Special Events: Finding a Sponsor for your Event

by Usha Menon

These are recommended steps for finding a sponsor for your event

1. Determine who your audience is:

Sending “blind” proposals usually does not work well. Knowing your audience helps you to figure out who to solicit

Events that are successful in securing sponsors often (1) have a ton of people involved or (2) have a very specific focus. Sponsors like the former because they can reach a large audience in one shot. The latter works well for sponsors who are trying to reach a particular target market. Unless your non-profit has the resources to handle an event with thousands of attendees, you should explore the “specific focus” route.

When you are planning your event, plan to go beyond your orghanisation. For instance, if your agency provides shelter to animals, think about hosting an event in which you can invite local veterinarians, pet store owners, zoo employees etc.. One reason to invite “professionals” is because it is lucrative from the sponsors point of view. Sponsors may not be interested in your organization, but they may be interested in getting their product into the hands of these professionals. Another advantage to inviting a new pool of people is that more people will know about your organization and possibly volunteer or donate money.

Once you have established your audience, do some brainstorming. Think about which companies and local and local businesses are likely to be interested in reaching your audience.

2. Set Sponsorship Levels

Make sure that the benefits at each level are distinct and enticing enough to encourage previous sponsors to move up a level

It is a good idea to have a wide range of levels so that the smaller businesses as well as larger companies can find a level that suits their needs and budget. If your event is quite small, your entry level sponsors might simply receive a small ad in an accompanying program or flyer for $50. For larger events sponsor levels might begin at $200, $500, or even $1,000. Depending on audience size and publicity opportunities, cost of a title sponsorship could ranger from $750 to $10,000. Title sponsors receive maximum publicity, and their logo should appear in all publicity material.

You should base your sponsor levels on the benefits to the company. Put a price on each benefit you’ll offer and add the prices in each level. This will give you an idea as to the cost of a sponsorship at each level.

Know in advance that you may have to be flexible and customize levels for some sponsors to meet their marketing needs. Some sponsors might be interested in a half-cash, half in-kind (product donation) sponsorship. Food and beverage companies often would like to see their logo on T shirts, hear their company name announced etc. They may want to have a table or booth available to distribute their products.

Depending on your event, these are a few benefits you might want to consider offering:

• Sponsor banner displayed at event • Sponsor name announced at event • Dinner table supported by sponsor (i.e. each person at the table receives a promotional item and literature from the sponsor and the sponsor’s logo is displayed at the table) • Small sponsor banner or logo displayed at the podium • Sponsor name or logo in organisation’s newsletter • Sponsor name or logo in newspapers or magazines • Sponsor ad in program or flyer (ad size can range from business card size to full page) • Sponsor logo on organisation’s web-site (can include a hotlink to their site) • Sponsor logo on T shirt • Category exclusivity (a guarantee to sponsors that once they sign on, none of their competitors will be allowed to sponsor

3. Make lots of phone calls

The most time consuming but ultimately money saving step: get on the phone and pitch your event as a great marketing opportunity

Call local businesses to see if they are interested in reaching your market. When you begin your conversation, focus on how the company will benefit “This is such and such from my organization. I thought you might be interested in marketing your company’s products/services at an upcoming event we are hosting – do you have a few seconds” Come up with a pitch that in 20 seconds or less explains the event, audience and some benefits to the company. If they are interested, you can always go into more detail or send more information.

Your calls will vary with the type and size of company you contact. You’ll probably speak directly to owners at small local businesses. Medium size companies may have marketing departments or human resource departments that take care of sponsorship. Large companies receive countless requests for sponsorship, and they may have a sponsorship recording that gives you their guide lines for requests. These companies usually put together their budgets once a year often October, so that you may have send your proposals in months ahead of time. Be sure to pay attention to corporate areas of focus. Some companies make commitments to only sponsor certain groups such as children or environmental organizations.

For potential sponsor ideas, talk to your board, staff and volunteers. Investigate their ideas and connections. Try contacting advertising and public relations agencies to see if they think any of their clients might be interested in your event. See if any lists similar to yours – or events with similar audiences – already exist, and review their sponsor lists.

Once you have made all these calls, review your notes and prepare a list of companies you will solicit. Yes, this takes a lot of time, but it can save your organization money. Instead of blindly sending out proposals to hundreds of businesses, ignoring their guidelines and focus areas, you can send dozens of proposals to companies who have already expressed interest in your event.

4. Send Proposal letters

It’s important people feel that you are asking money specifically from their company, and that they are not part of a massive group

Keep your letters short. As in your phone calls, concentrate on the exposure the company will receive for their money, not on how the money will help you. With large corporations, its especially true that their marketing budgets are usually much larger than their charitable donations budgets. You may come across a few companies that are not as interested in the publicity – they want to sponsor your event because they truly believe in your organisation’s mission. They are a very rare, but a much appreciated bunch.

