Sponsorship can help you secure extra resources and is a great way of involving the business community in your event. Here are some tips to help you seek, secure and keep event sponsors.

Who should you approach?

When deciding whom to approach for sponsorship it is best to consider which businesses can provide the resources or services you are seeking. The businesses should also be a good fit with your event e.g. an organisation that provides services to children may be interested in sponsoring an event that will attract young families.

Sponsorship guidelines

Many companies now have sponsorship guidelines. These are usually easily found on the company’s website. If not, you have an excuse to telephone the company and ask for their guidelines, and use the opportunity to quickly introduce yourself and your business.

Get a meeting

A meeting will have a much bigger impact than a proposal. It is important to remember that some corporates receive over 20 proposals for sponsorship per week! Getting the initial meeting is often the hardest part, so, here are a few tips:

• Send a potential sponsor a “teaser” brochure or one-page outline explaining why you would like to meet or, even better, what’s in it for them. This way it isn’t a full proposal that could generate a standard rejection letter as the full extent of the offer is still unknown. Ideally, they will be curious to know more.

• Network – get out there to corporate functions, the more the better, and exchange business cards and casually suggest you should do coffee to talk about “synergies” or any potential opportunities. It is a lot easier to call someone and ask for a meeting once you have met them. It also increases the likelilhood of having your call returned and a meeting arranged.

• Use your colleagues, other sponsors and board members for referrals. Let your network know of the opportunities and ask for recommendations and introductions to people who may be interested in sponsoring you.

• If all else fails, find out the right person to speak to in the organisation and telephone them and ask if you could have 15 minutes of their time to discuss an opportunity that may be of interest to them.

It is important in the first meeting to make sure that you don’t go in with a full proposal, but an overview of the opportunity. The key is to ask what is important to them in considering such a sponsorship and to LISTEN. You shouldn’t be talking any more than they are in the initial meeting. Consider it an “information gathering” opportunity and limit the conversation to talking about what may be relevant or attractive to them.

If you have tried for a meeting with an organisation without success, ask if you can put a few questions to them over the phone and state this will only take five minutes. The same principles of listening and information gathering apply.

Make it relevant

Because you have had such a successful initial meeting(s) (it may take several to get to this stage), you now know what is important to the potential sponsor and the proposal can be tailored to consider their target markets and sponsorship and marketing objectives

Think for them/make it easy

Ensure there is the flexibility in the benefits you offer to meet your intended sponsor’s marketing objectives. Give them examples of brand/product alignment and leveraging ideas suggested in the proposal.

Be creative and professional

Proposals should also be designed to stand out from others so they are read and remembered.

It is important that a proposal is always professionally presented. Even if you have a rapport with the contact and they know the detail of the proposal, it will more than likely pass through many hands in the organisation and it should create a professional image.

Where appropriate, try using “props” for delivery e.g. if you are seeking a food sponsor you might include a barbecue pack with your proposal!

Sponsorship proposal

Finally, a tailored sponsorship proposal should be prepared for each organisation you approach and should contain:

• an event description and details of the organiser
• an outline of how your event will help your potential sponsor achieve their business objectives e.g. increased sales, higher profile, enhanced reputation
• a description of the benefits you are offering (e.g. signage, logo on publicity material, hospitality at the event involved) and the support you are seeking in turn
• an explanation of how you will evaluate the success of the sponsorship e.g. surveys of sponsor name recall at the event, increased business after the event.

Again the best way to deliver a proposal is in person at a meeting. This gives you the opportunity to “sell” the contents and take any questions they may have on the spot.

Promote the opportunity

Let colleagues and networks know about opportunities. They can then mention them to potential sponsors or even introduce you. Other means of promotion are:

• Websites
• Teaser brochures
• Industry databases
• Networking functions and conferences
• Industry newsletters such as “Australian Sponsorship Newsletter”
• Advertising opportunities – you should investigate these.

When you have secured your sponsor

Once you have secured your sponsor you should:

• develop a written agreement clearly outlining what you would like from the sponsor and what you will deliver in return. For simple sponsorships a letter is sufficient. For large or more complex sponsorships it is best for a solicitor to draft a sponsorship agreement
• nominate one contact person from your organisation to liaise with the sponsor
• regularly update your sponsor about progress of the event—don’t wait until the end of the event to communicate with them
• provide the sponsor with a report after the event—it is easier to keep an existing sponsor than to gain a new one so work hard to maintain your relationship with them. 

Internal support

It is important to get the corporate buy-in i.e. all teams and all levels need to know the value of the sponsorship so they can build relationships with them. So, your CEO should get to know their CEO, your marketing manager should know theirs and so on. This will help with servicing the sponsor and in gaining an overall understanding of the sponsor’s needs.

Set objectives with each sponsor

Set objectives with each sponsor on an annual basis and then work on strategies for achieving them. The outcomes then become the basis for post-event reports.

Have regular meetings to monitor progress. An agreed timeline with each sponsor is also needed. This should set out meeting dates, deadlines for sign-offs and upcoming functions and events. 

As stated above, it is essential to let all in your organisation who are involved know what these objectives are, particularly if they are to have a role in delivering or facilitating any of the benefits.

Under-promise and over-deliver

A helpful analogy is that sponsorship is like a marriage. It needs constant attention and maintenance to make it work. Building on this analogy – it is the little things that count. Make your sponsors feel special, give them an extra few tickets to a function (outside the contract) or ask them out for a coffee just to say thanks from time to time.

Upgrade strategy

If you are planning a large event, there may be scope to have several levels of sponsorship such as Partners, Major Sponsors, Sponsors, Major Supporters, or Supporters. If there are a number of events under one large umbrella event, such as in a festival, a Partner or Major Sponsor might “own” a particular event, whereas a Supporter, who makes a much smaller investment, might receive acknowledgment in the official program and hospitality benefits at the events.

Sometimes it will be easier to start corporates at a smaller level of investment, introduce them to your programs and organisation, kill them with kindness and then suggest an upgrade to a sponsor.

Long term contract

Aim for a 2—3 year contract with your sponsor so that the annual review is not about if they will renew but how you can enhance and improve the partnership. It makes the relationship much more secure and means that more time can be spent on servicing them, rather than in negotiating terms of the agreement on an annual basis.

It is also gives you vital financial security and the sponsor the guarantee that the event is theirs and they can develop long-term leveraging plans.