somewhat closer to sponsorship.

Valery Borshchev defines the concept of charity as an actively developing phenomenon. “...The relevance of the issues under consideration lies in the fact that charity has been and will be one of the elements in the formation of a high reputation of a particular commercial structure, an indispensable attribute of the culture of interaction with clients, and, finally, the effective achievement of high results.”

Charity, as a spiritual phenomenon, as a movement of the soul, does not need any legislative background. But since charity often covers up unscrupulous entrepreneurs, some control over the investments that occur should be maintained.

Charity, as a spiritual phenomenon, as a movement of the soul, does not need any legislative background. The state has at all times encouraged “organizational charity”: patronage of enterprises and organizations over orphanages, hospitals, schools, etc.

Sponsorship is targeted subsidies, part of marketing and strategy for promoting goods and services. Sponsorship support is formalized in an agreement indicating the mutual obligations of the parties. Sponsorship support implies specific time restrictions. Charitable assistance to a particular organization can be one-time in nature, or multiple, but not necessarily periodic, investments.

From the point of view of PR technologies, the differences between sponsorship and charity are less significant. Both help to create an attractive image of the organization. Commercial activities determine a company's reputation to a lesser extent than its charitable and sponsorship activities.

Among the motivations for sponsorship, and even charitable activities, from a PR point of view, the fundamental ones are the creation of an attractive image in connection with participation in the implementation of socially significant projects, demonstration of one’s own worth, and therefore social significance.

Sponsorship can improve a company's image much more effectively than direct advertising. Sponsorship allows you to create and maintain the image of the organization. Therefore, sponsorship advertising is becoming increasingly popular.

Areas of sponsorship

The most popular areas for sponsorship are sporting events. This is due to the fact that sport is very popular both in our country and in the world, and is essentially associated with the political prestige of the state. The PR effect achieved when sponsoring sporting events can be quite large. Organizers of sports competitions, as a rule, are able to quite competently formulate sponsorship packages, which is an additional factor that attracts potential sponsors to the project.

Sporting events attract many spectators, including international ones, and financing of sports activities brings together many sources, including government ones. This is a kind of guarantee of successful sponsorship.

Projects that are well justified economically and enjoy real administrative support usually easily find their sponsors, and often even have the opportunity to choose.

Culture and art provide no less opportunities for sponsorship. Numerous exhibitions, concerts, publications of certain works are in dire need of sponsorship, and, since they attract a huge audience, they usually find it.

From a PR point of view, sponsorship and charitable contributions to medicine and healthcare bring huge social dividends. Not very developed at the moment, but also a promising area of ​​sponsorship activity is investing in environmental protection.

Young developing companies provide sponsorship to the media. This is a good advertising campaign, but to a lesser extent improves the image of the organization, sometimes even bringing a negative effect.

Book publishing uses sponsorship. Due to the fact that books are durable goods, investing in publishing is very long-term and promising. Many books would never have been published without sponsorship, for example, the Guinness Book of Records.

Investing in science and education improves the social image of sponsoring companies, in addition, it attracts media attention, which is very positive advertising.

A special area of ​​sponsorship is the payment of bonuses in various areas of activity for achieving special results. Premium sponsorship is especially common in scientific activities, education, sports and the world of art.

If the company’s goal is to attract a target professional audience, then the best solution would be to finance conferences and seminars. In order to attract attention to the company from an audience interested in its activities, you need to sponsor projects that are close to the company’s activities.

Sponsorship investments in city holidays, local sports competitions, concerts, and festivals can attract the attention of a huge number of people. Local events help to establish relationships not only with the local community, but also with municipal authorities. Investments in show business do not always have the expected PR effect, but they provide ample advertising opportunities, given the composition of the audience of show programs.

Sponsoring of thematic Internet sites is the main type of sponsorship on the Internet, and usually has a commercial rather than PR nature. Sponsoring of films is currently not very developed in our country, due to the insufficiently high quality of the Russian film industry.

If we consider sponsorship as the formation of marketing communications, then sponsorship is a complex set of techniques and measures, including elements of such means as commercial propaganda, advertising and sales promotion. Depending on the type of the main target audience, all communication activities of a sponsoring company can have three main directions.

