Landing sponsorships for your event is a two-way street. For you, they're a powerful way to fuel your event's experiences and boost your bottom line. For your sponsors, they're the key to tapping into new audiences and driving more business to their company. An irresistible sponsorship package is the cornerstone to creating a dynamic event duo! To help you get started, here are our tips on sponsorship packages that'll turn your sponsorship pitch into a long-lasting relationship.

What are event sponsorship packages?

An event sponsorship package is the bundle of perks an individual or business gains in exchange for supporting your event. This package should be put together before your initial contact with prospective sponsors, since this will be your starting point for negotiations. Ideally, event sponsorship packages add value and visibility to your sponsor, while giving your event additional credibility, increased budget, and an enhanced guest experience. In other words, it's a win-win opportunity for both of you! 

Ultimately, a sponsor's primary goal is to gain a return on their investment (or ROI). Therefore, your sponsorship package should showcase all the ways this deal will benefit them. You may grant them various opportunities like new customer leads, access to attendee data, exposure to new audiences, brand placements, booth space, or speaking opportunities at your event.

The key is to first conduct your research to find the perfect sponsors, ones whose brand aligns with yours. Then, when pitching your package, you'll be able to show them exactly why the two of you are the right fit.

Two main types of sponsorship packages

Before we dive into how to make one, let's go over the two primary types of sponsorship for events. This'll help you decide what's best for your event's needs!

Tiered sponsorships

This type of sponsorship allows you to bundle your available opportunities at different price points to best suit your sponsor's budget. Tiers are great at conveying exclusivity, paving a clear path towards ROI, and making the decision-making process simpler. We recommend using a naming convention for your tiers that accurately reflects the benefits of each. You may consider basing them off your event's theme or go with a classic approach like having platinum, gold, silver, and bronze tiers.

A la carte sponsorships

Looking for an even more customizable approach to your sponsorship packages? Build out your full list of perks for sponsors to choose from. That way, they can pick exactly what they want. This is also an effective option for sponsors who may want to offer other things like giveaway items or free food in exchange for a sponsorship.

How to build your sponsorship package

Alright, so you've got a solid grasp on what event sponsorship packages are. Now, let's go step by step through the various elements of crafting your dream sponsorship package!

1. Kick off with your event's value proposition

Right off the bat, you want to showcase your event's unique value proposition (or UVP) in the introduction of your sponsorship package. Why are you the perfect partner to sponsor with? What makes you stand out? Why should they choose you over another event? Highlight your event's reach, reputation, and community impact, on top of anything else that'll help shine the spotlight on you, your event, and your goals. Be sure to share essential details about your event like the date, time, and location too. 

2. Outline your audience size and demographics

Hard numbers are essential for proving that your event taps into your sponsor's target audience. In your sponsorship package, outline compelling metrics on how many people typically attend your events and what the demographics of your attendees look like. If you've used TicketLeap's intuitive software before, you can easily pull reports on past attendance numbers or use answers from your custom registration questions to learn more about your attendees. You could also go above and beyond by sharing a breakdown of your social media following, your average number of website visitors, or the total recipients of your newsletter. As a rule of thumb, the more specific numbers you can present, the better. That way, the data will convince sponsors for you!

3. Highlight your sponsorship opportunities

This is the bread and butter of your sponsorship package! Dedicate the bulk of your sponsorship deck to clearly showcasing your complete smorgasbord of opportunities. If you're presenting your packages as tiers, consider displaying them in a table to clearly delineate between what they'll get for various price points. The key here is to be as clear and detailed in your communication as possible. Looking for some extra inspiration on what to offer potential sponsors? We've included a list of 10 irresistible sponsorship package examples near the end of this blog to help you!

4. Showcase your sponsorship's benefits

Alongside your more technical list of opportunities, you'll need to emphasize the potential ROI associated with them. This could include gaining exposure in high-traffic areas of your event, leads for new customers, new traffic to their website, or revenue from selling their products onsite. You should also highlight how your opportunities foster quality connections between sponsors and attendees, from encouraging conversations at their booth, hosting interactive workshops, or giving live product demos. To add extra credibility and make your offer even more persuasive, you can also level up your package with featured case studies and/or testimonials from past sponsors, talking about what a great experience it was to work alongside you!

