Event Sponsorship Examples & Package Ideas That Attract Corporate Partners 

Selling event sponsorships is a great way to bring in non-dues revenue. Since your association already hosts multiple events, event sponsorships are a natural revenue fit. But how do you get an event sponsored or attract corporate partners – especially when you have a small staff?

Securing sponsorships and partnerships for association events involves planning and organization.  You’ll want to consider:

• Types of event sponsorships to offer
• Ways to balance the needs of your sponsors and members
• Tips for marketing and selling your event sponsorships
• Ways to provide value to sponsors to keep them coming back
• Hybrid and virtual event sponsorship options
• Your event sponsorship proposal

Three Types of Event Sponsorships to Offer

Before you create a bunch of sponsorship and partnership opportunities for events, it can help to start by thinking more broadly about the types of event sponsorships you offer. While there are many different kinds of sponsorships, here are three sponsorship categories to consider:

• Branding – These opportunities allow sponsors to display their logos to event attendees. Their logos might be displayed in onsite signage, the event website, emails, videos, event slides, attendee gifts, and more.
• Lead opportunities – These opportunities allow sponsors to collect sales leads. Opportunities might include exhibitor booths, exhibitor appointments, sponsor demos that attendees sign up to view, and sponsor content downloads in which sponsors receive contact information from the downloads.
• Networking – With these opportunities, sponsors can get to know attendees one-to-one. For example, the sponsor might be given a number of tickets to a member event so that they can meet and greet attendees. This type of opportunity might be bundled with branding, so the sponsor logo appears on the networking event invitations and signage.

With these types of event sponsorships in mind, you can begin building appealing sponsorship packages. As you do so, be sure to consider how to balance the needs of your sponsors with those of your event attendees (your members).

Balancing the Needs of Your Event Sponsors And Members

While selling event sponsorships is a great way to increase non-dues revenue for your association, irrelevant sponsor marketing and advertising can be a turnoff to your members.

It’s a bit of a balancing act. But with a thoughtful approach, you can give companies in your industry exposure to a targeted audience (your members) while giving your members valuable information about relevant products and services from your sponsors.

Here are some ideas for considering the needs of your association’s sponsors and members so that everyone wins:

For Your Members

• Be upfront.
  Let your members know about the importance of sponsorships for your association. Be clear that sponsorship dollars enable you to deliver the content, resources, and other member benefits your organization provides.
• Keep things relevant.
  Partner with companies whose products and services are truly useful to your members. Otherwise, your members may grow tired of sponsored content, activities, and advertisements, and your sponsors’ return on investment will be poor.
• Stay consistent.
  Keep your brand and member experience consistent by collaborating with sponsors in sponsored activities. For example, your members are more likely to register for a session or attend an activity that has co-branded sponsorship and is hosted by your organization. And, by co-presenting information with your sponsors, you can ensure that the member experience remains consistent.
• Ask for feedback.
  As you conduct member satisfaction surveys, ask about their satisfaction with sponsor activities and advertisements. Also, ask what additional services and content they might like to see in the future. Then conduct an audit of your event sponsorships to ensure your members continue to find value in them.

For Your Sponsors

• Get to know them better.
  Maintaining a strong event sponsorship program starts with understanding your sponsors’ (and potential sponsors’) needs. A great way to do this is to survey your current or past event sponsors. Ask them questions that will give you insights into how to retain them as sponsors and attract new ones. For example:
  • How did they hear about their latest sponsorship opportunity with your organization?
  • What benefits did they find most important to their sponsorship (such as logo visibility, number of leads, speaking slot, clicks through to content, networking)?
  • What sponsorship opportunities/benefits would they like to see in the future?
• Offer a variety of event sponsor options.
  Using the feedback from your sponsors, offer a variety of event sponsorship packages. Be sure to offer options across various price points so companies can select packages that meet their goals and budgets.

Examples of sponsorship packages for events might include:

• A booth package with signage at the event tradeshow
• An advertising package with ad placement in conference materials
• A package that includes a special session presentation
• A meal or entertainment sponsorship package
• A combination package that includes multiple sponsor benefits or even a build-your-own sponsor package

Also, consider offering event sponsor packages that include year-round opportunities. These packages could include event sponsorships, sponsorships of content and virtual events, and member discounts on products and services. They could also include advertising opportunities via your publications, online job board, online member community, online member directory, social media, and educational events.

