How to Get Sponsors for Your Next Event
As an event professional, planning events with available resources and within your budget is important. But what if you could go beyond these constraints and make your event even more successful?
Event sponsorships are a great way to access additional support. You can access more funds and resources while sponsors benefit from your event. These strategic partnerships can help promote your events, provide a better experience, and increase your budget and ROI.
But getting event sponsorships isn’t always easy. If you want to get sponsors for your next event, you’ll need to:
Step 2: Secure event sponsorships
Step 3: Establish relationships and follow up
Let’s dive in.
Step 1: Find event sponsors
Before you begin securing sponsorships, you have to know who to reach out to first! Following these tips will make the process much easier.
Understand your event
The best event sponsors will align with your goals. So, it’s important to figure those out first. What are you trying to accomplish with this event? Be specific and clear when defining your objectives–potential sponsors may ask. After all, sponsors need to gain something out of your event, too.
It’s also important to seek companies that align with your brand and audience. Here are some more pointers to think about:
- Your mission and values
- The event theme, if you have one
- Type of event
- Your audience
Once you understand your event, you can find potential sponsors that have sponsored events like yours, or who have the same values and audience as you. You’ll also need this information to include in your deck, but more on that later.
Try online tools
Imagine a digital marketplace where you can list all the details about your event and match with the perfect sponsor. Good news–it exists! Online platforms like SponsorMyEvent and SponsorPitch help event organizers like you find event sponsors (and help them find you).
If that doesn’t work, hop on LinkedIn. Social media is a great place to do some research about companies and leverage your community digitally.
Leverage your community
You don’t have to start entirely from scratch when finding event sponsors. Instead, find companies that your audience already knows and likes. It’ll help your brand image and encourage positive event reception.
Plus, finding the right person to talk to about event sponsorships is tricky. Use your existing network to connect to the right people and set up introductions.
Narrow down your list
You shouldn’t reach out to a bunch of companies. This can be an ineffective strategy for finding event sponsors–the message isn’t tailored, so it doesn’t resonate. Or, you could be reaching out to companies that don’t understand the value of event marketing.
Do your research to find organizations that would be a good fit, considering your brand and event goals. You may want to see if they’ve sponsored events in the past or at least have an understanding of event sponsorships. You can search events like yours and check their sponsorship pages to help.
After your research, narrow down your list to select companies that would be the best fit. Then, craft compelling, targeted messages to pitch your event. If it works, you’re ready to move on to the next step!
Step 2: Secure event sponsorships
It’s not enough to find event sponsors–you need to convince them that your event is one they should sponsor. This step requires more finesse, so here are some tips on securing event sponsorships.
Find the right people
As mentioned, finding the right people can be tricky when it comes to event sponsorships. Many people aren’t involved in events or partnerships. However, doing some research and leveraging your network may help.
Think about the nature of your own organization. If you’re a nonprofit, your best bet is to contact someone in the community outreach or development department. Those employees are often responsible for working with local nonprofits.
On the other hand, if you run a marketing agency, you wouldn’t contact a community outreach department. Instead, look for a contact in the marketing or brand department. These employees are often the gatekeepers who decide when and what businesses to partner with.
The right contact will vary from company to company. So, leverage your network to help you get started. And if you don’t have anyone to reach out to, hop on LinkedIn. You can search by specific job titles or functions.
Offer different sponsorship levels
Sponsorships usually have tiered pricing, meaning companies can choose from a few different levels of support for your event.
For example, a Platinum sponsorship might cost $5,000 and come with perks like the sponsor’s logo featured throughout your event décor. A Bronze sponsorship might cost $500 and come with a small mention in your event program.
Do your research to see what other events in your industry charge for sponsorship tiers. This insight will help you determine how high you should reach with your own sponsorships. Your tiers should be priced appropriately and competitively for your industry.
Create a detailed deck
Imagine yourself as a corporate employee who receives tons of sponsorship requests—you don’t want to approach them too casually or make your request sound like a slimy money grab. Show that you’re a pro and that your event is worth sponsoring by creating a sponsor deck.
A deck is usually a PDF or PowerPoint presentation of around 10 pages of detailed information and data about your event. Not only should it inform potential sponsors, but it should convince them, too.
At a minimum, your deck should include:
- Audience demographics. Consider including data about regions, industries, anticipated attendees, and more.
- Sponsorship incentives. Explain what sponsors would get out of your event–top benefits, marketing opportunities, and more.
- Pricing. Include information about your sponsorship tiers and what they cost.
You can also include company information, other events you offer, and testimonials from different sponsors. Be sure to have a page with contact information!
Offer incentives
Remember, sponsorships are mutually beneficial, so event sponsors need to have something in it for them. You can offer a variety of incentives to entice prospective sponsors. This can include:
- Logo placements on signage, event materials, and more
- A listing on the event website
- Exclusive presentation or booth to interact with attendees
- Social media shoutouts or dedicated posts
- Mentions in press releases, blog posts, and other marketing materials
- Speaking opportunities
- Access to VIP areas or events
- Opportunity to sponsor event features, like networking breaks, beverages, or swag
Incentives should be customized based on your event, industry, and your sponsor’s goals. Make it more tailored to their objectives to keep sponsors coming back!
Build a sponsorship page on your website
In addition to event website essentials, create a dedicated sponsorship page. This is where prospective sponsors can learn more about sponsorship opportunities. Similar to your deck, you’ll want to include information about top benefits for sponsors, a link to your deck, and what events you offer.
However, you don’t want this page to contain too much information. Reserve detailed data for your deck and keep big-picture information on your sponsorship page. Be sure to include a form or contact information so sponsors can easily get in touch.
Step 3: Establish relationships and follow up
An important part of getting event sponsorships happens after you reach out and after your event has taken place. Maintaining these relationships can help you with future event sponsorships or promotions.
Follow-ups
After doing the tips we’ve provided in Step 2, you may not hear from sponsors. Don’t get discouraged! Send a few follow-ups if you don’t hear back within a week or so.
Always be courteous and respectful in your follow-ups. If the answer to your request is “no,” don’t take it personally. Many factors that go into deciding which events to sponsor, from budget constraints to considerations about whether certain events align with a corporation’s goals. Maybe your event wasn’t a fit this time, but you can always try again with a request for your next event.
After an event
If you’ve received sponsorships for your event, that’s great! But it doesn’t end there. It’s important to keep in touch with organizations that sponsored your events.
You may want to use them again in the future. By staying in contact, you’re informed of their new business needs and can adjust your sponsorship offerings accordingly. Plus, they can assist with promoting your event, driving continuous exposure. And this advocacy enhances the credibility of your event.
Establishing these relationships builds long-term partnerships that ultimately make your events more successful.
Start planning events with The Events Calendar
Sponsorships support your events by expanding your budget or increasing awareness. It helps with the overall success and profitability of your events. Getting event sponsors isn’t a quick process, but following these tips can make it much easier.
If you’re ready to take your event planning to the next level, check out The Events Calendar. Events are made easy with a powerful suite of products and all the tools you need. You can organize sponsors with Event Schedule Manager, increase event attendance with Promoter, sell tickets on your WordPress site with Event Tickets, and so much more!
Ready to give it go? Try out the demo today!