Event Sponsorship: How To Get Sponsors For Your Next Event

Holding events can be a great way to promote your business and reach a wider audience. In fact, 78% of event organizers state that in-person events are their most lucrative marketing channel.

But a big factor in your event’s success can boil down to event sponsorships. Getting other brands and organizations to sponsor your event can help boost your event’s budget and introduce your event to their audiences.

Throughout this guide, we’re going to talk more about what event sponsorship looks like, the different types of sponsorship options you might consider offering, and how to get sponsors for your next event.

What is Event Sponsorship?

Event sponsorship is when a business pays to have their logo or advertisement featured at an event as a way of generating exposure for their business, while also giving the event a bigger budget or more resources to work with.

Sponsorships can vary, ranging from an ad space on the event’s website to a business’s name and logo right on the front of the event program. Naturally, these two different promotions would come with wildly different price tags as sponsorship package costs tend to vary based on how much exposure the business is getting.

If you’re hosting an event, you’d put together a few different sponsorship packages. This could look like:

• Bronze Sponsorship Package: Business logo on event website, t-shirts, and entry banner
• Silver Sponsorship Package: Full ad page in event program plus business logo on event website, t-shirts, and entry banner
• Gold Sponsorship Package: Business is mentioned as the event’s main sponsor with their logo on the front of the event program, a vendor table at the event, full ad page in event program, and business logo on event website, t-shirts, and entry banner

However, there are different types of event sponsorships as well—something we’ll dive into next—so you might choose to do something completely different for your next event.

Types of Event Sponsorships

As you plan your event, there are several different types of event sponsorships to consider. Not all of them are as cut-and-dry as exchanging money for promotion—but that is the first type we’ll be talking about.

Monetary

A monetary sponsorship is the most traditional type of event sponsorship. Like we said, it’s essentially a business paying you for promotion during your event. It helps boost your event budget while providing more exposure for the business.

In-Kind

In-kind sponsors provide your event with resources, rather than a monetary exchange. There are several different types of in-kind sponsors, like:

• Venue Partners: Venues who offer up their event space in exchange for promotion
• Food Sponsors: Restaurants or caterers who offer to supply food for attendees in exchange for a sponsorship spot
• Prize/Giveaway Sponsors: Brands who offer up free products or services for you to give away at your event as prizes
• Digital Sponsors: Tech companies who offer perks like an event app, live tweets, a media wall, etc., in exchange for promotion or their name on the app
• Other Sponsors: Other types of in-kind sponsors could be waste management companies, portable toilet companies, and any other type of service your event needs that you barter in exchange for a sponsorship slot

Promotional

Promotional sponsors are included in an event’s list of sponsors in exchange for promoting the event to their own audience. It’s almost like a promo-for-promo partnership, helping both the event and the business reach a wider audience.

Media

Media sponsorships are similar in that they’re entirely promotional. However, instead of the event partnering with a business, they’ve partnered with a media company, like a newspaper, TV station, or radio station to promote each other.

Scholarship

If your event has paid tickets, you might consider looking for sponsors that are willing to cover the entry fee of some of your attendees. This can be a great way to diversify your attendee list and offer entrance to some who may otherwise not be able to attend.

Experiential

An experiential sponsor offers a bit more for your event than just their logo or banner. This type of sponsor might host an interactive workshop, demo a product, or provide a gamified experience that goes beyond a typical sponsorship.

How to Get Event Sponsors

Finding the right sponsors for your event can take time, so get started well in advance. Walk through these five steps to get event sponsors that can help make your next event a huge success.

1. Create Sponsorship Packages

The first step you need to take is to put together your different sponsorship packages so that you have something to offer to your potential partners. Consider the different types of sponsorships you might want to offer and go from there.

For example, you could put together tiered monetary sponsorship packages, you could offer sponsors for different sections of your event, or you could offer a mix of monetary, promotional, and in-kind sponsorships.

Take a look at how this event structured their sponsorship offerings:

Source

Some of the options include:

• A title sponsor with maximum benefits, as well as being part of the event’s title.
• Five platinum sponsorship spots that sit just a tier below the title sponsor.
• Exhibit and kiosk sponsorship slots.
• Speaking sessions availability for companies to purchase.
• Sponsorship options for various events or sections of the event, like the pre-party, the charging lounge, or (not pictured above) the coffee bar.