Marketing and Selling Your Event Sponsorships

Once you have outlined your event sponsorship packages, it’s time to get the word out to begin attracting sponsors for your event. Here are some tips for marketing and selling your association’s event sponsorships:

1. Build a Sales Kit

A sales kit helps to communicate your association’s value and the value of your event sponsorships to companies in your industry or profession – your potential sponsors. It’s also a one-stop place for potential event sponsors to learn everything they need to know about sponsoring your events.

When you have a small staff, building a sales kit can make it easier to sell event sponsorships because, as a pre-packaged set of materials for potential sponsors, it’s an easy way to set the stage for why your association’s events are the perfect place for them to spend their budget.

A sales kit is your opportunity to really grab your potential sponsors’ attention. Of course, you’ll want to list the various sponsorship opportunities. But it’s also a chance to sell prospective sponsors on why this event is THE place for them to be.

Your sales kit can be presented on a web page and/or as a PDF that you can print and make available to potential sponsors in various ways. Some key things to include in the sales kit:

• Your association’s mission and background.
• The background of your events, such as the purpose of the events, how long you’ve been hosting them, and how many people typically attend.
• Why your event attendees are an attractive audience for the potential sponsor’s business.
• List of event sponsorship packages with benefits and prices. Be sure to include any images or examples you can add to make the opportunities as compelling as possible.
• Details on how to find out more and purchase a sponsorship.

2. Post the Sales Kit

Create a sponsorship opportunities page on your event website and add your sales kit to it. Include a convenient form that companies can use to sign up for sponsorships. Set up automatic alerts to send the completed forms to your team that is responsible for managing sponsorships. And be sure to have a process in place for quick follow-up. If someone is interested and willing to spend money with your organization, it’s best to get them on board right away.​

3. Get the Word Out

Run a marketing campaign to let past and prospective sponsors know when your events are open for sponsorship. Make sure you provide important event information and what packages you offer. ​

Be sure to share your sponsorship opportunities in a variety of ways. For example, you could send targeted emails and/or text messages to past sponsors of events and conferences to inform them about your event sponsorship packages and direct them to your sales kit for more information.

• Send a link to companies that inquire about event sponsorship packages, pointing them to the sponsorship opportunities page and sales kit on your website.
• Post about your sponsorship program on your social media accounts. ​
• When companies are ready to pay for a sponsorship, make it easy on them by allowing for payment through your online store. Just send your advertiser a link to the sponsorship “product” in your store, and they can quickly pay online.

How to Provide Big Value to Your Association’s Event Sponsors (and Keep Them Coming Back)

Once you have event sponsors on board, make sure you show them as much value as possible for their investment. Giving them a great experience with extra perks will help you keep them coming back as event sponsors.

What most companies want from their event sponsorship is exposure to your event attendees. They also want to be known as leaders in your industry.

With these things in mind, here are some effective ways to provide big value to your association’s event sponsors:

• Get them involved with sessions.
  Many of your sponsors and exhibitors work in your industry and have helpful insights and experience to share. Beyond asking them to sponsor a session and provide a brief intro, ask them to participate in session development. For example, they might serve on a thought leadership panel. Or they might co-develop and present a session.
• Ask them to share data and resources.
  These same sponsors and vendors might have timely industry data and other resources. Ask them if they have any recent research data, papers, articles, or other helpful resources to share with attendees.
• Provide a meeting space.
  A great bonus for sponsors is a meeting room for one-to-one meetings with attendees. You can even facilitate by surveying attendees before the event to find out what products or services they might be looking for, and then pairing them with an appropriate sponsor or exhibitor for a meeting.
• Help attendees find them.
  Another way to connect sponsors and exhibitors with the attendees who need their products and services is to provide an interactive online sponsor/exhibitor directory. Make sure the directory is easy to find and navigate. And be sure to include basic information, such as company descriptions, website links, and contact information.
• Invite them to provide giveaways.
  One way to keep event attendee engagement up is to offer prize drawings throughout the event. Ask sponsors to “donate” items for these giveaways, and then recognize the sponsor of each giveaway as you announce each winner.
• Ask for their input.
  One of the best ways to provide value to your sponsors and exhibitors is to ask them for feedback. Survey your sponsors after each event to find out what would make their sponsorship of your next event extra valuable. Also, ask them what’s been useful to them at other events they’ve sponsored. The simple act of asking for their feedback will go a long way toward showing them that you appreciate them.