The first - the formation of marketing communications of the sponsoring company with target client markets, has rather a commercial meaning. The second is the establishment of a favorable broad public opinion, most significantly from the position of sponsorship as a PR tool. Third, communications aimed at the company’s own personnel are important both commercially and from the point of view of forming a favorable image of the company in society.

All this division is very conditional and does not have clear boundaries. Forming a positive image of the sponsor, one way or another, affects the target client market and has a beneficial effect on the motivation of its own employees.

Sponsoring, focused primarily on consumers, is concerned mainly with solving communication problems. Namely about: creating awareness about the sponsoring company; reminders of an already widely known company; creating or strengthening a favorable image of the sponsor by conveying to it the characteristic main features of the image of the subsidized party.

The main communication task of sponsorship, aimed at forming a broad public opinion, is to create a positive image among the “general public”. To do this, the sponsoring company can demonstrate to the public the social aspects of its activities, for example, assistance to a medical institution, that is, charity.

Sponsorship aimed at creating communications with employees solves the following problems: motivating the employee’s work; inviting the best employees to events held at the expense of the company; creating an employee’s idea of ​​a positive image of the company; attracting the most capable and talented people to cooperate with the sponsoring company.

The other side of sponsorship is fundraising

Fundraising is the process of attracting funds and other resources by an organization (mostly non-profit) for the purpose of implementing a specific social project. Funds can come from individuals, commercial organizations, foundations, and government organizations.

Organizing fundraising involves searching for potential sources of funding, justifying the need for funds and linking them with the interests of financial donors, forming, maintaining and developing relationships with financial donors, and forming public opinion in favor of supporting the organization’s activities.

Advertising and large PR companies receive a large number of requests to support this or that event every day. Applications are often drawn up haphazardly and do not contain a clear plan or the necessary motivation, which, of course, misleads sponsors. Among the abundance of applications, only those projects that are at least economically justified have a chance of approval.

The main conflict is that the companies that asked for help would like to receive charitable donations for specific events without making any commitments. This is due to the organizers not understanding how important it is to be able to correctly draw up and justify sponsorship proposals.

It is in order for sponsorship proposals to be drawn up competently and intelligibly, and to be relevant for sponsors, that the organizers of sponsored events hire specialist fundraisers who develop sponsorship packages.

Fundraising is a targeted, systematic search for sponsorship (or other) funds for the implementation of certain projects (programs, events) and/or support for certain institutions. Can be carried out in the form of business, charity and sponsorship activities.

Very few organizers create full-fledged proposals for sponsors. After all, sponsorship is not about paying for cheap advertising opportunities, but about using the entire information resource of the event. When an event is covered in the media, the sponsor is certainly associated with a specific event; famous people participating in the event are also, in fact, part of the advertising company.

The result of fundraising can be: money; volunteer time; goods; services; reduction in prices for goods/services.

The most typical sources of financing for Russia are donations from private and public businesses; grants from foreign foundations, budget financing, income from own commercial activities, income from charitable events, donations from individuals.

Fundraising includes selecting potential donors, searching for a contact person, and directly applying for a donation (in the form of a letter, a charity event, an addressless appeal, or an appeal in a personal meeting). During a meeting with the immediate donor, he is shown a project that needs donations, any objections that have arisen are overcome, and consent (or refusal) for the donation is obtained. After receiving the funds, the results are checked and the possibility of a long-term relationship is assessed.

Successful fundraising requires a lot of knowledge and, often, intuition. The analytical skills of a specialist, the ability to build the right strategy, and accurately identify the companies interested in sponsorship in a given case are very important.

When preparing an event, it is necessary to develop and conduct an advertising campaign for the event itself, identify a resource of opportunities interesting to sponsors, develop a sponsorship structure, identify a potential circle of sponsors, develop an individual sponsorship package for each of them, and prepare reports for sponsors at the end of the event.

At the same time, there must be a system that allows a potential sponsor to navigate projects that require sponsorship. The sponsor should be able to quickly obtain a list of projects that meet its marketing interests, as well as receive professional advice about a particular project.

Evaluating the effectiveness of sponsorship and charity activities

We can talk for a long time about the spiritual component of charity and sponsorship, but, nevertheless, the main problem of sponsorship and charity is achieving certain goals. The effectiveness case is the main nerve in a business's relationship with sponsorship. A specific sponsor wants to know what exactly his money will be used for, and what specific benefits it will bring him.

