There are thousands of events (big and small) across the country. These events are critical for human association which is why millions of people attend events each year. These organizations are amazing at establishing long-lasting connection for people everywhere. Whenever an organization is able to drive that kind interaction, there are HUGE opportunities for securing sponsorships. Corporations all over the world are looking for ways to get their products and services engaged with an audience. Events is a strong medium to be able to do that.

Some event managers are better than others at organizing themselves to where they can drive significant sponsorship revenue. In fact, most event organizations are so focused on what revenue can be brought in from a sponsorship, that they forget about what the sponsor really is looking to get out of it. They are quick to throw a sponsorship proposal together with made-up assets just to secure the sponsorship revenue. Let’s be honest, events run on a thin margin, so all dollars are extremely important. With that said, events can’t focus so much on their own benefit that they forget about what the sponsor needs to gain from the investment. Regardless of the event (music, food, festival, etc.) there needs to be some value to the sponsor. So…what do sponsors need?

• Provide Data: What does your demographic look like? Is that demographic a good fit for the brand? What type of exposure will the sponsor receive?
• Ask Questions: How will the sponsor measure the success of the sponsorship with the event? What are the sponsors goals? It is important to find out how the sponsor will see this partnership as a success.
• Be Creative: Present creative and innovative solutions that match the sponsors goals and objectives. Sometimes it’s great to have a quick creative brainstorming meeting internally to talk through what assets the event can present to the sponsor to achieve the overall objectives.
• Build Relationships: You never want to treat a sponsor like a transaction. It is important to engage with them. Send them a note with a thank you gift when they come on board as a sponsor. Send notes on their birthday, anniversary, or significant milestones in their career. Find ways to connect and strengthen that relationship. People support and work with those they like. Always find ways to connect.
• Engage in the Fulfillment Process: Be engaging and transparent in the activation and fulfillment process. The easy part is to make the sale, once the contract is signed, you now need to engage with the sponsor to make sure the event is doing all it can to help the sponsor be successful.

Next Steps:
Are you an organization that takes orders from sponsors, waiting for them to call you, or are you proactively seeking sponsorship opportunities? Events take lots of time to plan, and it is easy to get caught up in the planning of said events and let the sponsorship program suffer. It is a careful balance. There should be dedication to both. On the sponsorship side, there needs to be active calling and consistent reach-outs to move business forward along with making sure the activations and fulfillment are accurate and exact. There also needs to be dedicated time to the organization of the event. Your event requires both. The key is organizing the event staff so that both can be done efficiently and effectively. This approach allows sponsors to feel like they are part of something great, and will in turn create longer-lasting sponsors at events. Why? Because your sponsors will see that you have processes in place to make sure it is a great experience that drives business.

How can a sponsorship event management platform help you?
At SponsorCX, we have seen events across the country use our sponsorship event management platform to help streamline and make this process easier. With the ability to manage your accounts and contacts, understanding what inventory you have to sell, and packaging that into agreements and fulfilling them through our platform, it provides a solution to make sponsorship event management even easier.

SponsorCX is a sponsorship event software that allows event organizations to manage their sponsorships in one easy-to-use solution. Most event management platforms do not have the ability for end-to-end sponsorship management. SponsorCX is the ideal event software to manage event sponsorships. Click to request a demo to see how SponsorCX could be the ideal event software to manage your sponsorships.