Sponsorships

Who else out there can believe it’s almost November? I mean seriously, where did 2009 go? It’s been a great year for events, Rock the House was a hit and working on the NAU Native American Programs Golf Tournament was a great experience – hopefully we’ll get to do next year’s tournament and I can put to use all the great connections I made. I heard from quite a few who were upset about Oktoberfest, so for all of you out there worried about it leaving for good – NOT A CHANCE! Many of the businesses that have so generously stepped up in the past had to make those hard cuts and Oktoberfest was one of them. Not to worry – as I type, we have potential sponsors wanting to make next year’s Oktoberfest go off as planned.

You know, so many events need sponsors. Unless we’re planning a wedding or a family function, all most all other events need sponsors. If a corporate event is being planned, then the company putting on the event becomes the sponsor and I began to wonder how many companies really understand their sponsorships? Whether it’s a grand opening or a large sponsorship for a community event – how many companies really look at their sponsorship packages and put them to work?

I have found in my dealings with companies, that most write the check, provide the logo and make sure they have banners for the event. While this is certainly important, it’s actually the tip of the iceberg. There are many things that need to be considered when sponsoring an event and the monetary amount is actually the easiest and least important part of a sponsorship. How many know their fellow sponsors? How many know the demographics and more importantly the psychographics of the event audience? Sponsoring an event gives a business the opportunity to provide a one on one experience with their customers creating a much bigger brand loyalty than just seeing a logo and banner. How is the event seen by the community? Does your company have a sponsorship profile? Do the events you sponsor fit with your values and does it enhance your company’s values and beliefs? How are you mesuring your sponsorship’s value? Are you taking advantage of cross promotions? Are you paying too much for your sponsorships or are you getting everything promised by the sponsorships?

One of the really cool things Peak Events is launching this fall – okay next week – is a sponsorship consulting package for companies that are constantly being hit up for sponsorships. Peak Events will help your company determine what events are the right fit, or if they need to go to somone else, and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If your company has been sponsoring an event for ages, but has never really seen a return on your investment, then maybe you need to look at allowing a company that is a better fit to take over. By creating a sponsorship profile for your company, you’ll know immediately if an event is a great fit, something that might need tweaking, or it may just be time to let the event go elsewhere. With a sponsorship profile, you might find your sponsoring the right events, but you might need to work on cross promotions, or you might find that you need to increase or decrease your level of funding.

If you are a company who can use help with the ever increasing sponsorship requests, designing a sponsorship profile, or if you just need your sponsorships evaluated give Peak Events a call and together we can make sponsorships part of a dynamic marketing and advertising plan.