Charity, like all PR, is an expensive activity and is implemented in the long term. PR communications, which we include sponsorship, do not imply results “here and now”.

Real charity does not imply receiving any benefits, therefore, speaking about its effectiveness, we can only mention the measure of the effectiveness of providing assistance. However, whether intentional or unintentional, charity certainly improves the image of the company that made the donation. Thus, charity is undoubtedly an effective PR tool.

The effectiveness of charity is assessed rather intuitively. An objective analysis can be carried out after the use of charitable donations. Various experts continue to debate whether such charity can be called charity, or whether it is already sponsorship, perhaps not confirmed by an agreement.

In other words, officially, sponsorship is considered as a contribution, payment for advertising, and charity implies gratuitous assistance. Charity will be an effective means of PR if the public is properly aware of such company activities. Those. The effectiveness of charitable activities cannot in any case be economic, and depends entirely on the quality of work of corporate PR structures.

Dissemination of information about a company's charitable activities must be done with great care and tact. Charity is a very effective means of PR, but only if society does not notice that the company is pursuing personal goals and wants to receive certain benefits as a result of charity. PR specialists must clearly understand the line between sponsorship and charity, otherwise, instead of improving the company's image, they can significantly damage it.

The effectiveness of sponsorship can be viewed from three different perspectives. From the point of view of the effectiveness of specific actions and projects, the assessment is made intuitively. If the criterion of effectiveness is the amount of support provided, which, in fact, should give a social result. The formula is simple: more money - more results! More articles in the press, interviews, TV spots... And, therefore, fame, sympathy, and so on. The third position considers the effectiveness of social partnership, as well as any management activity, in connection with the growth of sales volumes and profits. The position is more acceptable. But it is no less obvious that the sponsorship contribution to these final indicators is somewhat indirect.

Before discussing these opinions, it is necessary to clarify what exactly we mean by the effectiveness of sponsorship and charitable activities.

It is necessary to distinguish between types of effectiveness:

· profitability, the ratio of costs to results obtained, the degree of use of funds and resources. E = R/Z;

· effectiveness, the relationship of the result to the pursued goals, the degree of implementation of goals. E = P/C;

· expediency, the relationship of goals to real problems, the degree of rationality of the goals put forward. E = C/P.

The final expression of efficiency E = C/P x R/C x R/Z can be simplified through an obvious mathematical transformation to the form E = R/P x R/Z. However, in a managerial context, the role of goals is of fundamental interest.

Efficiency is always specific and it is worth clearly defining what type of efficiency is most important in a given situation.

Among the main parameters that must be taken into account when analyzing the effectiveness of both sponsorship and charitable activities, the main indicators of PR effectiveness in general can be taken into account:

· establishing mutual understanding between the company and its social environment;

· informing the public to promote new products and services;

· creating a positive brand perception;

· assistance in strengthening the social position of the company;

· development of staff motivation, helping to strengthen cohesion;

· entering new markets, opening up new prospects for the development and growth of the company;

· overcoming isolationism and isolation in management;

· ensuring the progress of the company, its development, diversification and growth.

We can list many other indicators of the effectiveness of sponsorship activities from a PR point of view. We will get the most accurate assessment of effectiveness if we compare all these indicators before sponsorship activities and the results after.

From a PR point of view, sponsorship as communication is essentially no different from a comprehensive advertising campaign. Sponsorship is a tool for manipulating the consciousness of consumers and is a specific form of advertising. This tool allows you to create and maintain positive relationships between the organization and the public. Effective sponsorship creates a positive company image.

Sponsorship cannot radically change established consumer opinions, so it is most effective in the early stages of introducing a product or service to the market. Later, it rather only strengthens the existing ideas about the product or service. Thus, with the help of sponsorship alone, a company cannot get rid of a negative image. While companies with a positive image can improve their image through sponsorship without changing the other elements of the marketing mix (product quality, price, distribution), a company with a negative image will not be able to do this. First, we will have to get rid of the reasons for consumer dissatisfaction and then take on sponsorship.

