5 Elements of a Winning Sponsorship Proposal
How do you write a successful event sponsorship proposal? We share the key elements of a winning sponsorship proposal designed to help you attract more sponsors.
Pro Tip: The most successful sponsorship proposals are informative, captivating, and convincing.
Key Contents
What Makes a Winning Proposal?
5 Key Sections of Successful Proposals
Should You Use a Template?
What Makes a Winning Event Sponsorship Proposal?
You’re new to events, and you want to know how to write a successful event sponsorship proposal. Well, you’re reading the right article. You’re about to learn the key elements of a winning sponsorship proposal and how to fast-track your start.
Firstly, let’s look at what makes a winning event sponsorship proposal.
At its most basic, a successful sponsorship proposal is informative, captivating, and convincing. It will be designed specifically to win the imagination of your potential sponsors.
A successful sponsorship proposal will not only outline the sponsorship opportunities for your event but also demonstrate your commitment to delivering value to your sponsors.
Pro Tip: Always remember that your event proposal may be a potential sponsor’s first look at your event. It’s possibly also the first impression of you and your business too. So, you will want your sponsorship proposal to win the hearts and minds of your potential sponsors!
Writing a pitch? The Event Sponsorship Template Bundle gives you editable, persuasive copy and structure to win more partners.
5 Key Sections of Successful Event Sponsorship Proposals
Section 1: The Intro
This is where it begins. The intro will feature an eye-catching image paired with your company’s name, the potential sponsor’s name, and the date. Your cover and intro are the first things potential sponsors will see when they receive your sponsorship proposal.
A beautifully designed cover and inviting intro will immediately capture their attention and get them excited to read more.
Section 2: Event Details
Within the first few pages of your sponsorship proposal, include highlights that convey what your event is all about. It’s also often a good idea to give potential sponsors a brief outline of where they fit into the event.
A heartfelt explanation of why your event is important and what sponsors can do to help is all that is needed at this point.
It's not all feel-good quotes and pretty imagery when talking about your event. Don’t be shy to include some hard data to support your claims. Analytics, facts and figures are especially sought out by potential sponsors and may include key stats such as:
Program highlights
Success metrics of past events
Audience details (potential numbers, demographics, interests)
Successes of past sponsors in your previous events
Section 3: Event Value
Next, you will outline how valuable the event is to the community, the corporate sector, and the event audience. This is where you outline the value of the event and may include:
The synergies between the event objectives and your sponsor’s KPIs
What impact the event will have on the community/audience/corporate sector
What level of exposure the event generates
Section 4: Meet the Team
It’s always important to make an event feel personal, and not just a brand. Photos and brief bios that introduce your team will remind your potential sponsors that your team is a real group of human beings who are trustworthy and qualified to deliver the proposed value.
Section 5: Sponsorship Benefits
This section provides structure to help your potential sponsor decide whether your event is a worthy investment. If you plan to offer a few different sponsor packages, here’s where you’ll lay out all their package options.
This part will detail precisely how you can use sponsor support for your event, what they can contribute, and what they can get in return.
When sponsorship packages are discussed, the standard hierarchical tier systems often come to mind (e.g. Gold, Silver, Bronze). Packages are often presented as three levels of sponsorship, with advantages increasing based on the contributions set that the other parties can fulfil.
However, there are also other types of packages that can be explored, such as the following:
Offering to sell specific benefits instead of tiered benefits.
Selling other perks, such as visibility and rights to create mini stands.
Giving away free benefits to sponsors that match a certain contribution amount.
List all the ways they can expect to see their sponsorship represented before, during, and after the event, both online and in person.
Should You Use a Sponsorship Template?
Used by event managers worldwide, sponsorship proposals are the best way to secure event sponsors. They transform what could be a messy hand-written document into a well-designed presentation that is informative, captivating, and convincing.
Shows Your Effort
The fact that you took the time to design and send out a professional event sponsorship proposal will undoubtedly make a great first impression on your sponsors.
Reinforces Your Brand
Your event sponsorship proposal sets the tone for your event. A simple yet informative and captivating template can be adapted to incorporate the brand of both your event and your sponsor.
Acts as Reference Material
Writing an event sponsorship proposal is not just about creating a pretty design. A sponsorship proposal template should be designed to present facts and figures in a stylish way.
Fast-tracks Future Proposals
As event planners, we all want lighter workloads. Improving your workflow with event templates means you won’t have to start from scratch each time you create a sponsorship proposal. It saves you countless hours and reduces your mental burden, so you can focus on other things that matter.
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Hi, I’m Rachella
Welcome to Event Kit. This is where I share what 26+ years in events have taught me about the industry, business and the work we do.
