7 Simple Tips To Securing Sponsors For A Charity Event

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Feb. 20, 2015 - PRLog -- KonectIDY.com, a cause-related, charity bracelet marketing company with offices in Fairport, NY and Newburyport, MA, firmly believes that charity events are a great way to raise money.

In reality, they are well alligned with KonectIDY's purpose - each event can bring a community together, invites interaction and sharing, or helps people make a difference for someone in a very direct way.

Sometimes a charity event can raise enough money on its own with participants to cover costs and meet the needs of a budget, but often a sponsor is needed.  Here’s how to get sponsors for a charity event that will want to send some cash your way.

1. Make it worthwhile for the sponsor.
Charity event sponsors are spending advertising or charitable donation revenues to come on-board. They want to see some sort of return for that investment. Sometimes the simple act of being a sponsor is enough, but for small businesses especially, they need to see a tangible return. Put their branding on all marketing materials for the event, offer lead sponsorship positions at an expected higher cost, and make sure names and brands are spoken of highly and often during the event.

2. Secure media advertising for sponsors.
If your charity event is drumming up support through local media advertising or public service announcements, then make sure the branding of each event sponsor is included in that advertising. If you have a 15 second television spot running 3x per day, then lead sponsors will get 3 extra spots for their brand to reach out to the charity’s core market and that’s real value that is worth a donation.

3. Offer to raffle their products.
An easy way to raise money at a charity event is through a raffle process. Many charities will run a 50/50 raffle, which means the charity gets a 50% cut and the other 50% goes to the raffle winner. Consider asking for donations of products for a raffle to give a brand tangible exposure for their products. If ticket sales are hot, you could even offer to pay for the product to raffle off and still make money PLUS form a positive relationship with that business for future events.

4. Get the community involved with your business.
Corporations are more likely to become sponsors when they have a personal stake in the charity. This means bringing in people to sit on various boards or advisory panels will not only get more charity event sponsors, but valuable experience that can be used to further the good works that are already be completed in the community. Every additional employee a business has directly involved with a charity will magnify the chances of having them sign up as an event sponsor.

5. Speak with national brands.
Many charities see contacting a national brand as a shot in the dark, but many conversations wind up being fruitful if they are only given half a chance. National brands often focus on mass market appeal, so they are looking for ways to connect on a personal level with people to build brand loyalty. A charity event that happens in a community is the perfect way to begin building that relationship. They’ll pay to have their branding on everything, but in return, you’ll have plenty of cash to secure your budget for the year.

6. Seek out cooperative efforts from other charities.
Charity events don’t just drive up opportunity for organizing charity. Every non-profit, tax exempt charitable organization sees benefits when an event succeeds. Many local charities aren’t going to have the cash to help you directly fund an event, but they do have people that can do some of the legwork for you. If other charities are interested in helping, then make sure they get some credit at the event for the work that they do, even if they’re ultimately just working for themselves.

7. Offer a percentage.
Some of the most successful charity events today happen at the micro-level instead of the macro-level today. Restaurants offering to donate a portion of sales for a particular day is often quite successful. Promote a good dinner and a local restaurant, get 10% of the sales from that day, and the restaurant gets publicity that may cost them next to nothing. If it is wildly successful, then everyone wins. That’s why offering a percentage instead of requiring a full donation is often beneficial.

KonectIDY understands that charity event sponsors can take some time to locate, but by using these ideas, you can create lifelong relationships that will secure your budget. Use them today so that tomorrow your funding can be finalized.