They are inseparable and yet it is not always a love match: Event organizers and sponsors. The fact is that most events are dependent on sponsorships. Fact is also: sponsors are always looking out for interesting events to promote their products, services, or brand to the right target group. When searching for the right sponsor, the organizer can do so much wrong. A reasonable preparation can increase the likelihood of getting sponsored significantly.
Brochure
No matter how small the event is, size is no excuse for a sloppy presentation. Everyone has the ability to create a, at least kept simple, event sponsorship brochure today. No graphical miracle must be accomplished. Often can be found online free templates that help you to create visually appealing brochures. The content should be short and crisp and limited to the essentials. Available Sponsorship Packages should be clearly displayed so that the sponsor will get a good overview of the deals. You should never send the brochure a Word document, because you can never be sure whether the document will show the same layout on the sponsors computer as you’ve intended it to. It’s preferable to use PDF’s instead which can be created on Macs instantly and on PC’s using free or at least cheap additional software.
Web
If you have already created a website for the event, the event sponsorship information should also be shown there. If you don’t have a website yet, you should consider to create one. This is not only helpful to allow sponsors to get more information, but also important to attract visitors to the event accordingly. The website does not have to be complex, but everything you want to communicate should be at hands quickly and easily.
Appearance
Anyone looking for a sponsor, should be confident about his event and, strange as it sounds, bring good manners. After all, you want the sponsor to buy something – your event. The first call can decide already on success or failure. So you should just be aware of what you tell the sponsor and how you tell it. Again, time is money. Who can convey his concern concise is certainly in a better position because at the end sponsors will turn to those who leave the best impression.
Be reachable
Who is looking for event sponsorship, must also be accessible. These include a telephone number and a usable email address. You should definitely avoid useing an address such as “sweetheart1980@emailprovider.tt”. This looks very unprofessional, especially since everyone can set up a new email address for free. Of course you should also be accessible. A phone number with answering machine is just as mandatory, as several times a day to retrieve the messages and call back or write.
The contact
If you have collected all necessary items that you want to show potential sponsors, it’s time to contact potential sponsors. Using a marketplace like www.sponsormyevent.com should be considered in any case, as you can easily reach sponsors here that would otherwise remain out of reach, or you may have not thought of. It is very important not to get on the nerves of sponsors. Sponsors receive a wealth of inquiries and rely on the submitted information to quickly and purposefully select the right offers. An organizer, which is labeled in a bad way will, in worst case, no longer considered other requests. Contacting the sponsor directly requires professionalism. Introduce the event in brief words, make additional material if necessary available within a few minutes. After a reasonable period of time with no response, you can recontact the sponsor, but you should let it go if the answer is “no”. The author is the CEO & co-founder of SponsorMyEvent.com.
