How to attract sponsors for your event in 2024

Funding is one of the most difficult parts of planning an event. You need a venue, equipment, and services if it’s an in-person or hybrid event. If it’s a virtual event (which is cheaper right from the start), you still need equipment, speakers, and digital swag bags.

Regardless of the event you want to host, there will be costs. You can pay those costs out of pocket or you can collaborate with sponsors. You can have companies sponsor the event you want to bring to life. In this guide, you’ll learn what sponsoring an event entails and how to attract the right sponsors.

What is an event sponsorship?

Event sponsorship is when a company or organization offers financial or other support in exchange for value like brand exposure, networking or speaking opportunities, or attendee data.

Here are the types of sponsorship a company or organization can provide:

• Monetary sponsorship: Financial support to help cover the event’s costs.
• In-kind sponsorship: Providing goods and services to an event, like venue, prizes, food and beverages, or tech-related support.
• Media sponsorship: Businesses secure advertising for the event, whether it’s through social media ads, radio, newspapers, or magazines.
• Promotional sponsorship: Unlike traditional media sponsorship, promotional partners are individuals like social media influencers who use their platforms to promote the event.

Event sponsorships are a great win-win situation because event organizers and businesses benefit from working together.

The benefits of event sponsorship for organizers

Researching, contacting, and securing sponsors for your event requires a lot of time and resources, so it’s important you understand the benefits of event sponsorship for organizers (there are a lot).

Increased financial support

You want to host the event of your dreams, but the truth is usually your budget gets in the way. Sponsorships can help cover event costs, including venue fees, marketing, and entertainment. This gives you more wiggle room to allocate funds towards other areas of the event.

Added credibility and trust

When a trusted brand partners with your event, it’s a big deal. It not only provides you with financial support but builds your event’s credibility. Attendees and other potential sponsors will see your event as high quality, which increases interest and attendance. Additionally, high-ranking sponsor names can help secure better speakers and… more sponsors!

Wider audience reach

Sponsors usually promote your event through their marketing channels, expanding your event’s visibility with similar audiences. This helps attract a large and diverse group of people.

Enhance event experience

Whether it’s financial or in-kind support, sponsors can help give your event a boost. It could be through entertainment or giveaways that enhance the attendees’ experience. That special je ne sais quoi will give people a positive memory forever attached to your brand or organization.

Identifying the right sponsors for your event

It’s not about securing the most sponsorships — it’s about securing the right sponsorships. You want to work with sponsors that align with your event’s values, theme, goals, and target audience. It makes for a more authentic experience for everyone involved.

Here’s how.

• Know your audience: Understanding your audience is key to choosing the right sponsors. Before doing anything, know your audience demographics, interests, and buying behavior. A sponsor wants to connect with attendees who are highly likely to become customers.

• Understand your event’s core purpose: This is a big one. Be clear about your event’s primary goals, whether it’s brand awareness, promoting a cause, or educating an audience. For example, if your event focuses on health & wellness, sponsors like gyms or wellness products may be an ideal match.

• Align brand values and goals: Dive in deep and research potential sponsors to make sure their brand values align with your event’s messaging. Being in sync will create a successful sponsorship that can grow into a long-term relationship.

• Opt for local and niche businesses: Everyone wants big-name brands to sponsor their events while overlooking local and niche businesses that align perfectly with your event’s messaging. Local and niche businesses are more likely to sponsor your event as it’ll help them connect to their target market.

• Research past sponsorships: Look to see if potential sponsors have a prior history of sponsoring events. This information can help you understand the type of sponsorships they provide and what they value.

Steps to create an irresistible sponsorship proposal

Okay — so you have your list of potential sponsors ready to go. Now what? Well, the next step is to create a proposal that’ll have sponsors chasing you for the chance to support your event. If you want that to happen, here’s what you need to do:

Step #1: Start with an engaging summary

You’re not the first person to send out a proposal, so you need to stand out. You want to create a summary that’ll grab their attention and push them to read the rest of your proposal.

While you don’t want this part to be too long, your summary should tell potential sponsors who you are, your event’s mission, the audience, and the main benefits they’ll receive from sponsoring your event. Don’t be afraid to be bold and hook them in.

Step #2: Highlight the benefits they’ll receive

This is really the part you want to focus on most in your proposal. Your potential sponsor needs to know what’s in it for them – why should they sponsor your event?

Benefits could be:

• • • • • Increased brand visibility
        • Speaking opportunities
        • Access to their target audience
        • Networking opportunities
        • Data and high-quality lead generation
        • Media coverage (magazines, newspapers, social media, etc.)
        • Product showcase

For example, Color Run, a 5K race, partnered with Nike and Reebok and gave out apparel. The benefits of the sponsorship were engaging with their target audience.

Whatever the benefits are, be very specific about what you’re offering them. This is your chance to grab their attention and get their mouths watering with excitement.