Hybrid and Virtual Event Sponsorship Options 

Sponsors and exhibitors are vital to a successful online event. Like many companies and organizations, your association has likely moved a previously in-person event to a virtual or hybrid format. 

As with in-person events, sponsors and exhibitors are extremely important to virtual events. Incorporating them in the online experience:

• Allows you to generate additional revenue
• Allows sponsors to reach a broader audience
• Extends more of the on-site experience to online attendees

We’ve compiled a list of virtual and hybrid sponsorship ideas that your corporate partners will be excited about:

1. Registration page – Give sponsors the opportunity to include a logo on your virtual event registration page.
2. “Lobby” slides – Allow sponsors to display a slide with their logo and contact information on it before the event begins and/or during transitions between sessions.
3. Sponsor announcements – Allow industry partners to sponsor sessions and deliver a 1-minute announcement at the beginning of each session. This can include an image or a quick demo of their product for online viewers.
4. Sponsored tab – Add a custom tab to your session viewer that includes text, videos, or downloadable content about a sponsor or exhibitor.
5. Spotlight interviews or vendor demos – Pre-record them with your sponsors and exhibitors to play during session breaks.
6. Networking or breakout session sponsorship options – Allow industry partners to moderate or sponsor breakout sessions on a certain topic. Sponsoring a virtual networking hour also offers great exposure for companies.
7. Recorded commercials – Capitalize on the time attendees spend waiting to join a session by displaying pre-recorded commercials or rotating slides from sponsors and exhibitors.
8. Virtual exhibit hall – Give your attendees a place to learn more about important products and services with an online exhibit hall. Virtual exhibitors can host online booths and be available for live chats with attendees during pre-set hall hours.
9. Year-round packages – Offer packages that include year-round sponsorship opportunities. In addition to virtual event sponsorships, these packages might include advertising opportunities via your association’s publications, job boards, social media, and online educational events.

Once you have sponsors and exhibitors on board, make sure you show them as much value as possible for their investment. Adding extra sponsor value and perks throughout the event will keep your sponsors and exhibitors happy and returning year after year.

Creating an Event Sponsorship Proposal That is Impossible to Ignore

A winning event sponsorship proposal should clearly define the value, target audience, and ROI for potential partners, rather than merely serving as a request for funds. It should serve as a strategic business proposal that highlights mutual growth and is tailored to the target sponsor’s goals. 

Key elements to include are:

1. Event Overview: Provide a concise, engaging summary of the event. Include your mission, any history or past success stories, and your unique selling proposition (USP).

2. Audience Demographics & Data: Sponsors are buying access to a specific audience, not just logo space. Include detailed demographics, expected attendance, engagement metrics and previous conversion rates.

3. Sponsorship Benefits & Opportunities: Detail exactly what the sponsor gains in return for their investment, including brand exposure on signage or an event website, lead generation, and/or opportunities for hosting a panel or lounge.

4. Tiered Packages & Pricing: Present a structured menu of options (e.g., Gold, Silver, Bronze) to appeal to different budgets. You may also offer à la carte options, such as sponsoring a breakout room or a happy hour.

5. Logistics & Terms: Include how the funds will be used and outline cancellation policies and logo usage guidelines.

6. Call to Action & Next Steps: End with a clear, direct next step, such as scheduling a meeting, and provide your contact information. 

It is critical that you do not send a generic proposal. Tailor the content to the specific sponsor’s industry and brand goals, and you’ll have much more success.

Learn More About Hosting Great Association Events

Building compelling event sponsorship opportunities, marketing them, and making it easy for companies to sign up and pay are key to a successful event. It’s also important to have the right technology in place to support your efforts. Learn about more techniques and tools to help you plan successful association events in our new guide, The Small Staff’s Guide to Planning Great Association Events: Simple Techniques and Genius Tech Tips for Creating Next-Level Events. Get the guide.

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