WordPress Event Ticketing

No matter whether your event is a nonprofit fundraiser or a commercial sales conference, it’s never too early to start looking for sponsors. Some types of events are by their very nature free from this hassle, but we’ll leave them to their smug selves, because today we’re discussing how to get that juicy sponsor funding that will make your event thrive! Or, you know, happen.
Your search for sponsors literally cannot begin soon enough. The moment you know the date of your event is the moment you start looking for sponsors – at the latest. I prefer this to be a full year before the event, and let me explain why: if it’s longer than that it will usually overlap with too much other stuff, and any less will not allow for enough time to approach all potential sponsors, allow you to get comfy with them (and allow them to get comfy with the event!) and secure funding. And if sponsors are corporate “persons”, a year is guaranteed to include budget planning time, so your event sponsorship is sure to be incorporated into the annual budget.

Know What You’re Selling

Finding sponsors is, unfortunately, a lot like being a travelling salesmen. Yes, some sponsors can be found without personally pitching the event, but a good event promoter must be ready for plenty of face to face. Of course, when selling stuff, being ready means you know your product first, and your potential prospect second.

So, make a list of all the relevant event information, because it will not only help you get to know what you are selling, but also serve as a guide for profiling potential sponsors.

So, get intimate with every little detail of your event because you never know what could be the key selling point for a sponsor. Perhaps they are a fan of your guest speaker. It could be that they have great previous experience with some of your vendors. Or maybe they are somehow connected with the venue. So, make a list of all the relevant event information, because it will not only help you get to know what you are selling, but also serve as a guide for profiling potential sponsors.
Basic things like the type of event and the scope of the expected crowd are no-brainers. Then, get into more detail: profile your attendees, from their demographics to their consumer habits. Take time to clearly define and shape a sales pitch that will focus on what sponsors exactly get in return – is it promotion, corporate social responsibility goodwill or something else? And finally, set a target number for funding you will need the sponsors to provide. If done properly, all this will mean that you can easily define sponsorship tiers and start your search.

Make a Wish List

When you have detailed and organized insight into what it is exactly that you offer, you will have a better idea of who would be interested. So, put together a list of all potential sponsors that come to mind, enlisting the aid of your entire team to make it as complete as possible. At this point, quantity is what you should go for - the list will quite naturally whittle down to a fraction of itself as you start contacting them and pitching your event.

Another thing this list is useful for is keeping track of where exactly each sponsor stands – were they contacted, did they agree to a presentation, did the presentation already happen, did you receive feedback or is the contract perchance already signed.

Who to Approach

Now it’s time to make a shortlist of companies or organizations you deem most likely to sponsor your event. Get to know them, learn about their sponsorship history and find out who is the decision maker you could directly contact and deliver your pitch to. This can seem like a hard task, but it is usually no more complex than reaching out to the company by email of phone and asking. Of course, it helps if you know someone on the inside, but that should by no means be your defining criteria for determining primary prospects.
Your best prospects are companies whose customers will be attending your event – and this will take a little research and getting into specifics. I mean, all people need to eat and (almost) everyone wears clothes, but that doesn’t mean that food and fashion industries will sponsor any type of event out there.
At this point, you should also think about how much time you have. The more time you have, the number of potential sponsors you can approach will be larger. If your timeframe is narrow, you should pinpoint the most promising prospects with as much certainty as possible before getting into action.

Make Your Pitch

If you have successfully found out who to contact within the organizations you are seeking the sponsorship from, and providing that you have followed all the previous steps carefully, you should have everything you need to go make your pitch.
In practice, the sponsorship pitch means calling each prospective sponsor – not only emailing them, but making talking to them, preferably face to face, in order to explain your event. The important thing is to keep it brief and keep your sponsorship package kit near by.

Follow Up

After you have approached all your prospective sponsors and delivered your message and sponsorship package, it all comes down to waiting, with a dash of good business etiquette. Your follow up call should happen no less then a week after the pitch, and it should be framed as an offer to help, answer any potential questions the sponsors might have or make any necessary clarifications. It is always prudent to offer discussing this in person, since that will help you forge a stronger connection, which can be just the thing that changes the outcome for the positive.
Remember, there are no guarantees that you will succeed in securing ANY sponsors for your event. What we can guarantee is that, if you follow these guidelines, you can rest easy knowing you’ve done everything you can short of bribing and threatening your potential sponsors with violence, such as spamming them with links to Pitbull videos on YouTube.