How to Design an Event Sponsorship Package (That’s Too Good to Pass Up!)
When you’re looking to lock in the right sponsors, a great event sponsorship package greases the wheels and makes signing easy.
Your sponsors should know:
- Who you are
- Why your event matters to them
- What’s in it for them
- How they can help
In this blog, we’ll look at what an event sponsorship package is, what your sponsor pack should include, and how to design your own sponsor package that highlights the benefits of supporting your event.
Plus, we’ll provide you with templates, tips, and examples for the two most common types of sponsorship models: tiered and a la carte. Let’s dive in!
What Is an Event Sponsorship Package?
An event sponsorship package, or sponsor pack, is a collection of marketing services and benefits offered by an event organizer to potential sponsors. It typically includes various sponsorship tiers or levels, each with distinct benefits, designed to attract sponsors of different sizes and budgets.
Recommended Read: Ready to land the event sponsors of your dreams? EventMobi’s Sponsorship Strategy Guide provides an in-depth look at everything you need to know to secure sponsors for your events.
How to Create Event Sponsorship Packages
Sponsors have always been a crucial source of revenue for events.
But with so much competition for audience attention, it’s crucial to show that you’re offering competitive and valuable in person, virtual, and hybrid event sponsorship package options.
To start, think like a sponsor!
That means considering what goals your event sponsors might be hoping to achieve by supporting your event, including:
- Increasing awareness around a new product launch
- Reaching out to a new target audience
- Increasing brand awareness with an existing audience
- Building relationships and engaging with a relevant community
- Repositioning a brand that has become stagnant
- Aligning a brand with social responsibility/CSR initiatives
An event sponsorship package is essentially your “pitch” on why potential sponsors should choose your event over other events or channels they could invest their budget in. That’s why it’s critical to understand the goals and objectives of any existing and potential new sponsors.
More than ever, sponsors are looking for customized event sponsorship packages with the best ROI available.
Two benefits sponsors value most are:
- The ability to establish connections with attendees
- Opportunities for maximum brand exposure
You’ll want to offer as many opportunities as possible for direct interactions between sponsor representatives and attendees, whether in person or online, depending on the format of your event. You’ll also need to provide sponsors with high-visibility opportunities to share their brand messaging into your event content wherever possible.
Address all of these needs in your event sponsorship package offerings, and you’re guaranteed to yield excellent event revenues and loyal sponsors who return year after year.
Recommended Resource: 📺 Watch 8 short videos to learn how to deliver events in any format that engage attendees and offer sponsors more value—no matter your team size or budget!
What Should a Sponsorship Package Include?
There are many options when it comes to building a sponsor pack! To help guide your decision-making, you could follow one of two models.
The two most common approaches to building event sponsorship packages are:
- Tiered Sponsorship Model. This is the traditional approach where a variety of features are included in the event sponsorship package offerings, depending on the sponsorship level.
- À La Carte Sponsorship Model. This approach is commonly used to serve sponsors with specific needs or goals—being able to customize their event sponsorship package is key.
Regardless of your model, every sponsor package should include:
- Information about the event, like programming schedule, date, and expected attendance
- Information about your organization, including values, mission, and goals
- The sponsorship details, including benefits and pricing
- Examples of sponsorship packages or sponsor results from previous events
Starting with those points, you can then decide whether to use a tiered model or à la carte.
Wondering what the difference is? Read on!
How to Set Up Sponsorship Packages Using the Tiered Model
A tiered sponsorship model has a clear structure to follow. When you’re creating your sponsor deck, you can easily present the tiers in ascending order!
Here is a step-by-step breakdown of how to build a tiered sponsorship model (that includes event technology features!):
Step 1: Create tier levels
Tiers are commonly labeled as Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Exhibitor, but you have lots of creative freedom to name the levels to fit your event theme or brand. Use your sponsorship levels to make your event seem fun and appealing to sponsors!
Remember that both your in-person event app and virtual event space provide plenty of opportunities for visual cues to signal sponsorship levels. When choosing labels for your virtual events, it’s a good idea to think about what sorts of badges or ribbons you can use to highlight each level of sponsorship.
Every part of your virtual conference sponsorship package should help elevate the sponsor’s status and drive traffic to their virtual booths.
Pro tip: Design diverse levels of sponsorship
Tiered sponsorship packages allow sponsors to choose a level that best fits their budget and goals. Remember to include a range of options for both big and small sponsors! As you assign your sponsorship levels, be mindful to offer increasing value with each tier.
Step 2: Decide quantities per tier
The next step is to determine how many event sponsorship packages of each tier level you need to sell to achieve your event revenue goals.
