Tips to Approach and Deal with Event Sponsors
It is quite challenging for event planners to pick up the phone, dial a number and talk to a complete stranger to sponsor your event. How to pitch the right sponsor without annoying them can break your sweat. However, you can approach your event sponsor by taking the steps mentioned below.
Know Whom to Approach
Gone are the days when you pick up the phone and start calling randomly to target the right prospect. If you are not versed with technology and social media, now is the time to learn and find the prospects without any hassle.
LinkedIn is a popular professional social platform, where you can find the prospects according to their industry, skills and experience. Find out the names of sponsors and target them through either email or just giving a call. But before calling them, make sure you know who they are and how they can help you in sponsoring the event.
Identify Audience and offerings
Your event depends on your audience who are interested in attending your event. How would you convince the sponsors to sponsor your event? You can start to define specific things you can offer them like speaking opportunities, social media mentions, VIP passes and on-stage announcements. Make sure to customize the offerings according to the nature of event and be flexible with these sponsorship categories.
Reach Your Personal Network
The best way to approach sponsors is to look in the list of your network. You might find friends, former colleagues or family members who can help you out in sponsoring the event. It is best to approach them on the first hand. If they don’t settle to sponsor for your event, ask them to help you out in finding one. You will have an added benefit of looking for sponsors through people who are already working in the same domain.
Write a Proposal
The ideal way to initially approach your potential sponsors is to draft a one page proposal. The draft will contain the main highlights of the event, audience type and marketing opportunities. Make sure to craft the proposal with all your marketing skills that could attract the sponsor. Before spending proposal, you have to make sure that the sponsor is relevant and has contributed in the past events just like yours.
Negotiate
After finding the right sponsor, you need to negotiate with them and offer the best package that they can’t ignore. Add details like logo specifications, payment for logo signage, benefits to attendees and terms of payment. This would also act as a written agreement between you and your sponsor. A few meetings before the event takes place can help you and your sponsor to agree upon something that suits you both.
Follow Up
If your sponsors attend your event, make sure to treat them like a VIP. After the event is over, supply each of your sponsors with proof that you have fulfilled your promises. It can be done by taking photos, monitoring media coverage and putting them in a scrapbook. Lastly, don’t forget to send them a formal thank-you letter. If you looking for more information about event promotion visit nvolv.co
