The definitive guide to event sponsorship

Discover how to find the right sponsors for your event in our comprehensive guide, including what event sponsorship is, how it works, and seven tips for how to successfully pitch your event. This is part of a series of articles about Event Management.

Ready to transform your events from “meh” to magical with sponsorships? Whether you’re organizing a corporate conference or a musical festival, snagging the right sponsors can help you create the event of your dreams. But let’s face it: Navigating the world of event sponsorship can be overwhelming. Where to start? Don’t worry. In this ultimate guide, we’re sharing insider tips for pitching sponsors and securing partnerships that will take your event to the next level. So, get ready to become a sponsorship-savvy superstar!

What is event sponsorship?

Event sponsorship is when a company pays some or all the costs involved in hosting an event in return for advertising to your attendees. The company doesn’t always need to financially support your event to “sponsor” it. They can also support it in other ways by providing food, merchandise, technology, venue space, and more.

How does event sponsorship work?

You probably already knew what event sponsorship was, but how exactly does it work? Here are 7 steps to follow to help secure event sponsors.

Make a list of brand sponsors

It’s crucial to aim for more than just a checkmark on your sponsorship list. Seek out brands whose values align with your event’s mission and audience interests. Remember, it’s not about how big the brand is; it’s about having shared goals. Working with a suitable event sponsor could lead to long-term partnerships that help put your events on the map.

Search for the right brand contact person

You’ll want to do a little research to see who represents the brand you want to collaborate with. Search for titles associated with branding, partnerships, or social media marketing. See if their work email is listed on their LinkedIn or other professional profile.

Put together a custom proposal

Create a highly visual sponsorship proposal that sets your business and event apart from others. Outline the long-term and short-term benefits of sponsoring your event and the different levels of sponsorship packages available. The sponsor will then evaluate the proposal to see if it aligns with their marketing objectives and budget.

Write a compelling pitch email

In your pitch email explain who you are, your role, and why you’re reaching out. Include your custom proposal and why it’s the perfect event for their brand to sponsor.

Sign a sponsorship agreement contract

After negotiations, you’ll finalize the sponsorship agreement through a contract. The contract will outline the rights and expectations of the sponsor and event organizer, including the sponsorship package, payment terms, duration of sponsorship, and any other relevant T&Cs.

Create promotional materials

Leading up to the event, the sponsor will take care of creating branded signage and products for the event. They’ll also promote the event to help you build traction. Likewise, you’ll start promoting your event and all the sponsors involved to help build hype and ticket sales. Together, you’ll maximize brand visibility, while promoting sales. During the event, you’ll see promotional branding by all your sponsors, which will help bolster your event’s credibility and impressiveness.

Analyze sponsorship effectiveness

After the event, you and your sponsors will review the event stats, such as impressions, attendees, engagement, user-generated content, and sales, to see how effective the sponsorship was. If it’s a success, maybe they’ll become regular sponsors!

6 types of event sponsorships

Financial sponsorship

A financial sponsorship is when a company provides funds such as event costs, venue rentals, marketing expenses or guest fees in exchange for promotional benefits and brand exposure.

In-kind sponsorship

An in-kind sponsorship is when a company provides good or services such as products, equipment, catering, printing services or the venue space in exchange for promotional benefits and brand exposure.

Media sponsorship

Media sponsorships are publications that support the event by promoting it through media coverage such as in a printed magazine, online publication, social media, streaming service, radio, or TV.

Promotional sponsorship

Similar to a media sponsorship, a promotional sponsorship brings event awareness through marketing and promotional activities, including printed materials, digital marketing, and targeted advertising.

Official product sponsorship

Have you ever seen a Pepsi or Coke logo displayed all across a stadium? That’s an example of official product sponsorship where a company provides the event’s beverages, food, or apparel.

Technology sponsorship

A technology sponsor helps create the event experience by providing their unique technology services, such as audiovisual equipment, virtual event software, or event WIFI.

Why getting event sponsors matters

Working with event sponsors will allow you to go big—bigger than you could alone. Event sponsors play an important role in bringing additional finances, resources, and credibility to your event. As a result, you’ll create even more memorable, impressive events that leave a lasting impression.

