By Alison Baringer, Founder of Salt & Rally
The short answer: Sponsors are more likely to say yes when they can picture the people they’ll reach and understand what the partnership could do for their business. Start with companies that already care about your audience. Ask for a conversation before sending a proposal. Build the opportunity around what they want to accomplish, then follow through and show them what happened.
That’s the short version. Here’s how to put it into practice.
1. Know what you’re really offering
I’ve spent more than 20 years working on events and sponsorships. One thing I’ve learned: it’s easy to focus on the logo on the banner. But the real opportunity is the connection between a business and the people who attend.
Before you contact a potential sponsor, get clear on three things about your audience:
Who attends: Where they live, what they care about, and what they’re likely to spend money on.
How many people you reach: Attendance, email subscribers, social followers, website visits and other useful numbers.
Why they come: What they value about your event and what brings them back.
You don’t need a fancy research project to get started. A short attendee survey, your email analytics and a review of your social numbers can give you a much stronger picture than “we get a great crowd.” When you can describe that crowd clearly, you can have a more specific conversation about why a sponsor might want to reach them.
Pro Tip: Once you have useful information, create an annual recap. I did this for an organization I worked with—not a dry spreadsheet, but a photo-filled report that showed how the organization grew and recognized the partners who helped make it happen. A strong recap helps potential sponsors see the momentum around your event and the role they could play in it.
2. Build a short list of the right prospects
The best prospects are businesses whose customers have something in common with your attendees. A food festival might be a natural fit for restaurants, beverage brands, food distributors and kitchen suppliers. A youth sports league might connect well with pediatric practices, family-focused banks and orthodontists.
Start with 20 to 30 thoughtfully chosen prospects. For each one, find out:
Who makes the decision. It may be someone in marketing or community relations, or the owner of a small business.
Whether they’ve supported similar events. Look at local event websites, programs and social pages.
Whether you or someone in your organization already has a connection there.
A warm introduction can help open the door. Ask board members, volunteers, staff and past sponsors who they know at the businesses on your list. You may find a connection you didn’t know was there—small towns have a funny way of making “I know a person” part of the business development plan.
3. Ask for a conversation before you send a proposal
A sponsorship packet sent out of the blue asks a potential sponsor to make a decision before you know what they’re looking for. A conversation gives you a chance to understand their goals and suggest an opportunity that actually fits.
Try asking:
Which customers are you hoping to reach this year?
What have you sponsored before, and what worked well?
How do you decide whether a sponsorship was worthwhile?
When do you usually set your budget for the next year?
That last question matters. Some businesses make sponsorship decisions months ahead of the event. If you wait until January to ask about a spring event, the budget may already be spoken for.
4. Build the package around their goals
Once you understand what a potential sponsor wants, put together two or three options that make sense for them. A generic tier sheet can be a useful starting point, but it shouldn’t be the whole strategy.
A brewery hoping to let people try its product may care about sampling and a strong on-site presence. A bank looking to build community relationships may be more interested in supporting a volunteer program than adding another logo to a sign.
Strong packages often combine:
Visibility: Signage, program listings, social posts and email mentions.
Access: Booth space, sampling, a speaking opportunity or tickets for clients and staff.
Association: Naming rights for a stage, event area or program that fits the sponsor’s brand.
Useful follow-up: Information about reach, engagement or leads collected, when those can be tracked appropriately.
The right mix depends on the sponsor and the event. A bigger logo isn’t automatically a better opportunity.
Want help building your sponsor list and packages?
This is the work I do with festivals, nonprofits and community-minded businesses in Wilmington and beyond.
See how Salt & Rally works with partners.
5. Start six to nine months out
Sponsorship takes time. You need room to understand your audience, have good conversations, shape opportunities, get decisions and then plan the sponsor’s presence at the event.
A spring event might follow a timeline like this:
Summer: Review results from the last event, gather audience information and build your prospect list.
Early fall: Start conversations before many businesses finalize next year’s budgets.
Late fall: Send tailored proposals and follow up.
Winter: Confirm agreements, collect logos and other materials, and plan activations.
Event time: Deliver what you promised and document it with photos.
Within two weeks after: Send each sponsor a brief results report and start the renewal conversation.
If a sponsor’s involvement needs more than a logo—such as a custom activity, product sampling or a staffed space—build in extra time. Those details need planning, coordination and approvals. Nobody wants to be figuring out the footprint of a custom activation while someone is asking where the power outlet is.
6. Follow up without being a pest
A proposal doesn’t always get an immediate answer. People are busy, budgets move slowly, and emails sometimes disappear into the great inbox wilderness.
Follow up about a week after you send the proposal. If you haven’t heard back, reach out again a week or two later with a useful update: a confirmed event detail, new attendance information or another sponsor who has signed on. Each follow-up should make it easy to continue the conversation.
Pro tip: Your timeline may not match theirs, and you may not know what else is happening on their end. Stay connected without making every touchpoint about the proposal. Share an event update, congratulate them on a recent announcement, or pass along something you think they’d enjoy. It keeps the relationship warm without making anyone feel chased.
If the answer is no, you can ask whether there’s a better time to reconnect or a smaller way to be involved this year. A modest first partnership can give a business a chance to see how the event works and build toward something larger later. If it makes sense for the event, invite them to attend as your guest. Experiencing it firsthand can help them picture the partnership.
7. Deliver, report and renew
The work doesn’t end when the event is over. Sponsors should be able to see what their support made possible and how their opportunity showed up.
After the event, send each sponsor a concise report with relevant details, such as:
Attendance or audience reach
Photos showing their presence
Social and email results
Sampling, engagement or leads collected, if tracked
Then ask about renewing while the event is still fresh. If the sponsor had a good experience and felt well cared for, the next conversation can start from what you built together instead of starting from scratch.
Common questions about getting sponsors
How much should I ask a sponsor for?
Set pricing based on the value of the opportunity—such as audience reach, access, visibility and exclusivity—not just what it costs to put on the event. Look at comparable events in your area for context, then make sure the price reflects what you can actually deliver.
Should I email or call?
Start with a warm introduction if you have one. If you don’t, send a brief, specific email asking for a 20-minute conversation. A full proposal attached to a first cold email is a lot to ask someone to review before you know what matters to them.
What if I’m organizing a small or first-year event?
Lead with the audience you expect to reach and the reason the event matters. Consider offering a founding sponsor opportunity at a level that fits the scale of the event, and make sure you can deliver what you promise. You’re building the track record you’ll use next year.
How many sponsors should I contact?
Start with a focused list. Twenty well-researched prospects are usually a better place to begin than 200 businesses you know little about. The goal is a good match and a meaningful conversation—not the world’s longest spreadsheet.
Getting sponsors is a process you can build on year after year.
If you’d like help with the prospect list, packages and follow-through,
let’s talk about what Salt & Rally can do for your event.