The more limited the quantity, the more you can charge for the sponsorship package. It feels exclusive! This will also encourage sponsors to commit earlier so you’re able to better predict your revenue and plan your event.
The same principle applies to sponsor tier features—especially high-value offerings like prime scheduling slots for branded content.
When it comes to virtual events, your most popular sessions are equivalent to the trade show floor space that draws the highest foot traffic. If only your top sponsors are allowed to contribute to a keynote panel discussion, for example, exhibitors will rush to snatch up your premium event sponsorship packages!
Step 3: Distribute sponsorship benefits per tier
The higher and more exclusive the tier, the greater the number of high-value benefits. Rank your benefits by value, and start decreasing what’s available as you scale down your tiers. This will allow sponsors to choose the tier that works best for them, increasing your overall opportunities for sponsorship.
Pro tip: Offer more value with custom sponsorship opportunities
Go beyond the standard tiers by offering custom sponsorship opportunities. Tailored packages may include sponsored networking events, VIP experiences, or opportunities for sponsors to provide educational content.
Ideas for à La Carte Sponsorship Packages
The à la carte sponsorship model is an alternative model for sponsors seeking to achieve specific goals or outcomes. This can include attendee engagement or brand exposure. You can consider structuring your à la carte sponsorship offerings based on the event’s lifecycle stages, like so:
Pre-event sponsorship options
Involve your sponsors in your marketing communications to build excitement before your event! Promote your sponsor using:
- Logos. Include the sponsor’s logo on your event registration page and any marketing communications promoting the event, such as registration invite emails.
- Social media. Post social media shout-outs to thank and promote sponsors ahead of your event. Make sure your attendees know which event features are made possible thanks to each sponsor!
- Speakers. Highlight your sponsors’ speakers! Building hype encourages session attendance on the day of your event.
- Giveaways. Everybody loves a prize! Your sponsored giveaways can help promote registration and build excitement for the event. For a virtual event, you can always mail physical prizes to online participants together with swag bags—or they can be rewarded through digital coupons, gift certificates, and discounts.
Highlight sponsors during the event
There are so many ways to promote your sponsors during your event! From more brand exposure to attendees engagement, you can try these methods to heighten your sponsors’ visibility:
- Banner ads. Use an event sponsor banner to highlight top-tier sponsors on the mobile event app and virtual event space home screen. It’ll be the first thing every attendee sees!
- Sponsorship section. Create a dedicated space for your sponsors where you can feature the sponsor’s logo on your event app and virtual event platform. You can even include a detailed profile so attendees can learn more.
- Live polls. Running live polls during your event? Highlight the sponsor’s logo on the results window for all live polls.
- Resources. Your event attendees are itching to learn more, and your sponsors have the info! Include links to downloadable resources provided by the sponsor, such as brochures or product collateral.
- Gamification. Structure your challenges so that attendees need to visit sponsors’ exhibitor booths (either physically or online) to collect codes. Award extra points and prizes for more in-depth interactions with sponsors.
- Giveaways. Just like you can give out prizes before the event, you can continue them throughout your day! Try out a sponsored raffle to engage attendees and get them excited about what your sponsors have to offer.
- Appointment booking. Enable sponsors to connect with attendees via sponsored group discussions, private chats, and 1:1 meetings. Bookings are easy when they’re built into your event app!
- Exclusive sessions. Help sponsors create a more personal connection with attendees by hosting breakout sessions with targeted groups, either on-site or in interactive breakout rooms online.
- Alerts. Send targeted alerts or push notifications with the sponsor’s logo included.
- Emails. You can always target a segment of your audience with sponsored emails, so that the recipients are more likely to be interested.
- Signage. Place the sponsor’s logo on any printed and/or digital marketing materials or signage displayed in the event registration area or venue.
- Directions. Incorporate the sponsor’s logo into the show design by creating floor tiles for high-value sponsors with arrows pointing toward their stand. Then attendees will know exactly where to go!
- Physical banner. Offer sponsors the option to rig a physical banner above the show floor so that it can be seen from all corners of the expo hall.
Post-event opportunities for sponsors
- Follow-up communication. You’ll be emailing your attendees with post-event surveys and other information, so why not include the sponsor’s logo and mention them in your message?
- Volunteer thank you party. If you have volunteers, your sponsors could fund a post-event get-together where you show your appreciation for their time. Or maybe even volunteer awards!
- Video library. Incorporate sponsor content into an ongoing library of on-demand video content! You could embed links to their virtual booth or website and then add contact information in the session description.
