{"id":265,"date":"2019-04-11T08:39:22","date_gmt":"2019-04-11T08:39:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.eventscase.com\/?p=265"},"modified":"2023-06-02T10:22:45","modified_gmt":"2023-06-02T08:22:45","slug":"looking-for-sponsors-how-to-find-backers-for-your-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/looking-for-sponsors-how-to-find-backers-for-your-event","title":{"rendered":"Looking for Sponsors? How to Find Backers for Your Event"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most events need sponsors to ensure they are financially viable to run. For those that operate via a ticket-based model, it\u2019s still worth considering sponsorship as a way of unlocking extra budget, which can make a real difference to the quality of speaker, venue and experience you\u2019re able to offer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Looking for sponsors is not easy, but every single event will have an ideal supporter &#8211; they just need to find them. Let\u2019s look into some of the ways you can go about this complex but rewarding task.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Social tools<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nowadays, we have unlimited access to potential sponsors via social platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin. These free tools give you the luxury of searching through lists and lists of people, often with their job titles and company names attached, and <a href=\"https:\/\/wiza.co\/find-email-free\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">email finding tools<\/a> will help you to look up their email information allowing you to connect with them until you find someone worth talking to.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-268 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Save-the-Date-on-a-wood-cube-in-a-corporate-background-300x200.jpeg\" alt=\"-\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" title=\"-\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Save-the-Date-on-a-wood-cube-in-a-corporate-background-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Save-the-Date-on-a-wood-cube-in-a-corporate-background-768x513.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Save-the-Date-on-a-wood-cube-in-a-corporate-background-943x630.jpeg 943w, https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Save-the-Date-on-a-wood-cube-in-a-corporate-background-90x60.jpeg 90w, https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Save-the-Date-on-a-wood-cube-in-a-corporate-background.jpeg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re looking for sponsors but cannot picture the right type of personnel, here\u2019s a bit of a checklist to go off:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b style=\"font-size: 1rem;\">Right company? <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Try pairing your event up with businesses that carry some kind of link to its subject. For instance, if I\u2019m holding a literature festival, I would start by looking for backing from publishers or book sellers, like Amazon or Waterstones.<\/span><\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>Right position? <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Be sure to speak with people that have the authority to approve a sponsorship package. <strong>PR managers<\/strong> are a good place to start, but events also fall into the remit of heads of marketing and sales. Focus on the decision makers and divert only when you\u2019re informed of a more relevant person to contact.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Right goals? <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you know about the type of companies to target, why not visit their social accounts to see if they\u2019re exhibiting at other events? This insight can even help you tailor your pitch when you eventually come to talk with them.\u00a0 <\/span><\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Competing events<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Competitor analysis is arguably one of the most important tasks to perform when looking for sponsors. Put simply &#8211; if someone is backing your <a href=\"https:\/\/eventscase.com\">competitor&#8217;s event<\/a>, why wouldn\u2019t they do the same for yours?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some companies take things a step further by looking for sponsors on their competitors\u2019 exhibiting floor. We\u2019d advise against using any tactics that might be construed as \u2018underhand\u2019, but attending similar events is a perfectly valid form of research. Plus, if your subject is highly specific, your sponsor list will probably cut a similar shape to your competitors\u2019 due to the lack of available options.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-266 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Multiethnic-group-of-young-business-people-using-laptop-sitting-on-meeting-in-conference-hall-300x200.jpeg\" alt=\"-\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" title=\"-\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Multiethnic-group-of-young-business-people-using-laptop-sitting-on-meeting-in-conference-hall-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Multiethnic-group-of-young-business-people-using-laptop-sitting-on-meeting-in-conference-hall-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Multiethnic-group-of-young-business-people-using-laptop-sitting-on-meeting-in-conference-hall-945x630.jpeg 945w, https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Multiethnic-group-of-young-business-people-using-laptop-sitting-on-meeting-in-conference-hall-90x60.jpeg 90w, https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Multiethnic-group-of-young-business-people-using-laptop-sitting-on-meeting-in-conference-hall.jpeg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Past attendees<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019ve organised a similar event (in the best-case scenario, this will be last year\u2019s edition of the same one you\u2019re managing) you will have a goldmine of data to use in your sponsorship recruitment efforts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Different attendees will require different approaches. Sponsors of competing events should be the first in line for a personalised email or a phonecall, inviting them to attend and potentially sponsor. Aside from this, you should be including reminders about sponsorship packages in your regular email marketing communications.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Looking for sponsors in your first-party data is more natural than contacting people you don\u2019t know, mainly because they should already recognise your event and what it can offer.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Use intelligent advertising<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Events like to play their cards close to their chest and prefer not to inform potential attendees, en masse, that they\u2019re in need of financial backing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-267 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/business-millionaire-over-white-dollars-coming-down-300x215.jpeg\" alt=\"-\" width=\"300\" height=\"215\" title=\"-\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/business-millionaire-over-white-dollars-coming-down-300x215.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/business-millionaire-over-white-dollars-coming-down-110x80.jpeg 110w, https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/business-millionaire-over-white-dollars-coming-down-768x551.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/business-millionaire-over-white-dollars-coming-down-879x630.jpeg 879w, https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/business-millionaire-over-white-dollars-coming-down-84x60.jpeg 84w, https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/business-millionaire-over-white-dollars-coming-down.jpeg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you\u2019re looking for sponsors through advertising, you have to be more tactical and really analyse the contents of your messages. Let\u2019s say I\u2019m promoting my aforementioned literature festival through a display ad. I might include the following information:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A celebration of UK writers<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tickets selling fast<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At London\u2019s Great Hall<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This centres very much around encouraging sales of tickets; urging a purchase on the basis of them going fast. Let\u2019s apply a <strong>sponsorship<\/strong> twist on the same event:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">10,000 attendees <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The world\u2019s biggest literature event <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Showcasing the UK\u2019s best writing talent <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The UK Literature Festival.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The numerical figure provides an indication of the data and audience that sponsors tend to expect. The references to its stature (\u201cworld\u2019s biggest\u201d) and calibre (\u201cthe best writing talent\u201d) also bring a reputable edge &#8211; one that sponsors could get on board with.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Better still, if you already have sponsors signed up and would like a few more, why ask to use their logos in your campaigns? Every company has its competitors. If one of yours is exhibiting at your industry\u2019s biggest event, wouldn\u2019t you consider doing the same to preserve your reputation?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Looking for sponsors isn\u2019t easy. Some <a href=\"https:\/\/eventscase.com\">events<\/a> have it down to a fine art, but regardless of who you are and what you\u2019re producing, there will always be companies that are actively searching for the kind of opportunities you can provide. You just have to look in the right places.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Most events need sponsors to ensure they are financially viable to run. For those that operate via a ticket-based model, it\u2019s still worth considering sponsorship &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":814,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pgc_meta":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[14],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4781,"href":"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265\/revisions\/4781"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}