Are you finding it harder to procure event sponsors? Do you want to add something new to the mix?
When it comes to offering sponsorship value, offering to display a logo in a catalog or on advertising just doesn’t cut it anymore. Nonprofits need to be more flexible and creative with sponsorship opportunities to keep up with digital marketing trends in social media and beyond.
Here are some ideas of how to incorporate digital marketing into your sponsorship offerings:
- For levels of Sponsors (i.e. Silver, Gold, Platinum) or a ‘title’ sponsor see if they have any corporate swag that can be used for a drawing and then create a #tag that promotes the event and the sponsor. Offer a contest for example, the person with the most re-tweets of the ‘#’ wins the prize. You can provide tracking and it’s easy and free to manage.
- Have a group photo of a key member from the sponsoring company present a sponsorship “gift” with their corporate banner displayed proudly in the picture. Ask friends of the non-profit to ‘share’ the photo on social media. It is also a win for the nonprofit because people from the organization also will ‘like’ and ‘share’ the photo within their network and increase views.
- Depending on who the sponsor and the nonprofit is you might be able to do something in-store to promote your partnership that piggy-backs the sponsors network. This helps elevate the sponsors ‘do-good’ image with their stakeholders as well. For instance at a local grocery store, schedule an event with a “Stuff The Backpack” back-to-school promo. Have nonprofit team members on-site with the sponsor stuffing the backpacks full of the donated items. Don’t forget the press release to your local media to get some free on camera time!
- Build an event website that lists the sponsors in order of Platinum, Gold, Silver, etc. Offer to link their logo to a special offer for your supporters. This gives the sponsor tracking. Provide tweets, and Facebook posts thanking your sponsors and promoting the special offer. Include them year-round on your website and periodically mention them in your social media posts and newsletters asking your supporters to support the sponsors.
- Consider buying promotional ads on the sponsor company’s behalf through Facebook, Twitter, etc. which will again guarantee them a number of impressions with potential click throughs for their business to the perfectly targeted market. This is very inexpensive and doable for both nonprofit and for-profit events.
- Be familiar with the statistics you generate from your social media channels and website (reach, click-throughs, demographics). Be able to present this information to potential sponsors. This is the best way to show potential sponsors how they will gain exposure not only during the event, but during the time leading up to and after the event as well.
So step up those sponsorship opportunities and reap the benefits of increased support for your next event! #win-win
