7 Tips for Recruiting More Nonprofit Event Sponsors

Fundraising events, like auctions and galas, are highly effective ways to engage your nonprofit’s audience and increase giving. Studies show that the average return on investment (ROI) for events is between 25% and 34%. 

However, several factors can impact event ROI, including the event management technology you use, the success of your marketing efforts, and the number of sponsors you recruit. Nonprofit event sponsors are typically corporate donors who support events to bring awareness to your cause, access a new marketing audience, and receive positive publicity. 

Bringing in a few big-name sponsors can catapult your event to the next level and drive attendance. Let’s review seven tips for recruiting and retaining more nonprofit event sponsors for the long term. 

1. Leverage your network.

Connecting with a new event sponsor is easier when you already have a mutual friend or acquaintance. Reach out to current supporters to ask if they know any potential sponsors. Consider asking people in your network like:

• Board members. Let board members know when your upcoming event is and ask them to promote it within their personal networks to find potential sponsors. Many may work for an employer that would be open to sponsoring your event based on their employees’ involvement in your organization. 
• Volunteers. Leverage your volunteer database to identify long-time or highly engaged volunteers who may have corporate connections and be willing to help recruit event sponsors. 
• Long-term donors. Use your donor management software platform to identify business owners or local corporate leaders in your network who could be potential sponsors. 

Ask board members, volunteers, and donors to introduce your nonprofit and send you the contact information of potential sponsors. This initial outreach can help break the ice and make the introduction much more natural than cold-calling potential sponsors (and much more effective since 80% of cold calls go to voicemail). 

2. Clearly outline sponsorship packages. 

Event sponsors should know precisely what the sponsorship process entails so they can determine if it’s the right fit for their organization. 

To provide them with enough information upfront, develop clearly defined sponsorship packages by taking the following steps: 

• Make it clear what the sponsorship opportunity entails. For example, will sponsors contribute auction items or monetary donations? Will they have the chance to host a booth at your event or sponsor a hole at your charity golf tournament? Will you feature their business names on your event’s registration page? Will you feature their logo in event signage or an event video? Create clear guidelines outlining what you expect event sponsors to contribute and the publicity benefits they will receive in return. 
• Offer different sponsorship levels for different budgets. Each business will have a slightly different budget for what they can spend on sponsorship opportunities. You might offer your top sponsor the opportunity to have their business’s name in the event’s title. For other businesses with smaller budgets, you can feature their logos on your event landing page, invite, or signage used at the event. 

Assess your event’s budget and determine how many sponsors you’ll need to recruit at each level to maintain a high ROI. It can also be helpful to name your sponsorship levels to better distinguish and market them. Tie each sponsorship level to your mission. For example, a social justice organization could offer levels like Leader, Trailblazer, and Change-Maker. This can help make it easier for sponsors to choose their preferred level of support. 

3. Seek audience and mission alignment. 

Partnering with corporate sponsors whose mission and audience align with your nonprofit offers mutual benefits. Your nonprofit’s event attendees can learn more about businesses relevant to their interests. Plus, keeping your event sponsorships on theme with your nonprofit’s mission helps reinforce brand awareness. At the same time, your corporate sponsors can connect with a new audience of potential customers interested in their services. 

For example, let’s say your nonprofit runs an animal shelter. Before your upcoming Power of Pawsitivity gala, you could contact local pet stores, pet daycares, or animal trainers to ask if they’d like to sponsor your event. Each business can set up a table at your event to market their products or services. 

Or, perhaps your nonprofit seeks to improve physical education programs at local schools. For your upcoming fundraising silent auction event, you could ask sporting goods businesses to donate auction items or local adventure companies to donate a rafting or climbing experience. 

4. Highlight sponsorship benefits using data.

Collect data that shows the benefits corporate sponsors will receive from being a part of your event.

For example, you might gather data that showcases your event’s marketing reach. Maybe last year’s fundraising auction saw 300 participants, and with recent strides you’ve made regarding donor stewardship, you’re expecting at least 500 attendees this year. If you plan on marketing your event via email, you could share the size of your email marketing list and mention that you’ll promote the sponsor in all event communications. 

