Putting on a good event costs a fair amount of money, but putting on a fantastic event costs even more. Sponsorship packages can help you build your budget for your coming event while also getting the word out about your upcoming occasion and encouraging even more people to attend. Well-constructed packages will bring in partnerships of varying sizes that will contribute to your event in exchange for various benefits for their own organizations.
If you are putting on an event and want to construct quality sponsorship packages that will attract valuable partnerships, read on. We will walk you through the qualities of great sponsorship packages and provide sponsorship package examples to guide you as you create your own.
Understanding Sponsorship Packages
A sponsorship package is when a business partner agrees to contribute to your event in exchange for set types of benefits. These types of arrangements can come in a variety of different formats. Some of the most common include:
- In-kind sponsors: where people agree to provide items to you, such as food, for the event in exchange for promotional opportunities.
- Promotional sponsors: where a partner or influencer agrees to promote your event in exchange for benefits such as free entry. Similarly, you can have media sponsors who offer media coverage for the event.
- Financial sponsors: where partner companies will pay money to contribute towards your event budget in exchange for promotions for their business.
These sponsorship opportunities revolve around relationships. Creating a contract for an event ideally builds a mutually beneficial transaction that highlights both brands.
As businesses construct their sponsorship packages, they must consider how many packages they want to offer and the branding options they will include. You want to think carefully about how you will entice the sponsors and how you will promote their brands so they see a valuable ROI. You can think about all aspects of the event, from the promotions running leading up to the event to all the materials and activities you have planned during the conference as you seek ideas to build your packages.
Key Elements of Successful Sponsorship Packages
Building successful sponsorship packages requires careful consideration of the event goals and the likely sponsor goals. Those interested in sponsoring your event will do so if they feel they can meaningfully engage with a relevant, targeted audience.
Your package will offer different levels of sponsorship. A traditional tiered model will include options such as ‘bronze,’ ‘silver,’ ‘gold,’ and ‘platinum’ levels of sponsorship, although you can adjust the name to better reflect your brand if desired. At each membership level, you will charge a given amount and in exchange, you will provide the sponsor with certain branding opportunities. For example, they might have their logos printed even on merchandise or event banners.
Those who want to offer a bit more flexibility in their package options might offer an à la carte model for sponsorship. With this structure, you can offer different bundles of prices and benefits for sponsors, with partners having the chance to pick and choose which ones they want to include in their specific sponsorship package.
Regardless of the structure you choose, you will want to include certain important features that will help you sponsorship options stand out to your potential partners.
Customization and Flexibility
Start by considering customization and flexibility. Events today have become increasingly flexible from all perspectives, with options for in-person and online events of all sizes. Similarly, your sponsors want plenty of flexibility so they can construct a package that fits their brand’s unique goals.
Creating this flexibility can be done with a variety of different tired options or an à la carte structure. Your different tiers and types of sponsorship should include a range of sponsor branding benefits, such as:
- The display of sponsor logos on materials
- Sponsored giveaways during the event
- Shout-outs to sponsors on social media
- Opportunities for breakout sessions with participants
- Sponsored networking opportunities
By offering different benefits at different price points, your sponsors get to choose the branding opportunities that best suit them. When you speak with potential sponsors, be open to some flexibility when possible as well. If a particular sponsor wants to adjust your offering slightly to fit their needs, consider if you can manage the request so you can build this relationship.
Clear Value Proposition
Drafting your proposal should also include a clear value proposition. Let your audience know what makes your event such a fantastic sponsorship option! Since these potential partners want to build positive ROI for their brands, your value proposition should include all the information that they need to evaluate their options. For example, you want to include:
- The likely size of your audience
- The profile of the audience you will likely attract
- Testimonials and/or case studies from sponsors of past events
- Projected ROI from sponsorship, such as the number of impressions and their value
- Visual design that creates an appealing presentation of the material.
For example, the SXSW conference offers a summary that highlights its value proposition, “SXSW Sponsorship delivers the greatest impact and visibility leading up to, throughout, and following the SXSW Conference & Festivals. Align with SXSW as a top-level sponsor, or create a uniquely customized SXSW program that meets specific marketing goals with hands-on assistance from the SXSW team.”
Branding and Visibility Opportunities
Once you have outlined your value proposition, you want to create visibility and branding opportunities that will highlight your sponsors. Design how you will pull together these different branding opportunities so your prospective sponsors can easily see how your materials will look with their brand and logo incorporated.
For example, you can see here how Banco Itau served as a major sponsor for SXSW and got branded company placement during the event:
Banco Itau at SXSW 2023 – Photo by Jordan Hefler
As another example, Reuters Events Momentum shows how sponsors can participate in breakout sessions and roundtables with marketing leads:
3 Best Sponsorship Package Examples
As you prepare your sponsorship packages, let’s look at a few examples to see how they create value. These event builders have done an excellent job of showcasing their event packages and creating an inviting invitation for those interested in the opportunity.
Example 1: Financial Technology/FinCon
For this package, FinCon presents an outstanding proposition by clearly stating the purposes that bring many of their participants to the event:
“Hear from thought leaders.