Your sponsorship package options are endless. You can put together a basic tiered plan, like the example we shared at the beginning of this article, or you can get creative and offer sponsors for different event rooms.

You don’t even have to box yourself in when looking for in-kind sponsors. If you’re looking for a food sponsor, you could either offer an in-kind sponsorship directly with a caterer or restaurant or allow a non-food related business to cover the cost of the catering in exchange for sponsorship.

The first step in getting sponsors for your next event is to decide what you want to offer your sponsors. Compile a list of sponsorship options before moving onto the next step.

2. Research Potential Sponsors

Start looking for companies that may be interested in sponsoring your event. Whether their audiences align with yours or they might be interested in an in-kind sponsorship, the next step is to put together a list of companies to reach out to.

Here are some ideas to help you start your research:

• Reach out to old sponsors: Have you hosted an event before? You may want to offer first dibs to companies who have already sponsored one of your events.
• Look at sponsors from similar events: Look at other events in your industry. Companies who sponsored those events may be looking for even more related opportunities.
• Consider brands with similar audiences or values: Research brands who go after the same audience as you or businesses with complementary products or services. They’re likely looking for opportunities for finding new potential customers.
• Find sponsors your audience is familiar with: Use social media to discover brands that people in your target audience are mentioning or following. Seeing recognizable brands on your sponsors list can be meaningful for potential attendees.
• Use digital tools to help: Tools like SponsorMyEvent or OpenSponsorship can be a big help for finding relevant companies to sponsor your event.

3. Put Together a Proposal

After compiling a list of potential sponsors, it’s time to put together a pitch or proposal. You want to come to your conversation prepared with reasons why companies should become your event sponsors.

A good sponsorship proposal includes:

• An overview of your event
• Your event’s audience demographics
• Event details, like admission, logistics, and estimated attendance
• Your sponsorship package options
• Contact information

You want to make sure your potential sponsors have all of the information they need to make an informed decision.

4. Reach Out to Potential Sponsors

Now you can start reaching out to potential sponsors. You can start by looking for contact information or a form on their website to get the conversation started. But finding the right point of contact is going to be your best bet.

Look for the company’s sponsorships manager, brand manager, or marketing manager. They’re most likely going to be the person responsible for handling the company’s sponsorships, so it’s best to get your communication right in front of them when you can.

From there, you want to put together a compelling email. Use a template like this as your starting point, but be sure to customize it based on your event and the person you’re emailing:

Hi [Potential Sponsor]!

I’m [Your Name] from [Your Company/Organization]. We’re organizing an upcoming event and are looking for sponsors! Our event, [Event Name], will be held on [Event Date] at [Venue].

By sponsoring [Event Name], your company will be introduced to a wide audience relevant to your business, helping to boost your presence in the industry. Our goal is to give all of our sponsors plenty of visibility and engagement, so we’ve put together several sponsorship options.

Does this sound like something your company is interested in? Let’s chat. I’d love to share more about our sponsorship opportunities.

Let me know what your schedule looks like this week.

Best,

[Your Name]

[Your Title]

[Your Company/Organization]

[Your Contact Information]

Customize this email to fit your needs, then start outreach to your potential sponsors.

5. Convince Companies to Sponsor Your Event

Set up calls and share your sponsorship proposal with each potential sponsor in an effort to bring as many on board as you can. Events typically have no shortage of sponsorship opportunities, so try to build as large of a sponsor list as you can.

Some tips for persuading businesses to sign on include:

• Creating a sense of urgency by saying spots are limited
• Offering incentives for returning sponsors
• Highlighting potential ROI businesses can see from sponsoring your event
• Collaborating on sponsorship assets to make it easier for businesses to sign on

Once a company is on board, send over a contract and start getting their signage ready for your event!

Use These Event Sponsorship Tips to Boost Your Sponsors

Getting sponsors for your event is a great way to boost your event budget and generate partnerships with other businesses in your industry or community. Use this guide to get more sponsors for your next event. Then check out our tips on promoting your event online.