ABSTRACT
In everyday commercial use, the word ‘sponsor’ refers to an individual or organization providing financial support in return for publicity. In fund-raising, it is used to describe someone who promises to pay a specified amount of money to a charity or club when the person or team being sponsored reaches a certain level of achievement, such as £1 per mile for a sponsored walk. In the project environment, ‘Sponsor’ describes a senior individual in an organization, normally a person who will seek investment in a project, contribute to and endorse the Business Case justifying the project, in order for her or his part of the organization to benefit from the project’s outputs. This individual is usually the customer-in chief, without whose sponsorship there might not be a project, and the ultimate authority with whom the decision-making buck stops.
