By Alison Baringer, Founder of Salt & Rally
You’ve picked the photos. Written about your mission. Found room for one more logo. Spent more time than you’d like to admit deciding what to call the sponsorship levels.
But when someone opens your sponsorship packet, can they quickly understand why this opportunity makes sense for their business?
That’s the part that deserves the most attention.
After more than 20 years working with events and sponsors, here’s what I want a packet to do: help someone picture the partnership. Who will they reach? How could they participate? What could it help them accomplish?
The short answer: A strong sponsorship packet explains your event, introduces your audience, shares credible reach numbers, and offers clear opportunities with prices and a next step. Six to eight pages can be a useful starting point, but the goal is to give a prospective sponsor enough information to want a conversation.
And yes, you can probably take out a few of those paragraphs. I say that with love.
Start With the Person Opening It
The person reading your packet might be a business owner squeezing it in between appointments. Or a marketing director sorting through requests while trying to meet their own goals.
They may care deeply about your cause. They also need to understand whether the opportunity fits their audience, budget, and priorities.
Make that easy for them.
Before you send your packet, read it from their side of the desk. Can they quickly find the audience, investment, and opportunities that matter to their business?
Eight Things I’d Put in a Sponsorship Packet
1. A Clear Introduction to the Event
Tell me what it is, when and where it happens, and who comes.
Something like:
“A one-day music festival on Wilmington’s riverfront, bringing together local families for live music, food, and hands-on activities.”
Your event name may be wonderfully creative. Give it a plain-language description, too, especially if you’re approaching someone who hasn’t attended.
2. A Real Picture of Your Audience
“We welcome everyone” is lovely hospitality. It doesn’t give a sponsor much to work with.
Who actually attends? Local families? Young professionals? Homeowners? Visitors planning a weekend around the event?
Include age ranges, locations, interests, and other relevant information you can support. If you don’t have detailed audience research yet, start with what you know and explain where the information came from.
You’re helping a business recognize the people it wants to reach.
3. Your Reach, With a Little Context
Include recent attendance, email subscribers, social audiences, website traffic, and relevant media coverage.
Then explain what those numbers represent.
Are your attendance figures from last year or projections for this year? Does a sponsor’s package include an email feature, or are you simply showing the size of your list?
A smaller, engaged audience can still offer a valuable opportunity. Give sponsors an honest picture of it.
4. A Reason the Partnership Makes Sense
Why this business? Why this audience? Why this event?
For your top prospects, make that connection explicit. A home services company, a bank, and a beverage brand may see very different possibilities in the same event.
A short, thoughtful introduction can show that you’ve considered their business and have a reason for reaching out.
For cold outreach, I often put that connection right in the email body: why I thought of their business and which opportunity might fit.
5. Clear Options and Prices
Give sponsors a starting point with a few understandable options.
For each one, explain the investment, what’s included, and how they can participate. Help them picture the experience: meeting guests, demonstrating a product, hosting an activity, or treating their clients to something special.
PAINT. THE. PICTURE. These are busy people. Help them imagine their team handing out samples, meeting potential customers, or hosting clients in a space they’re proud to put their name on.
Logo placement has a place. It just shouldn’t have to carry the entire partnership.
And if you’re debating between “Platinum” and “Diamond,” spend that energy making the benefits clearer first. You can name it after a precious stone later.
6. Proof That You Can Deliver
Use real event photos, a sponsor quote you have permission to share, or a brief example of a past activation and its results.
Show the booth with people in it. The activity guests lined up for. The sponsor’s team having conversations. People. Having. Fun!
If this is a new event, be upfront about that. Share relevant team experience, confirmed plans, and what you’ll measure.
7. An Invitation to Build Something Together
Leave room for a conversation.
“We’d love to learn what your business is working toward and explore a partnership around those goals.”
Then be prepared to listen. A sponsor may have an idea you haven’t considered—or a priority your existing packages don’t address.
Don’t be afraid to ask what’s worked for their business before—and what made it successful. That’s a GREAT starting point. You’ll learn what they value and what they’d like to do again.
Some of the most interesting opportunities start there.
8. An Easy Next Step
Include a person’s name, email, phone number, and a clear invitation to connect.
If you have a commitment deadline, explain it. Print deadlines, production schedules, and category availability give people useful information for making a decision.
Don’t make an interested sponsor hunt for how to reach you.
What I’d Shorten—Or Leave Out
I understand why packets get long. You’re proud of your organization, and there’s a lot you want people to know.
But you can care about every detail and still give each one a different home.
Here’s where I’d start editing:
The organizational history. Keep the background that helps someone understand your credibility and purpose. Link to your website for the full story.
The complete event schedule. Include the highlights and anything that affects the sponsorship opportunity. Save the minute-by-minute agenda for later. All a Sponsor really wants to know is how long they have onsite.
Broad impact statements. Support them with a specific result or a short story that shows what your work makes possible.
The giant benefits grid. If someone has to trace a finger across the page to understand a package, simplify it.
Generic stock photos. Whenever possible, show your people, your event, and your community.
Your mission absolutely belongs in the packet. Give it enough space to help a sponsor understand what they’d be part of.
Make it Easy to Read—and Share
Six to eight pages is a reasonable working target for many events. A smaller opportunity might need fewer; a more involved partnership may need supporting details.
As you review the layout:
Put the event overview and audience information near the front.
Use readable type and leave some breathing room.
Keep your colors, fonts, and formatting consistent and on brand. This shows you’ll care about your Sponsor’s brand, too.
Send a PDF that’s easy to open and forward.
Check links and contact information before sending.
Remember, your contact may need to share this with a boss or business partner. Give them something they can confidently pass along.
Give the Packet a Conversation to Build On
Whenever possible, have a short conversation before sending the full packet.
Ask what the business is focused on. Learn who they want to reach, what has worked for them before, and what would make a partnership worthwhile.
Then you can follow up with, “Based on what you shared, here are a couple of opportunities I think could fit.”
That gives the packet a purpose and makes your follow-up more useful.
When you reconnect, give them room to talk. Which opportunities caught their attention? What questions did they ask? What would they change? Their answers can help you shape a partnership that fits their goals and works for your event. Then put that into a personalized proposal.
I walk through that approach in How to Get Event Sponsors.
Common Questions About Sponsorship Packets
How long should a sponsorship packet be?
Six to eight pages can be a helpful starting point. Let the opportunity guide the length, and make sure every page helps a sponsor understand or evaluate it.
Full disclosure: I’ve worked with an organization where we had a 20+ page sponsorship deck. It was posted on the website for those Type-A personalities who want to see it all, but when sending it to a prospective sponsor, I pulled out the three to seven opportunities I felt (based on my research) most relevant to that business.
Should I include prices?
I generally recommend it. Prices help businesses assess fit and give you a starting point for discussion. You can still offer custom opportunities.
Where does the sponsorship packet live?
On your website. Break it apart and post individual opportunities on your socials. Make it EASY for people and businesses wanting to get involved.
Don’t be shy about this. You’re providing an opportunity to connect businesses to your guests in a fun, relaxed environment.
What’s the difference between a sponsorship packet and a proposal?
A packet introduces your event and available opportunities. A proposal takes what you’ve learned about one business and recommends a partnership around its goals.
If you’ve been staring at the same sponsorship packet for three seasons, I get it. Sometimes you’re too close to the work to see what needs to change.
Through Salt & Rally, I help businesses and nonprofits build strategies for reaching potential clients, developing sponsor relationships, and following through on the opportunities they create.
Working on your sponsorship packet? Let’s talk about what you’re offering and who you want to reach.