You can also turn to industry resources to help make your case. Organizations like America’s Charities have plenty of statistics on the business benefits of supporting local nonprofits. For example, did you know that 72% of consumers would recommend a brand that supports a good cause over one that doesn’t, and 47% of global consumers buy from charitably-minded brands monthly?

These statistics will attract the attention of potential corporate sponsors and get them excited about helping with your event. 

5. Make your pitch in person. 

Scheduling time to meet with potential sponsors in person and make your case requires some planning, but it will pay off in the long run. When you meet prospective sponsors one-on-one, you can form a more personal connection by getting to know them and having a casual conversation before diving into your pitch. Plus, you allow them to visit your organization’s facilities and see what your mission looks like up close.

Use these strategies to optimize your pitch: 

• Invite the potential sponsor to your nonprofit’s headquarters. Plan to show the sponsor around a bit and then make your pitch in a private meeting space. 
• Introduce the prospect to your nonprofit’s leaders. Make potential sponsors feel valued by introducing them to top organizational leaders, such as your development director or event coordinator. 
• Create a personalized pitch. Tailor your pitch to each sponsor’s interests and needs based on the background information you’ve collected about them. For example, perhaps one potential sponsor is highly active on social media. In your pitch to this sponsor, you can highlight the size of your nonprofit’s social media presence and show them how promoting their business on your page can drive more social media engagement and followers for their page in return. 

An in-person meeting can form that personal connection many business leaders need to feel confident about their decision to support your event. 

6. Steward event sponsors. 

Once you’ve secured a few corporate sponsors, steward them to show your appreciation and maintain positive long-term relationships with them.

Use multiple touchpoints to make your outreach feel fresh and unique. Here are a few ways to stay in touch with your event sponsors after your event concludes: 

• Send a heartfelt thank-you message recapping your event’s successes. Write a handwritten letter or call corporate sponsors to thank them for their involvement and tell them what their donations helped you achieve. 
• Post about your event sponsor on social media. Publicly thank your event sponsors by posting photos of their booths at your event or including links to their websites so audience members can learn more about their offerings. 
• Visit with sponsors at the event. Set aside time for your organization’s leaders to meet and personally thank sponsors at your event. Putting a face to a name can go far when building long-term relationships. 
• Invite your event sponsor to exclusive opportunities. Invite corporate sponsors to get to know your organization by touring your facilities, meeting with your executive director, or registering for a corporate volunteer event. These efforts can foster stronger ties between your sponsors and your nonprofit, leading to long-lasting partnerships. 

By staying connected to event sponsors, you’ll increase the likelihood that they’ll be willing to support your next event. Plus, giving current sponsors a positive experience can encourage them to spread the word about your sponsorship opportunities, helping you recruit additional sponsors next time around. 

7. Collect sponsor feedback. 

Asking sponsors for their feedback about the event experience helps you enhance the process for next time, helping you recruit even more sponsors in the future. Plus, requesting sponsor input shows current sponsors that your organization is dedicated to improving their experience, which can increase retention. 

After your event concludes, send sponsors a survey with questions like: 

• Did the sponsorship packages offered align with your philanthropic goals?
• Would you sponsor another event? Why or why not?
• Would you recommend our sponsorship opportunities to another business? Why or why not? If so, can you provide the contact information of an individual at that business? 
• What can we do to make the sponsorship experience more valuable to you?

Send a follow-up email to thank sponsors for their suggestions and summarize the actions you’ll take in response to their feedback. For example, to better accommodate sponsors’ budgets, you could offer a broader range of raffle basket sponsorship opportunities or add extra tiers to your sponsorship packages. 

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Event sponsors help remove some of the stress of the event planning process by supplementing your budget and paving the way for a higher ROI. The key to recruiting more sponsors is creating a positive, beneficial experience that sponsors will struggle to pass up.