Managing Your Relationship With Your Festival Sponsor
The more work you put into your sponsorship relationships up front, the higher the reward for everyone — you, your festival sponsor, and your fans. Without that relationship, you’re left scrambling to find new sponsors every time you throw a new event.
Ready to nurture your current festival sponsors and develop relationships with new ones? Use these top tips to keep them coming back every year – just enter your details to download our tip sheet.
Preview
Be transparent from the beginning
When you’re pitching a potential sponsor, start with the basics. Are you giving potential sponsors access to a local audience? National? Global? How many attendees do you have each year? How much money do they spend at your event?
Impress sponsors with your value proposition
Many companies providing sponsorships have a limited budget, well- defined objectives, and a rigid timeline. They’re not searching for new sponsorship opportunities — but they may entertain your proposal if they see a fit with their objectives.
Prove your worth
If you can’t deliver on what you promise, sponsors will walk out the door. In fact, proving your value is the foundation of a long-term relationship. Not to mention, sponsors talk — so if you damage one relationship, you might damage them all.
Connect with sponsors all year, not just at renewal time
Whether your sponsors opted to renew early or not, continue nurturing your relationships. Regular check-ins will keep your event on top of your sponsor’s mind during their budgeting process.