Sponsorship, where a senior leader uses political clout to advocate for another employee’s advancement, can do big things for talented women. In fact, a new story in Working Mother finds that sponsorship programs may be just the thing to get more women into top executive roles.

A report released last month by the Center for Work-Life Policy (CWLP) notes that “the pipeline is fairly bursting with proven female talent.” And yet, according to the New York City-based think tank, “women who are qualified to lead stall out in their careers not for lack of drive, but rather for lack of push. They simply don’t have the powerful backing necessary to inspire them, propel them, and protect them through the perilous straits of upper management.”

At present, formal sponsorship programs are relatively rare. While 100 percent of the Working Mother Best Companies for Women’s Advancement offer sponsorship, only 38 percent of the much larger group of Working Mother’s 100 Best Companies do.

What is sponsorship? Working Mother finds that too often it gets confused with mentoring, but the two roles are different. Mentors provide advice and counsel; such relationships can be web-like, formed among peers, bosses and underlings. By contrast, sponsors are senior executives with the clout and the desire to advance their protégés. “A sponsor is someone who is pounding the table for you to get the raise, the promotion, or the chance to work on a high profile project,” says Susan Bulkeley Butler, author of Women Count: A Guide to Changing the World.

To be successful, companies that opt to offer sponsorship must make sure to market these programs internally so that everyone understands the stakes and goals. Arin Reeves of Nextions, a Chicago-based consultancy specializing in leadership and inclusion training for Fortune 500 companies, suggests, for example, offering team-building exercises where senior people can mingle with rising talents.

Tammy Allen, professor of psychology at the University of South Florida and co-author of Designing Workplace Mentoring Programs: An Evidence-Based Approach (Blackwell-Wiley Publishing, 2009) even recommends a “speed dating” approach where mini-meetings serve as icebreakers between executives and rising stars. Senior leaders should understand that by sponsoring talent they build up a personal bank of loyalty and goodwill to draw upon later. Says Allen, “It enhances your reputation to be known as a star maker, someone with the ability to spot and cultivate talent.”

Jennifer Owens is director of the Working Mother Research Institute.