Tricky Words in this week's OVI

Last month's Tricky Words featured the Slovak expression "pod záštitou", literally translated as "under the aegis", meaning "shield", but also "under the auspices", meaning "protective influence". I would normally associate these expressions with organizations, but if I'm forced (maybe by sentence structure) to use them referring to an individual person, I try to link them with that person's official position or title.

If that's not appropriate I prefer to say the person has "accepted the patronage" or "agreed to be the patron" for an event, but I also sense that these words are becoming too formal and outdated. A more modern alternative is "sponsorship" or "sponsor", although I suspect many people would think this means "the person providing the money". Words are constantly developing new uses.