15 Sponsorship Ideas to Copy At Your Next Event
Every year we plan an event for the Boys and Girls Club of Ada County... this event is really special to me because it was the very first event I planned under my own company… and this year was my 10th year being a part of this amazing event!
I’m so honored to have clients that trust through the process and believe in the work we do. I am also grateful to be able to share in their successes and see new facilities being built, new program additions and the change and opportunity that their kids get to experience because they exist and continue to raise the funds needed to enhance their impact in our community.
To date over the last decade we’ve raised $5.5 million dollars through this annual fundraising event!
Sponsorship IDEAS! Yeehaw!
I could write A LOT on this particular event on ways we’ve been able to SELL OUT every year, or how we have amazing volunteers … but that will be for another day:) Today’s post is all about SPONSORSHIP IDEAS!
One of my favorite things to do is find creative ways to connect a brand to your event. There are a few things that are really important to me when it comes to sponsor activation’s (Number 11 is my absolute favorite!).
DO
Place signage above head… not on an easel unless it's for something super specific and local… like a photo booth
Showcase a sponsorship in a creative way
Engage in an experience of some kind
And if possible use the sponsorship in a purposeful way
Sponsorship’s can sometimes feel overwhelming or you just don’t know where to start when it comes to getting creative, so I hope that some of these ideas we use at our event can help you copy or activate some new creative ideas for your event:)
free email course
Don’t forget to join my FREE 5 Steps to More Sponsors Course and get clarity on what SPONSORS really want!
1. Welcome sponsor or Red Carpet Sponsor
This sponsorship is awesome because it’s the first impression. Since this event is for the Boys and Girls Club, of course, we had to bring out some of the kids who are cheering and giving out high fives to every single one of our guests (1100!) Our sponsor had their logo on the kids t-shirts as well as recognized on a sign hanging on our arch.
The perfect cowboy red carpet entry!
2. Welcome Drink Sponsor or Champagne Sponsor
This sponsorship is another favorite of mine… you know when all your guests arrive and they walk in the door and then have to register, figure out where their sitting and do all the stuff?? Well, the welcome sponsor can host that free beverage when they first walk in, grab a drink and then do all the stuff. It's always a crowd pleaser and pleasant surprise. Top this sponsorship off with a branded cocktail napkin with the sponsor logo and you could even add in a button that says “hosted beverages by XXX sponsor” and have your hosts wear them.
3. Water sponsor
This might sound strange but it's a great fit really for any event. In our particular themes case, we call it the “Watering Hole” but you can translate this to your own event. I love this because our sponsor has really relevant bottles of water for our guests to grab as they need it.
We placed this in a high traffic location so it would be utilized and seen!
4. Entertainment sponsor
No event is complete without entertainment. I always try to find ways to incorporate relevant entertainment from spoken word inspirational pieces to the Rhinestone Roper for this particular event with a Wheel Death and whip cracking!
My rule of thumb with entertainment is that it needs to provide purpose, i.e. getting the audience's attention, moving a group from one area to another, picking up the energy after a low energy moment or inspiring the audience. Entertainment is a favorite of sponsors and they love being recognized during the fun part of the program:)
This particular event we had a family fiddler group play during dinner, and started our program with the Rhinestone Roper.
5. Photo booth sponsor
This is an oldie but goodie… the benefit is obvious here… the sponsor gets their logo on every print out that guests take home. Some of my new favorites instead of the photo booth are .gif booths where you create a fun .gif and can send it to your phone and easily post on social media… the same concept still applies for sponsorship opportunities.
6. Hashtag sponsor
This is perhaps the newest of our sponsorship ideas. The hashtag sponsor. This sponsor donates a predetermined amount of money for every hashtag used for the event. Not only is this a great way to promote your event to a lot of your attendee's social media feeds, but each mention earns you a little bit of money! 500 #’s @ $5 = $2,500
We had these custom 4 ft letters created and are usable year after year!
7. Music Sponsor
I love being able to use a large screen and projector for nontraditional usages. For this particular event, we used a 10’x30’ screen to show country music videos which also gave a great place to visibly display our sponsor's logo during the entire reception.
8. Decor sponsor
We have a lot of fun with our theme, which also gives us the ability to have some great decor! Put a sponsors name on it and create a fun entryway into your event.
9. VIP Sponsor
Have a group of ‘special’ tables? Give your sponsor the opportunity to dress these tables up more than the others and deliver special gifts to these tables. Since our event is so large, it's too expensive to decorate all the tables to a VIP standard, but we can definitely do it if we have a sponsor that wants direct access to a specific group of CEO’s and executives. They can give special bottles of wine or branded gifts.
10. Wine Wall Sponsor
A great sponsorship that raises some $$$. This is always a popular fundraising activity, but our sponsor loves being apart of it! Don’t have wine? This same concept can be used for any kind of surprise activity. Have a bunch of gift cards? Make a gift card pull… and have some $100+ gift cards as the special prize. In our case, some of the wine pull bottles had golden tickets that got them an awesome bottle of wine!
11. Thunder and Lighting Sponsor
This is hands down my absolute favorite sponsorship idea! This was developed way back in the day from a brainstorming session about what we could do that would stand out. The Thunder and Lightening sponsor was born! It's a hit to this day and our sponsor comes back year after year and never wants to give it up that spot!
This sponsorship is also purposeful. You know that part of your program where everyone is eating dinner and its time to kick off the auction but its really hard to get their attention because they are talking? This works every time! The lights go off and thunder begins and we get their attention!
Don’t forget to join my FREE 5 Steps to More Sponsors Course and get clarity on what SPONSORS really want!
12. Silent Auction Sponsor and Live Auction Sponsor
This one is pretty straight forward but I really wanted to emphasize placement of your logos and highlighting a brands sponsorship. Make sure it's clear who the sponsor is… an easel at the entrance just doesn’t cut it. Make it large and in charge!
13. Centerpiece Sponsor
Another oldie but a goodie. One of the things I’ve found that works well here is to utilize your local grocery store for floral sponsorship’s. Many times its easier for a local grocer to put your flowers together instead of a boutique floral shop and it can be very expensive to support this cost with a traditional sponsorship.
Still, need a place to get a great deal on flowers? Fiftyflowers.com just started offering ‘done for you’ centerpieces that ship directly to you! They also offer discounts to nonprofits, how great is that?
14. Volunteer Sponsor
Volunteers are the lifeblood of your fundraising event. It's always a good idea to have your volunteers and staff wear shirts that stand out so your guests know who they can ask for help. Have a sponsor, sponsor their shirts and put their logo on it:)
BONUS TIP: The best way to have awesome volunteers is to establish the hour before your event to train your volunteers. Let them know where they will be working, what is required at that job, and who to ask questions if something arises.
15. Reception Sponsor
This is a great place for some prominent logo placement. In this particular sponsorship package, we included hosted drinks for the duration of the reception and silent auction. To top this package off, include great logo placement on the bars, and incorporate their brand in creative ways. Some fun ideas I’ve seen recently is a specialty cocktail with a drink stencil with their logo on it. Definitely captures guests attention!
What sponsorship ideas can you incorporate into your next event? Leave me a comment and let me know!
Danielle