One of the hardest yet most important achievements when planning a public corporate event, is bringing corporate sponsors on board. When creating any event, there needs to be a budget for decor, entertainment, and production rentals. These are 3 categories that must be paid out, as opposed to promising “exposure” or other open promises. These entities aren’t selling themselves by demonstration like corporate sponsors would, so money needs to be generated for those expenses.
A corporate sponsor will donate an agreed amount of money for their exposure, and give you a specified amount to cover the necessary expenditures on your end. Offering product is not helping you, its helping them, and there is always a price tag for that kind of exposure. You should never come out of your own pocket, or hope you’ll make it up at the door.
Your main goal when approaching sponsors about showcasing their products, is to have the potential buyers available for them to demonstrate to. The guest list needs to have solid numbers, or make sure you show them a healthy amount of ticket presales. Arrange press releases about the upcoming event, and have those available for them as well. Be sure to ask the venue to advertise your event in any publications they use for promoting, and include it on their website. Show sponsors your email lists, and include them on your campaigns, social media posts, and other avenues for getting the word out. Use all your available paid and especially free resources to show sponsors you mean business, and you’ll be providing them with plenty of interested parties.
When securing corporate sponsors, it would be a good idea to discuss how they’re going to display the products, and both figure out who is responsible for what. Many times, we have seen sponsors assuming they will be provided lighting in a dimly lit room, and they have all the display items, tables, and freebies, but nothing to light it all up. Corporate lighting is key, so figure that in with their costs if you agree to handle it. Make sure to have up lighting on banners and displays. Arrange for overhead down lights to showcase table items and giveaways. Find out if spotlights or pin lights are necessary for highlighting special areas or products which need the most attention. All these fixtures can be obtained by an event rental professional for a reasonable cost which will fit within budget.
If you take care of all these little details, and the sponsors bring a lot of potential buyers to their tables, you will have that same sponsor again and again, while attracting even more for budget growth in the future. Always keep in mind sponsors are only there to sell and showcase their product, and you need to personally be responsible for helping them make that happen. Your agenda is to make things easier on your bottom line, while giving them a reason to come back next year. Lighting up and highlighting products is key to making everyone happy, so seek out a corporate event rental professional and discuss your event and equipment needs with them!
Keith Minor
Found & CEO
Shock & Awe Productions