Step #3: Offer different packages

Let’s be honest, people like options. No one wants to feel backed into a corner. You can offer different tiers of sponsorship, like Platinum, Gold, and Silver, with increasing benefits, or an à la carte package where sponsors can choose to sponsor individual elements of your event.

Offering different types of sponsorship provides the freedom to choose a package that fits their budget.

Your tiered packages should include:

• • • • • The name of each tier
        • The cost of each tier
        • A detailed explanation of the benefits
        • Examples of who purchases each tier

Your à la carte package should include:

• • • • • Options by category (merch, food, entertainment, etc.)
        • The cost of each option
        • A few example packages

Step #4: Provide data and metrics

Sponsors want to know if their support is going to have a positive impact on their business. So, provide data in your proposal that shows what they can expect.

The data could be projected attendance numbers, demographics, and past event success stories. If you’ve worked with sponsors before, include testimonials or case studies that show the ROI.

Step #5: Add some visuals

Bring your proposal to life by showing potential sponsors how they’ll appear at the event. For example, mockups of banners, social media posts, and logo placement can help sponsors visualize what their involvement will look like.

Step #6: End with a strong call-to-action

If they’ve made it to the end of your proposal, they’re interested. Now, it’s time to finish with a strong call to action that’ll get them reaching out for more information. In your call to action, outline the next steps for securing the sponsorship and encourage them to contact you.

How to maintain strong relationships with event sponsors

Securing a sponsorship is just the beginning. Building a long-term relationship is the goal for future partnerships. If you want your sponsors to sign up for the next event, here are some ways to nurture the relationship:

• • • Keep communicating: You don’t need to constantly check in with your sponsor, but keep them on a mailing list where you offer exclusive updates and involvement in future events.

• • • Show appreciation: Send them a thank you card or a goody bag for participating in the event. Show them that their sponsorship had an impact. These small acts of appreciation build a trusting and valuable relationship.

• • • Value their opinion: Keep your sponsors in the conversation and ask for their feedback. Not only can their insights help you with your next event, but it also makes sponsors feel a part of the event planning process.

• • • Deliver on your promises: Whatever you put in your sponsorship agreement, live up to it. Whether it’s logo placement or a speaking opportunity, delivering on your promises builds long-term relationships.

Maintaining a long-term relationship with your sponsor doesn’t take a lot of effort—it’s really the small things that count.

Measuring the ROI of event sponsorships

So, the event is over, and now your sponsor wants to measure the success of the partnership to know if it paid off. So how do you measure the ROI of event sponsorships? Let’s talk about it.

There are multiple ways you can measure the impact a sponsorship has on your event. Here are the most common ways to measure ROI:

Brand visibility

Measure how much brand exposure your sponsor received during the event. This includes impressions from logo placement, signage, and event materials.

Lead generation

Track the number and quality of leads generated through the event via contact information, inquiries, or tracking engagement with promotional materials.

Attendee engagement

Analyze how engaged the attendees are with the sponsor’s support. For example, did they attend the sponsor’s presentation? Did they receive social media mentions? Did attendees participate in sponsor-led contests?

Social media engagement

Measure the impact of your event on your social media channels by looking at impressions, likes, shares, and comments related to the event.

Collect feedback

After the event, send out surveys to both sponsors and attendees to measure their experiences. These surveys can provide important information about the interaction between attendees and sponsors.

FAQ

What are common types of event sponsorships?

Sponsoring an event can be financial, in-kind, media, or promotional support.

How does event sponsorship increase brand visibility?

Event sponsorship increases brand visibility by providing sponsors the chance to connect with your event’s audience, whether through speaking opportunities, branding on event materials, etc.

What is the difference between a sponsor and a partner?

A sponsor will provide financial or in-kind support in exchange for something of value (brand exposure, speaking opportunities, etc.). A partner plays a more integral role in the overall planning and execution of the event.

Meet Kaltura – Industry-leading video solutions for webinars, events, hubs & more

Whether you’re hosting a virtual, in-person, or hybrid event, you want a platform that can do the heavy lifting while you focus on building relationships with your audience and sponsors.

No sponsor wants to be involved with an event that relies on poor video quality or mediocre tech. With flawless streaming quality and AI-powered tools — such as captioning, translation, and real-time AI support — Kaltura offers unique content for each guest, enhancing the attendee experience and providing sponsors with excellent ROI.

Kaltura tracks, measures, and reports event data in real time across all your channels. That way, your sponsors get the data they need for lead generation, marketing strategy, and performance reporting.

If you want to attract high-quality sponsors and build long-term relationships through an engaging, inclusive platform, try Kaltura.

In conclusion

Understanding how to obtain sponsorship for an event will give you a better chance at the support you need. From this guide, you learned the best way to attract sponsors is by highlighting their benefits and providing them with data showing their sponsorship paid off.

Luckily, you don’t need to sit in front of the computer staring at an Excel sheet to work through the data. Save time by using the right tools to track, measure, and report the data your sponsors want to see.