Here are some of the top reasons for working with event sponsors:

• • Bigger event budget
    Cover more expenses and afford more with the help of sponsors.

• • Memorable event experience
    Help you create a fuller event experience with added amenities, activities, or entertainment.

• • Greater reach and promotion
    Double (triple or quadruple) your marketing efforts by advertising your event on your sponsors’ channels.

• • Access to greater resources
    Gain valuable resources, expertise, and support when planning, promoting, and executing your event—AKA—you don’t have to do it alone.

• • Enhance legitimacy
    Boost your events credibility and prestige by showing attendees and stakeholders that your event is well-supported and endorsed by legit brands and organizations.

5 steps to finding the right event sponsors

1. • Define your event goals
     Outline your event objectives, including your target audience, budget, key performance indicators. Ask yourself what success looks like.

1. • Research and identify potential sponsors
     Look for potential sponsors whose values and target audience align with your event attendees. Consider companies known for sponsoring similar events as they likely have an event sponsorship budget. Research who your target audience follows. Why not reach out to companies that excite them?

1. • Narrow down your options
     Highlight the brands that align most with your key goals and event vision. For example, if your event is carbon-conscious, find companies that are actively aiming to reduce carbon emissions.

1. • Segment your sponsorship opportunities
     Make it easier to say yes by creating sponsorship packages that offer financial, in-kind, and brand options.

• • Use online tools to find sponsors
    Reduce your workload by using online resources to help you find and pitch to sponsors like SponsorPitch, or sponseasy.

8 tips to successfully pitch an event sponsorship

1. Find a direct contact person
Look for roles that directly relate to event sponsorship, branding, or budget.

• • • • Brand managers – Since brand managers work on brand awareness and are often involved in events, make them your first choice.
      • CFO – Look for a Chief Financial Officer or someone in charge of budget as they’re likely responsible for allocating funds.
      • Colleagues – Already know someone on the inside? Reach out to gauge general interest.

2. Tell them everything they need to know
Put together all the event info in one place, so you can easily pitch your event with confidence.

• • • • Tell your company story
      • Outline what you do, including your vision and mission
      • Describe your target demographic
      • Explain what they can sponsor: food, venue, speakers, merch, speakers, transportation, etc.

3. Share the sponsorship benefits

Let them know all the short and long-term benefits of sponsoring your event. Some of those benefits include:

• • • • Brand exposure
      • Targeted marketing opportunities
      • Brand relevance
      • Networking opportunities
      • Product promotion
      • Content creation & user-generated content
      • Community engagement

4. Know your sponsors

Before reaching out to potential sponsors, research their target audience, marketing objectives, and brand values, like environmental responsibility or connecting communities.

5. Align your goals

Instead of sending generic sponsorship proposals personalize your pitch. Show that you their brand is trying to accomplish and how your event fits right in with their marketing strategy.

6. Spotlight your event’s USP

Make clear how your event is unique and why it’s worth sponsoring. Your key selling points can include ticket sales, media coverage, target audience, and previous success stories.

7. Build credibility with testimonials

Use video or written testimonials from previous sponsors to show you’re organized and trustworthy. You might even want to create and share a landing page with case studies.

8. Offer different sponsorship packages

Different brands can afford different things. For that reason, provide tiered sponsorship levels with varying benefits and price points. Be open to negotiation and adjust packages according to your sponsor’s needs.

Meet Kaltura Events

When it comes to creating noteworthy virtual events, Kaltura’s got you covered. Create, manage, and measure epic events on a single platform using customizable templates for every need. Level up your event game with fun engagement features, personalized agendas, accessibility features, auto-generated landing pages, comprehensive analytics, and powerful AI capabilities. We cater to any event size from in-person and hybrid to completely online. Plus, you can turn your live sponsored events into on-demand lead-gen machines that maximize your event ROI (how awesome is that?)

Cheers to your next event success story

As we wrap up our journey through event sponsorships, remember this: Securing sponsors isn’t just about landing big brands or plastering logos everywhere. It’s about building meaningful partnerships on shared values, goals, and experiences. Equipped with the tips and strategies in this event sponsorship guide, you’ll have the confidence to reach out to brands of all sizes. So, dig deep, dream big, and create magical events next to partners you respect and admire.