How to Attract Sponsors to Your Program

By: Irene Byvalkevych
Date: Sep 25, 2019
Comment: 0
Category: Awards Marketing

We’re living in a new era of big data and digital technology, where the needs of sponsors have increased significantly amongst businesses. That’s why event organisers should know how to effectively create a sponsorship proposal for an event.

Does your program need a sponsor?

Once you’ve decided on the vision for your event, you must attract sponsors to the event who share this vision. It’s important for companies to select programs that are appropriate for their brand, product, or corporate image and to align with the sponsor’s expectations.

Building brand awareness

With the help of sponsors and your awards sponsorship proposal, inviting sponsors into your niche can be a great way to increase brand awareness. By getting the influencers to display your product, you will achieve the desired awareness.

Increasing sales numbers

Attract sponsors to your program to drive sales, including yours. You will also reduce your cost of selling, improve your sales performance, and ensure your company’s survival.

Improving brand image

The best event sponsorship proposal will offer a brand promotion. Create only high-profile events that improve your brand image. Getting sponsorships for events also means improving your event manager’s reputation.

What do you need to be sponsored?

Sponsors don’t just help with the program budget; they also help you organise and promote the best events. It’s recommended that you create unique program offers and support them with well-thought-out event organisation ideas in order to gather and connect all your efforts. If they meet the sponsor’s expectations, you’ll have a greater chance of success.

How many sponsors do you need?

Whether it is a single sponsor or a sponsorship group doesn’t matter; you should provide sponsors with multiple tiers of sponsorship options and what they will receive in return at each tier. Whether you need a six-figure headline sponsor or a few hundred sponsors, you should gather a wealth of data through research about how many connections you’re going to make.

What will you offer in return?

Sponsors don’t need to share your passion for your cause in order to sponsor you. However, if all you offer is plenty of logo placement, you can’t really ask for all that much in return. The more you demonstrate what the profit and payback for sponsorship investments will be, the happier your sponsors will be.

Sponsors love investing in good events, but the primary interest is always a monetary valuation of participation. Perhaps you need $20,000 to host an event, but you should let the potential sponsors know that you’re willing to accept a smaller funding amount. Your proposal should include a desired monetary sum but should not be limited to that figure.

Best strategies to attract sponsors to your program

Are you wondering how to attract sponsors? Let’s check out the best strategies.

Define goals

Set an observable and measurable end result. Choose one or more objectives to be achieved within a more or less fixed timeframe.

Plan a budget for your program

Determine fixed costs. A good business budget is about figuring out how much money you bring in on a monthly basis.

Be clear about your demographics and your platform

The first step in understanding the demographics of social media platforms is to research your niche demography, audience preferences, sponsorship opportunities, etc.

Give your proposal a “wow” factor by providing all the details

Sponsors will appreciate the customised attention. Uniqueness and personalisation are what they’re looking for, so do your best to wow your potential sponsors.

Offer the sponsor incentives

Develop a proposal that will show the benefits of event sponsorship to your partners and convince them to join your project. Give partners a feeling of privilege: book the best table in the hall, prepare memorable gifts, or arrange an exclusive meeting with celebrities if the latter are participating in your event.

Offer a “minimum risk” solution

Try to seduce your sponsors with low-risk projects. Get prepared for companies seeking a minimum risk solution with discussions and negotiations with the aim of getting a lower price by committing to a long-term contract.

Form a partnership with more established companies

In order to have a greater sense of stability, partner with a more established company. For a new company trying to grow, this is always a good option.

Study what your potential sponsors are up to

Forget about the standard sponsorship package as they’re no longer in vogue. Before an event, ask direct questions: What do you expect from the event? What are your goals? A deep understanding of the sponsor’s needs and the ability to find an individual approach is better.

Use data to make investors feel confident

Your sponsorship proposal for an awards ceremony should convince your sponsors of your sustainability and make them feel confident. Make their decisions easy to make by providing data in your sponsor pitch. Apply data-driven investing principles.

Get the timing right

Timing is everything, right? Make sure to provide the deadlines for all decisions. Planners who are successful know that the key is to be prompt.

Find the best people to contact

Future sponsors should be the best available people to get in touch with. Talk to local universities and other organisations, and ask them to put the word out. Ask people from marketing to sponsors, vendors, and beyond if there are any partnership options to choose from. Take advantage of networking as well, either online or through in-person events or series of events.

Use experiences from your previous events

Question people from previous events—marketing, sponsors, vendors, and beyond to see if there are any partnership options to choose from. Revise the database from successful projects in the past to find people who may be ready to help again.

Writing a sponsorship proposal for an event

Writing a sponsorship proposal is an important element of sponsorship organisation and the event management process.

Step 1: Open your letter with a professional header.

Step 2: Describe yourself or your organisation.

Step 3: Explain how a sponsor’s support would be beneficial to them.

Step 4: Write a closing paragraph.

Step 5: Include a sponsorship proposal and a sponsorship fact sheet.

Remember, to win quality sponsors in 2020, you will need to know essential proposal elements and be able to write compelling sponsorship proposals.

Proposal elements

A good awards sponsorship proposal should catch the reader’s attention and make them want to read more.

Start with a hook.
Add a problem: This item goes next and is important as it discusses the whole reason you need to seek sponsor services.
State your plan: Your qualifications, costs, and other important issues should be included here.

Don’t forget to complement your sponsorship proposal with a sponsorship fact sheet.

Mistakes to avoid

While making up a program sponsorship proposal for event sponsorship, you should also be wary of these possible mistakes. Any sponsorship business may face these challenges:

Inadequate income share
Disparities in skills and roles
Differences in management styles and event expectations
Fast condition changes
Personal habits/interests that do not match the contract
Financial problems and equity issues
Setting boundaries/limitations
Commitment/responsibility levels
Negotiations and conflicts
Disadvantageous partnership contract, terms, and other issues

Be ready to research how to attract sponsors for an event that are the best on the market and that know how to negotiate for the best contracts and conditions before closing the deal.

How to choose your sponsor

From the very first meeting with a potential sponsor, your main task is to interest them in your event. Success will depend not only on how colourfully you describe the main idea of the project but also whether you can correctly understand and meet the goals and mission of the partner and if they align with yours. Below are some of the best ways to get sponsors.

When looking for sponsors, reach out to them first with what you want to achieve.
Be clear on what a sponsor can do and what makes sense to ask him or her.
Ask your sponsor for help.
Recognise your value to the sponsor.
Reach out to sponsors who are different from you.
Come up with a clear contract, and take care of all legal issues.

Also, seek out someone whose conditions for closing the deal will be maximally interesting to you. After that, analyse all the points, and choose the most reliable and responsive business.

Closing the deal

If you’re looking for the best ways to close more sponsorships, stay focused on the key items described above and learn how to close sponsorship deals with the maximum benefit. Close your data-driven sponsorships by creating a sponsorship deal and relationship that works for both you and the sponsor. Use awards software to help you with that process. After all, if you don’t close the deal, you should still be able to enjoy event planning work and event organisation, which will keep you looking for more sponsorship candidates.

Call to action

Rely on our event sponsorship planning help, which will suggest some of the top search tools and recommendations. Choose end-to-end awards software to manage your programs.

Conclusion

For many event organisers, trying to get a sponsorship and find potential sponsors is hard, and it’s even harder to convert them. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be so difficult. With our help, you will be able to ask potential sponsors questions before launching the event project. You can then pick the best candidates based on the level of their professionalism and their dedication to your event brand.