According to the Law “On Advertising” - “The sponsor has no right to interfere with the activities of the sponsored person.” In reality, this is rarely done. The nature of sponsorship is quite complex, often the main idea of ​​sponsorship is that the sponsor begins to associate himself with the object of sponsorship and thus tries to project onto himself all its positive characteristics and positive feelings associated with it. In fact, we are talking about transferring the image.

With the help of sponsorship, companies whose advertising opportunities are limited by law and for which sponsorship is one of the few possible ways to reach their target audience solve their problems. First of all, this applies to producers of strong alcoholic beverages and tobacco products.

Manufacturers of traditional products that find it difficult to achieve media coverage also resort to sponsorship. In addition to providing an additional reason to get the word out, these companies give their brand a lasting, sensual image that is deeply imprinted in the minds of consumers.

Sponsorship allows you to reach specific target audiences that are difficult to reach with other marketing technologies. Thus, sponsorship of an elite club may be almost the only way to communicate a product or service to a narrow group of consumers with high social status.

An indispensable condition for the effectiveness of sponsorship activities is duration. Ongoing sponsorship is perceived as an indicator of the company's serious intentions. Sponsorship is a successful means of creating an advantage over direct competitors. A strong reputation is gained not by those who make one-time, albeit grandiose, cash injections, but by those who systematically and consistently work in a specific direction.

Another mandatory success factor is the coincidence of the target audience of the sponsored object with the target audience of the sponsoring company. The more significant this intersection is, the greater the likelihood of reaching potential clients.

Of course, performance analysis involves taking into account all available information. Surveys at the scene of the event and interviews immediately after the event are considered reliable. When analyzing effectiveness, it is important to evaluate what exactly the participants of the event remembered, how many people and how their attitude towards the company, its products and corresponding behavior changed. It is real behavior that is the most general and convincing indicator of stock performance.

At the end of the sponsorship project, it is necessary to find out how effective the campaign goals were, that is, how well they corresponded to objective needs. The extent to which the results correspond to the goals is determined. In addition, it is assessed how effectively resources (money, time, employees) were spent to obtain the result.

Sponsorship packages usually come with a media plan that describes how the brand will be popularized. This means that it is possible to preliminarily assess indicators of communication effectiveness: increased brand knowledge and increased loyalty among target audiences. Media plan data should be treated with caution and, if possible, checked. In any case, before launching a campaign, the sponsor needs to evaluate the following based on the media plan:

What is the target audience of the sponsored item and how much does it overlap with the company’s target audience? how many representatives of the company's target audience will be at the event;

What impression will the event make on the company’s target audience?

Are the organizers of the event trustworthy? Will the company’s reputation suffer from organizational problems?

What media will cover the event, and how much the target audience of these media coincides with the target audience of the company;

How many sponsors does the event have in general (including competitors) and to what extent will the company, its product or service stand out among them;

How much does the cost of informing 1000 people of the company's target audience correspond to the expected effect (this data should be compared with a traditional advertising campaign).

The question of effectiveness is always a question of interpretation of accounting and observation data and the results of the event. Often the problem lies precisely in the difficulty of bringing specific arguments, evidence, dependencies. Therefore, such an interpretation is a matter of serious intellectual effort; it requires a fairly broad outlook, knowledge that goes beyond the usual ideas.

Charity and sponsorship activities and PR

The PR effectiveness of charitable and sponsorship activities, first of all, depends on the motives for investing money in various projects. You can make a list of reasons why companies support various projects without the goal of PR.

One of the main motives for investing outside a PR company is recommendations from the city administration, regulatory authorities or partners. In other words, this motive can be formulated as follows: “You cannot refuse.”

Charity can be carried out for personal reasons, as repentance for sins, or because of personal interest in a particular project. These are reasons like “I have to help” and “I like it.”

The next reason for charity is to develop public relations in the chosen field, not for business, but for personal satisfaction. In other words - “For tea with Madonna.” However, in the same way, connections useful for business are acquired: “By sponsoring this project, I will get to know the governor.”

Sponsorship and charitable support for organizations can be provided in cases where sponsorship funds provide special conditions for children or other relatives of the sponsor (school, hospital), or are allocated for projects of their relatives or friends. "Help your own."

As a result of persistent requests to allocate money for projects, especially if these are projects of relatives and friends, sponsorship can be provided “to leave them behind.”