Wherever possible, customize the letter. A good attention getter is attaching a post-it that says” Thanks for speaking with me. Here’s the information on our event.” With the size and type of company in mind, request a particular level from each potential sponsor. Tell them the anticipated impressions that such a sponsorship will yield. Impressions are calculated by taking the total number of times a sponsors name will be seen or heard. Fore instance say your event is intended to draw 100 people. Your entrant level sponsors might receive: space to display a banner (100 impressions), their name announced twice (200 impressions) and their name in your organisation’s newsletter (350 impressions) and annual report (475 impressions) for a total of 1,125 impressions.

Make sure that sponsor benefits are easily found in your letter, and they are easy to understand. Consider using bullet points to make the benefits stand out. Make sure your letters include your name, address and phone number, the date and location of the event, and the addresses to send cheques and in-kind contributions. If you have tax-exempt status, be sure to say so as some companies will only sponsor those who do. If your letter does not include a short description (2 paras or a few bullet points) on what your organization does, then include a one page fact sheet or a tri-fold brochure on tour organization. Hand sign each letter.

Finally include a chart or brochure that details sponsor benefits at each level. If this is the second time your organisation is hosting the event, include a flyer that lists the sponsors and describes the audience from the previous time.

5. Follow Up

Don’t be afraid to call potential sponsors to find out their thoughts on sponsorship

After receiving your letter, some companies will call you to tell you they are interested in sponsoring. Most will not. It is up to you to follow up with them after 2-3 weeks after sending your proposal. Some people hesitate to follow up, thinking it will bother the company. Generally most large companies do not accept follow up calls, so note that when you are making your initial call. But for those that do not mention “no follow up” it is perfectly OK to do so. In fact it is the best way to find out that an interested company did not receive your letter!

Some interested companies may request face to face meetings, but most sponsor communication will be done via phone, fax, and email. One possible way to begin your follow up call |”This is such and such from My Organisation. I just wanted to follow up on the sponsorship request I sent. Do you have a few seconds. If they don’t ask when would be a better time to call back. The be sure to call back at the requested time. If they say “yes” your response might be “Do you have any questions? Does it look like something that you may be interested in for this year? If they are not interested, then find out why not. Keep good notes so that you remember next year not to re-call people who said that they would definitely not be interested. |If they say yes, congratulations, you are on your way to building a strong list of sponsors.

6. Cultivate your relationship with sponsors

Don’t drop your sponsors once they have agreed to send you money

One of the worst messages to send a sponsor is ’I just cared about getting your money. Now I’ve got it I am going to disappear.” Make sure your sponsors see that you value their support. Once a company has agreed to sponsor, send them a thank you letter that re-caps the benefits at the level they have chosen. After you receive their cheque, send another thank you. If your organization has a newsletter, begin sending it to them. |f you don’t have a newsletter, send them periodical updates on your organisation and/or the events.. Any time you think a sponsor has a concern about something, give them a call. If a sponsor calls you, make it a point to return their call as soon as possible, and absolutely within 24 hours. If you will be out of the office for a few days, make sure your voice message directs sponsors to a real person.

7. Cultivate your relationships with non-sponsors

Perhaps people who were not able to sponsor may be interested in attending your event.

As your event draws near, send invitations to some of the companies that did not sponsor. You might want to say something like “Even though you were not able to sponsor us this year, we hope you’ll consider attending or volunteering during the event”. Sometimes, an employee from the company will attend, see what a great event it is, and make sure money is budgeted next year for sponsorship.

8. Give your sponsors plenty of publicity

Publicity is why your sponsors signed on – so make sure they get it.

|This sounds obvious, but make sure your sponsors receive everything promised. |if you can give them added publicity, by way of name announcement etc. do so. You do not want to put all the work into acquiring sponsors and then not deliver results.

9. Cultivate relationships with sponsors Part 2

Don’t drop your sponsors after the event

Send thank you letters to sponsors after the event. Let them know how successful the event was, how much money was raised, the final attendance count etc. For sponsors at high levels (or, if your event was very small, for all sponsors) put together packets that showcase their publicity. Include copies of all the ads they appeared in, photos of their banners at the events, photos of people using their product at the event etc.

If some sponsors had any concerns at any point, give them a call to see how they think things worked out. Even after the final tasks of the event have been taken care of, and that last thank you letter has been sent, keep in touch with your sponsors. Continue sending them your newsletter or updates on your group. \Send them your annual report. Invite them to other events at your organization. Send them quick notes if you see the company given a favourable reference in a newspaper. You do not want to only contact them once sponsorship solicitation starts again. On the other hand, do not go overboard. For example, some sponsors prefer not to receive holiday cards from non-profits, because they feel that their money is not being spent in the best way. It can be a fine line, so use your judgement. The bottom line is recognizing that each sponsor has unique needs and concerns. Do what you can to accommodate your sponsors while striving to make your event a successful continuation of your organisation’s mission.