5. Design your sponsorship package with compelling visuals

How your sponsorship package looks is equally as important as the content within it. Present your package in a sleek, professional way that incorporates your event's branding and logos throughout the pages. Include colorful visual aids like charts and graphs to illustrate your demographic breakdowns and your list of opportunities. Feature high-quality event photos throughout, plus add headers, subheaders, and bulleted lists to make it easier to read at a glance. For putting this all together in a slide deck or .pdf, programs like Google Slides, Adobe Illustrator, and Canva will be your best friend! There's also plenty of templates available online if you'd like to use one as your starting point.

6. Include your contact info

Maybe this goes without saying, but be sure to include your name (and/or the name of whomever handles sponsorships on your event staff), email, and phone number into your sponsorship deck. Consider adding this on the first page, in the footer, and/or the last page of your sponsorship deck for any follow up questions. This simple yet essential step will ensure the conversation can keep on going!

10 event sponsorship perks to include

At the heart of an enticing event sponsorship package is a list of opportunities that'll resonate with your audience. The key is to not only gain exposure to your sponsor's brand, but to have attendees genuinely engage with it. To help bolster your list of offerings, we've got some intriguing ideas that both your sponsors and your attendees will love!

1. Sponsored VIP experiences

Sponsoring backstage events is sure to make your sponsor the talk of the town! Depending on what your event is, you could offer meet & greets with your special guests, pre-show performances from your performers, exclusive Q&A or networking sessions, or a behind-the-scenes tour of your haunted attraction.

2. Speaking opportunities

Let your sponsors share the spotlight at your event with opportunities to present to your attendees. Watch them shine as they share their industry knowledge and stories in a panel, lecture, or workshop about a topic they're passionate about!

3. Art installations

Build an Instagram-worthy backdrop for your attendees to pose and take pictures with! As some ideas, you could have a backdrop covered in flowers, balloons, or string lights with their logo prominently displayed in the background. You could even consider creating a sustainable art installation out of recycled materials like refurbished doors or streamers of reused fabric.

4. Branded swag

Everyone loves free stuff! The key with these freebies is to give attendees something they'll find super useful, making your sponsor even more memorable as attendees continue to use it well after your event. For example, if your event is outdoors in the summer, a company could put their logo and information on free fans or water bottles you could hand out to attendees to cool off with. Your sponsors could also sponsor swag bags or items inside of them. Feel free to get imaginative, and really think outside the box!

5. Giveaways

Connect your sponsors and your attendees together with giveaways featuring valuable items from your sponsor! As part of your event marketing efforts, you could host a giveaway on social media where your followers can enter to win if they tag friends in the comments and follow your sponsor. You could do raffles onsite too, with exclusive prizes for your ticket buyers! 

6. Online brand placements

You could have your sponsor appear in a prominent place on your website or your mobile app, as a partner on your Facebook event page, or as a collaborator on your Instagram posts. You could also host a live stream on TikTok, Facebook, or Instagram featuring your sponsor. On your stream, you chat with them about their work in the community and at your event, do an interactive workshop, or play fun games (as just a few ideas). These are great efforts to include alongside our social media giveaway idea above!

7. Photo booth or backdrop

Let your attendees have a blast in a photo booth provided by your sponsor! You could include their branding on the props attendees can wear or hold up when posing for their photos. You could place the sponsor's logo on the corner of the photos printed out from the booth too. If you're hosting a more formal event like a fundraising gala or film festival, try displaying your sponsors' logos on a large backdrop behind them as they walk a red carpet and get their picture taken! 

8. Food

Who doesn't love some free food? Have your sponsor provide a catered meal during your event, or to satisfy your attendees' sweet tooth, you could also offer branded cupcakes or cookies that are sure to impress! This is especially perfect for potential restaurants, bakeries, or other food-related companies you may partner with. 

9. Booths

Offer your sponsor a designated booth space to show off what their company is all about and encourage on-the-ground conversations with your attendees (aka, their future customers!). You could even incorporate a scavenger hunt or another kind of game into your event to encourage guests to visit your sponsor's booth to win some prizes. 

10. Sponsored live stream

Take your event global with a live stream of your in-person event, provided by your sponsor. Incorporate their branding before and during the stream, have your sponsor engage with your virtual audience via polls and live chat, and add a call-to-action link to make their company's site easily accessible.

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There you have it! You're now fully equipped to build a stellar event sponsorship package of your own. Be intentional with further discussing your opportunities with potential sponsorships in person, over the phone, or through a video call. Ultimately, you can pitch to your prospective sponsors with confidence, knowing your event's sponsorship package will let them shine!