Volunteering and the club

Entry eighteen is o patrocinador, and the sentence beside it settles the matter: o patrocinador paga o material e mais nada. In Portuguese it is simply the one who pays. A reader of English reaches for « a patron », and in a British charity that is a different person altogether. « A patron » is the distinguished name at the head of the letterhead, lent to an organisation to give it standing. The patron opens the summer fete and is thanked in the annual report; the patron is not expected to give a penny, and generally does not. Whoever pays for the materials is « a sponsor », and the money is « sponsorship ». Two further uses will catch a reader out. « To patronise a shop » is to be a regular customer of it, which is why a café thanks you for your custom; and « patronising » is what you call someone who explains easy things slowly to a grown adult. So procurar um patrocinador is « to look for a sponsor », and a club announcing a new patron has announced a name rather than a cheque.