10 Tips to Attract Event Sponsors for Your Next Special Event

To ensure your next corporate event’s financial success, consider attracting event sponsors and, therefore, an influx of cash flow into your event’s coffers. On the other hand, if you’re an event manager who has not yet thought about the financial benefits of sponsorship, then the following steps may help you decide to do so.

Here are ten tips to attract event sponsors for your next special event to secure lucrative sponsorship that yields mutual benefit for both you and your contributors.

Create a List of Potential Event Sponsors

When putting together an event proposal, the first and most obvious step is to compile a list of companies and individuals who might be interested and would benefit from sponsoring your corporate event.

The best sponsors are likely to be those that perceive your potential audience as a direct benefit to their organization. In other words, you must know your potential attendees’ psychographics and demographics to match them carefully to potential event sponsors.

Research Your Potential Sponsors Thoroughly

Be sure to research potential sponsors’ sales and marketing goals as well as any challenges they may currently be facing. Part of your research should be to look at what events they have sponsored in the past.

Either try out or clearly understand the products and/or services supplied by your potential event sponsors to ensure a good fit with your upcoming audience.

Put Yourself in Your Sponsors’ Shoes

For a potential sponsor to sponsor your event, there must be clear-cut benefits to their organization. By pitching the benefits based on your potential sponsors’ expectations and asking the question, “if I were in their shoes why would I want to sponsor the event,” you’re making it more about them than about you – and people always want to know what’s in it for them!

Pitch Your Past Events

If they are considering making an investment in your corporate event, companies will want to understand the demographics of attendees from previous events clearly. They will want to know exactly who attended your events in the past and how that audience has the potential to benefit them.

Be sure to cover this in detail in your event proposal.

Event sponsors want to know what your upcoming special event will look like and feel like. Therefore, it’s imperative that you have a clear concept for the event and describe how that concept will be developed. Illustrating your concept through such things as your event’s marketing materials will help immensely.

In other words, paint your potential sponsors a picture so that they can visualize what they are investing in.

Event Marketing Strategy

Discuss your event marketing strategy in detail with potential sponsors, including information about which types of media you intend to use. At this point, ask potential sponsors about their promotional efforts and try to see if you can align your upcoming event’s strategies with their existing strategies.

It is a good way to create rapport with your sponsors and media.

Build Relationships

Rather than pitch your sponsors hard for their sponsorship dollar, be as empathetic as possible towards their wants and needs in your event proposal. You’ll be far more successful in your sponsorship drive if it is seen that you truly have your sponsors’ needs at heart as well as your own.

Create win-win situations whenever you can.

Follow-Up After a Proposal

Once you have pitched your event proposal, don’t forget to follow up in a timely manner. As important as your upcoming corporate event may be to you, it is unlikely to be their main priority.

It’s OK to discuss your follow-up routine with your event sponsors, so they’re part of the process. For example, have a discussion about when and how you’ll follow up with them – then make sure you’re reliable and stick to the schedule. Follow up with them then make sure you’re reliable and stick to the schedule. This alone will go a long way in building rapport and securing event sponsors.

Spoil Your Sponsors

After you have gone to all the hard work of securing a sponsor, make sure they are looked after at the event itself. Make them feel important and cared for and give them the attention they deserve.

If resources permit, assign a team member to our event sponsors during the event, so they have a point person that’s dedicated to them.

Posting the Event

Finally, it’s important to ensure that event sponsors are fully engaged in your post-event evaluation. Make sure they understand that their return on investment for sponsoring your event is of paramount importance to you.

Ask their opinion on what was good about your event and what worked for them and also what they feel could be improved for future events. Remember to send them a thank you card or gift and invite them to your next event.

By applying these ten tips to attract event sponsors for your next special event, you’re sure to nail down a much-improved ROI through mutually beneficial event sponsorship.