What to Include in Your Event Sponsorship Proposal

Getting sponsorship is a great way to fund your event, but you must convince your potential sponsors to invest in your event by providing them with a clear proposal with specific details. Write a preliminary proposal to your potential sponsors and be sure to include these five important points.

Demographics

You should seek out sponsors who align well with your event-goers. Sponsors support events to promote and build their brand, so make sure the attendees are in your sponsor's target demographic. Your relationship with a sponsor should be a logical one, such as a health food store sponsoring a marathon or a hospital supporting a cancer walk. Avoid odd or contradictory pairings. For example, if your event is a beer festival, you probably wouldn’t want to attempt getting sponsorship from a brand that markets their products primarily to children.

Traffic

A sponsor will want to know how many people will be attending your event. They may be less willing to pay a lot of money for advertising at your event if your attendance is projected to be low. It's important for you to be realistic in your estimation of attendees, because your sponsors will expect you to deliver on the amount of people who will see their brand. Have a number of cintingencies based on events outside your control. If your event would be affected by bad weather conditions, you should have alternate projections for that. The best way to guage potential traffic is by selling tickets in advance. However, for many events that could be affected by the weather, patrons will often delay buying a ticket until the day of the event.

Sponsorship Exposure

Make your potential sponsors aware of the type of exposure they will receive by investing in your event, and give them the most exposure possible. There are a few ways you can sell space, including:

• sponsor a booth at the event
• presenting sponsor of the event
• sponsor an award
• provide in-kind products or services

Location of Sponsorship Material

Just like the old real estate adage emphasizes, the location of a potential sponsor’s space is extremely important. While you might want to squeeze as many sponsors into your venue as possible, realize that not all locations are attractive. For instance, if your event is an outdoor concert, sponsors will be less likely to pay for a location next to the portapotties than they will be to drop money for a prime spot next to the beverage stations.

Cost and Benefits

Break down a simple analysis of what your sponsors will pay or provide and how their sponsorship will benefit them. Emphasize how they will receive name recognition and access to a specific, niche market in their target demographic. You can also offer them other advertising benefits they can exploit, such as discounts to event attendees and getting people to sign up for mailing lists.

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