Event Sponsorship Examples
Now that you know what goes into the two main types of event sponsorship packages, how do you actually put one together so you can start promoting it?
You can try out both models (and even see examples!) by downloading these free templates:
Level Up Your Sponsorship Packages with Event Tech
When curating irresistible event sponsorship packages, offering unexpected value can help attract and build relationships with your ideal event sponsors.
One of the simplest ways to do so? Using the latest event tech to build impactful packages that sponsors can’t resist! Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Offer virtual and hybrid event sponsorships. With virtual and hybrid events and event spaces, sponsor visibility can go digital! Consider benefits like sponsored sessions, digital banners, or branded virtual lounges.
- Leverage tech to connect. Use event technology to provide unique opportunities for sponsor engagement and visibility. Send push notifications in a mobile event app, leverage sponsored polls during sessions, or gamification features that drive attendees to the sponsor’s virtual or physical booths.
- Measure and share analytics. Sponsors want to see the return on their investment. Event technology makes it easy to track and share detailed analytics, which allows you to provide sponsors with tangible insights into their impact and reach.
If you’re looking for an event platform that can support your sponsorship strategy at every step of your event journey, EventMobi offers all of the above and more! Using EventMobi’s hybrid events platform, you can implement your digital event sponsorship offers as well as provide in person support to your sponsors, with the post-event analytics to match.
How to Find the Right Event Sponsors
For corporate events such as trade shows and conferences, finding the right sponsors can significantly contribute to your event’s success:
- Identify potential sponsors. Look for sponsors who align with your event’s theme, audience, and values. For example, if you’re organizing a tech conference, tech companies might be interested in your event sponsorship packages.
- Research each potential sponsor thoroughly. Understand their objectives, their target audience, and what they usually sponsor. It may also be beneficial to review their past sponsorships, their presence on social media, and any recent news about them.
- Personalize communication. When you approach potential sponsors, make your message about them and how the sponsorship packages for your event can benefit them. Show how your event aligns with their goals and can offer valuable exposure to their target demographic.
How to Pitch Event Sponsorship Packages
Pitching your event sponsorship package effectively is crucial for securing sponsorships.
Here are the steps to ensure a successful pitch:
- Prepare a compelling sponsorship deck. A sponsorship deck, or sponsorship packet, is a presentation that highlights the benefits sponsors will receive from partnering with your event. It should include information about the event, the audience demographics, sponsorship tiers, benefits for each tier, pricing, and examples of sponsorship packages from previous events.
- Tailor your pitch. Customize your pitch to reflect each potential sponsor’s goals so you can show them exactly how your event will help achieve their objectives.
- Highlight benefits. Clearly outline what’s included in each sponsorship tier. This could range from logo placement on promotional materials, booth space at the event, and speaking opportunities, to social media mentions.
- Provide a clear call to action. Make it easy for potential sponsors to take the next step. This could be a meeting to discuss the event sponsorship packages in detail, a link to a registration form, or contact information for further inquiries.
Remember to follow up after your pitch, thank the potential sponsor for their time, and be prepared to negotiate the details of the sponsorship package.
Also, consider offering digital sponsorship packages for sponsors who wish to reach out to your online audience! This can be especially useful if you run a year-round event space, so sponsor engagement isn’t tied to specific events—just how engaged your community is.
Next Steps: Designing Your Event Sponsorship Packages
By now, you should be well-equipped with the strategies and tips to take your event sponsorship game to the next level. You know how to approach potential sponsors with the right pitch and create compelling, customizable sponsorship packages that cater to their unique marketing objectives.
Remember, the secret to crafting an attractive sponsorship package lies in alignment—aligning the sponsor’s goals with the benefits you offer. Whether it’s through brand exposure, audience engagement, or valuable networking opportunities, ensuring your sponsors find the value they’re seeking is paramount.
With the rise of virtual and hybrid events, event tech has become a mainstay of the event industry—especially since in person attendees at hybrid events rely on event apps to stay engaged and informed. And as you may have noticed from the list of à la carte sponsor features above, many sponsor benefits apply equally to the in-person mobile event app as to the virtual event platform.
With these tools at your disposal, you’re poised to form strong and enduring relationships with sponsors. These partnerships will not only provide critical support for your current event but pave the way for ongoing collaboration, bolstering your organization’s events now and in the future. Here’s to your success in creating outstanding event sponsorship packages!
Looking for an easy way to create on-brand, on-budget events that will impress your sponsors AND attendees? 👀 Book your personalized demo of EventMobi’s event management platform today!