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Sponsors can be incredibly important for creating a successful event and can support you in many ways. Local businesses and organizations can donate money, time and/or resources to make your event even better.

When researching companies to approach regarding sponsorship, don’t limit yourself to those who may already have achieved a certain level of environmental responsibility – they certainly may have interest, but other organizations may be just as interested in your cause and be willing participants.

Also, don’t limit yourself in the way your sponsors can support your event. Although the most obvious and often the most helpful method of support is through money donations, not all sponsors will be interested in or able to donate money. They may be more inclined to donate products or services, so be creative about how they can benefit you. Some examples are:

• Food and beverages, or maybe sustainable packaging
• Space in their newspaper, radio or television airtime, to advertise your event
• Venue or sound equipment
• T-shirts and/or other marketing tools

One of the most important aspects in a partnership with a sponsor is publicity. When donating money, goods, or other items or services to benefit your event, sponsors expect wide publicity ranging from their logos on flyers to a shout-out during an event.

• For example, if your agreement involves having the sponsor’s logo included in your marketing collateral (i.e. flyers, t-shirts, print ads), make sure you contact them to get their logo in time for printing.
• Be sure to take appropriate measures to provide your sponsors with the suitable publicity, before, during, and after your event.

Throughout the process, maintain close contact with your sponsors, and near the end, focus on confirming the agreed plans for support. Sponsors often have many things to focus on, so you should be sure to take the initiative and establish the contact required for the partnership to remain successful.

Sponsors appreciate any extra publicity or business you are able to give them. They are helping you support your cause, so be sure to help them support their business in any way you can.

SPONSOR CHECKLIST

• Brainstorm for local businesses that you would like to target as sponsors for your event.
• Target desired sponsors and discuss how they can best support you based on their abilities.
• Request appropriate funding from your sponsors and request their logos for you to begin designing signage that will demonstrate their support.
• Follow up to confirm your sponsors and make sure that you have received their logo for media placement.
• Recognize and appreciate their participation, and help support their business any way you can.
• Thank the contributors.