There is another popular motive for donating part of the funds for the development of other people’s projects - to avoid unnecessary attention from the tax authorities.

For full-fledged, classic sponsorship, the motives are completely different, and the publicity of the sponsor is implied by definition.

In this case, it considers the PR effectiveness of sponsorship activities. In Russia, sponsorship is often perceived inadequately, considering investing in other people's projects inappropriate. Therefore, the word “sponsor” is sometimes replaced by the word “partner”, although it means the same thing.

With a conscious and balanced approach and subject to compliance with all obligations on the part of the sponsored person, sponsorship allows you to reach your target audience in a targeted, cheap and effective manner.

The question of consent to become a sponsor remains at the discretion of the marketing department, or the top person of the company with the involvement of the PR department. Each area of ​​business and each enterprise has its own preferences, and it is useless to give criteria on how to make a decision in one article. Perhaps the entire effect of the campaign will be reduced only to PR, and there are many such projects, many sponsorship projects are started just for the sake of the sponsor's PR. In other projects there is no PR effectiveness at all, they forget about it or simply do not know how to achieve it.

How to achieve the proper PR effect in a sponsorship project? To begin with, you need to draw up a contract correctly. The contract must indicate the volume of the advertising campaign that will be carried out through the sponsored event.

If the project has information sponsors, then it is necessary to review and, if possible, amend the agreement with them so that all participants in the process have clarity about who owes what to whom.

Also, the agreement must specify the rules for the use of the sponsor’s products within the framework of the event, and the ban on the presence of competing products must be specifically stated. The scope and manner of distribution of the sponsor's presentation materials during the project must also be transparent and maximally beneficial to the sponsor.

A poorly thought out agreement, or the choice of unscrupulous organizers as the object of sponsorship can only lead to waste. However, in this case, sponsorship can be considered charity due to thoughtlessness.

It is necessary for specialists to obtain the right from the sponsor to control relations with the media or at least influence the actions of the PR specialists of the sponsored organization. Agree on the schedule, frequency and list of distribution of information materials

In any sponsorship project there is a place for photographs with the sponsor’s logo. The publication may include various illustrations, and you can, at a minimum, provide branded photos to PR people to give to the media. It is advisable to attach correct comments about what is happening to the photographs.

After the end of the project, PR opportunities for sponsorship can still be used. For example, get the right to use the fact of sponsorship in your own advertising products. If the project’s audience is important in the long term, you can mention the good deed done in your own subsequent advertising and PR campaigns.

The motivation of the target of sponsorship is, first of all, to receive money for its project, and not to completely satisfy the sponsor. After receiving the money and solving the financial issue, the weight is lifted from the sponsored person’s shoulders, and all attention shifts to the project itself. The zeal of the performer is less than or equal to the demands of the customer. In addition, the PR qualifications of people whose specialization is sports or medicine will obviously not be high. If a sponsor invests money in a sponsorship project, it depends only on him what kind of PR effectiveness he will achieve.

Conclusion

Sponsorship, like charity, as a means of PR, are developing tools in our country. Fundraising is even less studied and mastered. But most companies are already familiar with certain methods of attracting investment. Sponsorship professionals devote much of their research to methods for creating a successful sponsorship package.

Sponsorship packages for obviously promising events are sold several years in advance. The circle of potential sponsors is determined as a result of research, or through discussion with experts.

It is necessary to clearly understand the target audience of the event in order to competently plan an advertising campaign and attract sponsors, which requires separate research.

The attractiveness of sponsorship and charity is that they help achieve several important goals at the same time. The main ones are advertising campaign and PR.

Sponsoring is one of the most popular promotion mechanisms for products with limited opportunities for using advertising or PR channels. It is also a fairly effective way to increase recognition in a clearly defined target group with a possibly small budget. Most often, owners of tobacco and alcohol brands turn to sponsorship. Recently, this area has been receiving active requests from highly competitive areas, fighting not so much for knowledge as for the loyalty of the end consumer.

Sponsoring and charity are very similar concepts, and if you do not understand the differences between them, then from the standpoint of PR activities you can either improve or harm the company’s image.

List of used literature

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12. International Sponsorship Center http://db.projectharmony.ru/login_user.php