10 Tips for Planning Your Sponsored Event (Including Book Launches)

Guest Post by Roberta Vigilance

Here are 10 tips for securing sponsors for your events, including book launches, blog tours,  virtual book tours, website promotions, seminars, webinars, conferences, and more!

1. Understand Your Event.

That’s how it all started for me. I knew my event had value and learned companies and individuals were willing to pay me to receive tangible and intangible benefits that my event had to offer, all through the process of event sponsorship.

2. Understand Event Sponsorship.

Becoming educated on what event sponsorship is and how it works is the most essential step for securing sponsors. Without this knowledge you’ll face a lot of rejections and waste valuable time.

Order Step-by-Step Guide for Planing a Sponsored Event here: https://amzn.to/2bSp1gx

3. Know Your Event Audience.

Knowing your event audience will help you target and secure the right sponsors for your event whether you’re offering tangible or intangible benefits.

4. Know Your Event Budget.

Envision your event location, decoration, the number of staff members needed, promotional items, and whatever else is needed to meet your event expected outcome. Make a list of what you envisioned and research the cost associated with each cost.

5. Have a Pitch.

You should already know what you will say to prospective sponsors once you get them on the phone. Your pitch should be less than 20 seconds, no more than thirty seconds. Most people attention span is short, plus be mindful that they have work to do. If you don’t have a pitch ready, you can start rambling and quickly lose the interest of the person on the other line.

If you need help developing your pitch, email a request to info@eventsandsponsors.com.

6. Be Passionate About Your Event.

If you don’t care about your event, better yet if you don’t have a passion for your event, you will give up easily. Why? Because you don’t have that fire which allows you to act on planning your sponsored event. If you’ve seen my video 9 Steps How To Secure Sponsors Successfully (see below), you’ll know that real life events can also be sponsored.

7. Target the Right Sponsors.

Research, contact, and send your sponsorship proposal to companies and individuals you believe can benefit from your event.

Can the sponsor benefit from your event?

Does the sponsor already have a relationship with your event’s audience or attendees?

Do you believe your event can help the sponsor achieve their goal?

Can your event enforce, re-establish, or start new relationships with the sponsor?

Is your event about a cause that the sponsor has a cure for?

Is your event a solution to the sponsor’s problem?

If you answered yes to any one of the questions, then you are targeting the right sponsors.

8. Get the Timing Right.

Don’t wait until the last minute to start seeking sponsors. It usually takes 6 months to a year or more to develop positive relationships with sponsors. It isn’t impossible however to secure sponsors in less than three months; you’ll have to work relentlessly around the clock, especially if you’re targeting sponsors in other parts of the world. Equally, you’ll need to know and have a clear understanding of the other tips for securing sponsors that are listed here.

9. Have Your Sponsorship Proposal Ready.

Before contacting sponsors you should have two things ready, your sponsorship proposal and your pitch. It’s easier and faster to tweak your proposal than to write one from scratch. Make it concise and direct.

10. Use the Right Sponsorship Terms.

Event organizers often use the word donation and minimize sponsorship to only mean advertisement. Although advertisement is a benefit you can offer sponsors, it does not mean the same as sponsorship. Some sponsorship professionals may take the misuse of language lightly, while others may not.

Best wishes with planning your sponsored-event and securing your sponsors securing your sponsors.

Roberta Vigilance is a book author and event sponsorship consultant. Her motto: Plan Events. Secure Sponsors. For more information about her services and book (How to Secure Sponsors Successfully), see http://www.eventsandsponsors.com.