Babson College. Shopify. Smith College. Cartier Women's Initiative. Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi).
This is a snapshot of the types of organizations — representing global corporations, nonprofits and academia — that have sponsored different GEM reports over the past year. Building on the success of partnering with such sponsors, GEM is now exploring partnerships with like-minded organizations for the GEM 2021/22 Global Report to be launched in February 2022.
In the following interview, GEM Executive Director Aileen Ionescu-Somers explains how GEM works with report sponsors.
What is the GEM Global Report?
The GEM Global Report is our most iconic and globally known product among academics, policymakers and international organizations. Widely consulted and cited by entrepreneurship experts, academics and policymakers worldwide (in 2020, the report was downloaded more than 35,000 times from the GEM website), it is recognized as the most credible source of data related to the global “state of the art” of entrepreneurship. GEM is the only global research source that collects data on entrepreneurship directly from individual entrepreneurs. The authorship of the Global Report is made up of six leading entrepreneurship researchers from the GEM network of almost 400 researchers.
What are the benefits of report sponsorship for organizations?
Organizations sponsor GEM research for a number of different reasons. The frequent refrain we hear is the report sponsorship enables organizations to be part of the world’s longest-running study of entrepreneurship. The sponsorship supports all the work that goes into creating the research. Sponsors leverage the findings to strengthen messages on the change needed for entrepreneurship to take place in their particular communities of interest. In addition, the company, institution or foundation generates visibility via the consortium’s press, thought leadership analysis and reports. The promotion of entrepreneurship will be central to the strategies and policies of multiple governments worldwide for the foreseeable future. This is especially true considering the significant negative impacts on economies and entrepreneurs due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Governments and other stakeholders will increasingly need hard data to make key decisions that both stimulate sustainable and value-generating forms of entrepreneurship and promote healthy entrepreneurial ecosystems worldwide. Sponsors play an important role in making such robust research possible and associating with the highly credible track record of GEM (22 years of research, 150,000+ interviews with experts and entrepreneurs, data gathered from 115 economies, support from more than 200 government sponsors and funding organizations, etc.).
What is unique about the next Global Report?
The launch of the 2021/22 GEM Global Report will take place in a particularly high-profile context in 2022, a factor that is also of considerable interest to report sponsors. The United Arab Emirates government has agreed to support GEM’s work and has offered to host the launch of the GEM Global Report 2021/22 at its Expo 2020 Dubai event, called Connecting Minds, Creating the Future (this event had to be rescheduled twice owing to the ongoing pandemic and is now taking place from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022). The overall theme of this global event is largely based on innovation and entrepreneurship. This high-profile exposure should be of significant interest to potential sponsors of the 2021/22 GEM Global Report as it gives the organization the opportunity to associate not only with GEM — as the world’s most credible entrepreneurship research organization — but also with the outstanding thought leadership and groundbreaking innovation relating closely to entrepreneurship and opportunities for the future, exhibited in some 191+ country pavilions.
As guests of the United Arab Emirates government (Ministry of Economy), the GEM 2021/22 Global Report launch will take place in the Global Expo Dubai main exhibition pavilion. GEM will also run several other events before and after the launch, on specific themes such as “Women’s Entrepreneurship”, the “Impact of Entrepreneurship on the SDGs” and the launch of the United Arab Emirates GEM 2021/22 National Report.
How does GEM Global Report sponsorship work?
There are many possibilities, and we customize our report sponsorship packages based on the goals of the partnering organization (for example, we worked on a supplemental strategic paper for a sponsor). In principle, sponsors have the possibility to co-develop a communications plan around the organization’s partnership with the GEM report. They would receive prominent name and logo placement on materials related to the GEM 2021/22 Global Report Launch during the Expo 2020 Dubai event. Sponsors are visible as well as on other various GEM content assets. We are open to providing a sponsor with visibility on new content features, such as a dynamic and interactive graphics section on the website and/or working with a partner on a new podcast series. In addition, there are opportunities for the sponsoring organization to contribute thought leadership related to the report, networking opportunities and other benefits that can be negotiated by both entities.
Organizations can also sponsor various parts of the Global Report. Part 1 of the report features analysis of the data for the previous year’s research cycle. Part 2 includes Economy Profiles for every economy that participated in the research cycle that year. These profiles are designed to be suitable as a “pull-out” for policymakers when talking with their decision-makers. The Economy Profiles also include a spider graph pertaining to the GEM National Expert Survey (NES) ratings of the nine specific entrepreneurial framework conditions. There is also a Policy Roadmap section analyzing the policy implications of the GEM Adult Population Survey and NES research findings for the country in question.
What should individuals interested in GEM Global Report sponsorship do as a next step?
We would welcome the opportunity to discuss how we can tailor our sponsorship packages to achieve your organizational goals. Contact me via email (asomers@gemconsortium.org) and we can coordinate a time to speak about this opportunity.