Connect with content creators.
Get attention for your brand.”
This value statement lets potential sponsors see exactly where they fit within the audience and the type of value they can receive by partnering with FinCon. The rest of the sponsorship page provides more details about the event and the types of benefits that sponsors will receive. The page also presents several videos and images that capture the FinCon event to create a more inviting value proposition. This includes highlighting fantastic benefits like pre-scheduling meetings with hand-selected attendees so sponsors can maximize their networking opportunities.
Once sponsors have been enticed to sponsor this event, they can secure sponsorship materials that provide more information about the pricing and audience demographics.
Example 2: Gartner Marketing Symposium/Gartner
Gartner offers sponsors and exhibitors the opportunity to connect with a number of leaders in IT and marketing. Their sponsorship page immediately draws your attention to the number of decision-makers in attendance.
To set themselves apart from other large marketing conferences, they say, “Our conferences attract a greater number of C-level attendees compared with other industry-specific conferences.”
The page also features a video that explores the experiences of major brands that were sponsors and exhibitors at past conferences. This video highlights their support of Gartner’s claim that engaged decision-makers are in attendance and that sponsoring brands can connect with the targeted audience.
The design of the Gartner page uses simplicity, with bullet points that make the main points followed by a video that supports their ideas. Page visitors are then quickly invited to learn more about becoming an exhibitor at an upcoming event.
Example 3: Fitness and Wellness/ The Yoga Expo
The Yoga Expo has designed exhibitor sponsorship opportunities to attract anyone who wants to focus on the health and wellness space. The conference makes it clear that they are a leader in the space by boasting that, “Over 150 of the world’s most innovative health and wellness brands [will be featured].” By offering exhibitor opportunities, they are giving their partners a chance to be a part of that group.
The sponsorship page for the event enumerates the different benefits people can experience from becoming a partner, including help with launching new product lines or building a brand as an innovator within the industry space. The event then uses two different types of social proof. To start, they have testimonials from those who have been exhibitors or sponsors at past events. Then, they include major media outlets that have featured the event, including Good Morning America. This lends support to the powerful impact of the event, encouraging more people to consider becoming sponsors.
In line with the event’s branding, the page also features plenty of pictures from past expos that help to highlight the crowds and interest that the event generates.
How to Create Your Own Sponsorship Package
Now, it is time for you to start creating packages for your upcoming event. Creating compelling sponsorship packages works best when you break the process down into a few important steps that will help you better understand who you want to target with your packages and what types of benefits they want to see. Here are the tips and strategies that will help you create effective options.
Research and Understand Your Audience
Begin by first researching your audience. The audience you target for your sponsorship will differ from the audience you target with your event itself, so you will conduct this research separately from your general market research.
Gain insight into the types of businesses and people who want to engage with your target audience and their goals through a sponsorship program like this. Ideally, your sponsors will overlap with you in terms of mission and vision, so qualify this as you outline your target audience.
To get to know your audience better, conduct surveys and interviews. Speaking with past sponsors or those interested in working with you on an upcoming event can help you gain valuable insight into what drives them. You can use this to improve your understanding of your audience and boost your ability to bring in more sponsors.
Define Clear Objectives and Benefits
Once you have a solid profile of your target sponsorship audience, your next step is to define your objectives and the benefits you will offer. As you think about your event space, whether it is virtual or in person, consider all the areas you can potentially display sponsor logos and information. For example, you can offer promotion in the form of:
- Brand featured on materials handed out
- Sponsor profiles on promotional materials
- Logos on signage
- Breakout opportunities
As you list all the places where you can promote your sponsors, start to construct the different packages you will offer. You can then articulate the objective each package offers. Some great objectives you might consider are:
- Visibility and the spotlight
- Building brand reputation and goodwill if your event lets them show they care
- Exclusive access to particular event components
- Increase conversation on social media
See how these different goals fit with the packages you construct and the audience you want to attract.
Price Your Packages Competitively
Finally, once you design your package, you need to determine how you will set your prices. This can be a complicated part of the process, as you want to make sure your prices are high enough to generate revenue for your business but also not so high that your target audience does not view your package as worth your price.
To start, quantify the benefits you will include at each level. For example, if you offer the chance to display a logo on your event materials, consider how many impressions this will make, given the size of your audience. If you offer the chance for unique breakout sessions, estimate the value of these personal conversations with potential customers. Consider also the overall value sponsors will experience from their association with your event.
Once you have started to estimate the value of your package itself, you need to look at your own costs associated with the event and what resources you will need to fulfill the promises you make for your sponsors.
With all this information together, you can start to create price levels for your different sponsorship packages.
Get Started Building Your Event Sponsorship Packages
Creating outstanding, engaging sponsorship packages can help you bring in revenue and create partnerships with other businesses interested in your brand. Thinking these packages through carefully will help you take your event to the next level. The key, however, is being mindful about how you construct your different options and what you include.
If you are planning an event, take the time to review the ideas above. Use the sponsorship package examples to guide your own package design so that you can create options that will attract users and help you continue to build your brand.
