Episode 29: Sponsor Activations
For nonprofits, sponsorship packages all tend to look the same; logos on websites and printed materials, tables at the event, social media mentions, etc. So how does a nonprofit stand out from the competition and create long term relationships with their sponsors?
The answer…Sponsor Activations.
In this episode I share:
What is a sponsor activation?
Why a hybrid model of the tiered package + activations is preferred.
A step by step process for coming up with activation ideas and pitching them to sponsor prospects.
For a full transcript, see below.
LISTENER ACTION ITEM
After listening to the episode, come up with an idea for one sponsor activation, make a list of 1-2 companies that would be a good fit for that activation and follow the steps to pitch the activation to that sponsor.
LINKS & RESOURCES
Ep. 28_7 Steps to Get Ready for Sponsorship Sales
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Episode 29 Full Transcript
29_Sponsor Activations
[00:00:00] Hello and welcome back to That. Sounds Like a Plan, the podcast where we talk about all things related to nonprofit fundraising events. My name is Alicia Baraga. I'm the host of this podcast and the owner of Ripple Event Marketing. I've been planning successful non-profit events since 2010.
[00:00:33] You haven't heard from me in a while, and I want to explain why. It's been a rough few weeks for me. I had to say goodbye to my 12-year-old black lab named Shadow. She was my baby, especially after my four daughters went off to college, and it's been really hard on me and the whole family.
[00:00:50] In addition to that, I got a major head cold and then my laptop screen went totally black. They couldn't fix it. It had to be sent out for repair. And then we got hit by a big winter storm. So, lots of excuses, but that's life sometimes. But I'm glad to be back.
[00:01:08] Before we jump into this week's episode, I want to give a quick shout out to some of the listeners of my most recent episode about event sponsorship.
[00:01:17] As I mentioned in a previous episode, I can see the cities where you're tuning in from. I want to give a big hello to the folks from Seattle, San Antonio, Tucson, Washington D.C., Eureka Springs, Arkansas. And then I have a listener from Colwyn Bay, which I had to look up, which is in Wales, and of course, my faithful listeners from Frankfurt and the Minneapolis St. Paul area. Thank you so much for tuning in.
For those of you who are new to the show, welcome! And if you're brand new to events or you need a refresher, I suggest that you start with episode one and listen in order. Be sure to subscribe to the show so you'll know when a new episode comes out.
[00:02:02] While I am a podcast host, I'm also a consultant and coach. I've worked with clients building brand new events or helping my clients with existing events bring them back to the fundamentals, creating a solid foundation for growth. Most nonprofits have very limited staff, and if you're taking the lead on an event, it can sometimes feel like you're all alone.
[00:02:27] Issues can and will come up. And leadership can sometimes be a lonely place. I can work with you to problem-solve, gain clarity, and determine next steps. If that sounds interesting to you and you want to work with me one-on-one, go ahead and reach out at info at ripple event mktg.com. So info sign Ripple, R I P P L E, event mktg.com.
[00:02:59] We can set up a free discovery call and talk about what you have going on and see if I can help. You might need just one little bit of advice to get you unstuck. As always, you can get my contact information and more in the show notes. Go to that sounds like a plan.net and look for episode 29.
[00:03:18] In last week's episode, we talked about the seven steps to get ready for sponsorship. In that episode, I mentioned that I'm not a huge fan of the tiered sponsor package method of sponsorship sales. In today's episode, I'm going to talk about what I do prefer, which is offering sponsor activations.
[00:03:40] Actually, what I prefer is a hybrid version of the tiered packages plus sponsor activations, which I'll explain in a little bit. I am going to warn you that this episode is going to be a bit longer than most. I try to keep episodes to 15 minutes or less, but there's a lot of info about sponsorships that I want to go through, so hopefully you can stay with me till the end. You may want to take some notes too.
Sponsor activations. That's a fancy word, isn't it? You may be wondering what the heck is a sponsor activation?
[00:04:15] Sponsor Activations are opportunities for your sponsor to have meaningful, memorable brand engagement with your event audience. The best activations also help you, the event host, fulfill an event want or need. Now, I know that sounds like a lot of marketing mumbo jumbo, so stay with me.
[00:04:37] In the tiered sponsor package method, most sponsor benefits include the sponsors logo on a whole bunch of things; it's on your website, printed materials, maybe you put the sponsors logo on social media and give them some kind of social media mention or shout out. If it's an event with a meal, the sponsor usually gets a table at the. All-in-all, the sponsor benefits in a tiered package are usually very low to no touchpoints with your audience.
[00:05:08] Sponsors are just sort of there, in the background. Even if it's a trade- show-style event and the sponsor gets a vendor table or booth, they usually just get a basic booth. It might be larger than others or maybe in a better location, but it's usually just a booth. There's nothing special about their presence at the event.
[00:05:28] Sponsor activations give the opportunity for the sponsor to stand out and engage with your audience in a meaningful way. I think the best way to illustrate sponsor activations is to give you some examples. As I mentioned earlier, the best sponsor activations fulfill a want or need for your event and give the sponsor a way to stand out and interact with your guests in a meaningful.
[00:05:56] First I'm going to start with a real-world celebrity sponsor activation, and then I'll give you a couple of realistic ideas that I think could work for a small nonprofit.
[00:06:06] The celebrity example is the Oscars. The Oscars ceremony is the biggest night of the year for many Hollywood actors for the ceremony. There has to be a green room where actors can wait before going on stage. It's a space where they can rehearse their lines or just try to relax on this momentous occasion.
[00:06:29] Rolex has sponsored the Green Room for the Oscars since 2016. This is a perfect illustration of finding a sponsor with a target market that aligns with your audience. What better target audience for Rolex than celebrities? I'll include a link in the show notes to an article about the 2022 Rolex Green Room so you can see what it looks like. What you'll note is that Rolex is not in the celebrities’ faces about their watches in the green room. There aren't display cases of watches around the room.
[00:07:03] There's not a salesperson walking the floor. It's a very elegant room and the Rolex brand is weaved in through the artwork. Rolex knows they're not going to sell a watch to a celebrity as they're waiting to go on stage. It's about trying to form a bond with their target market at a time in their life that is extremely memorable.
[00:07:25] It's an activation that makes sense. Rolex has complete exclusivity in that room.
[00:07:32] They aren't competing with 10 other logos displayed in there, and I imagine they pay a hefty sponsorship fee for that exclusive opportunity.
[00:07:42] As I said, I'll put a link to the article about that so you can see what it looks like. Now onto some more realistic examples of activations that a small nonprofit could offer to a potential sponsor. As I mentioned, the best activations serve to fill a need for the event host.
[00:08:00] So I'm going to start with a problem, want or a need, and then give you an idea of a sponsor activation that could work to fill that need.
Problem number one: Limited or no parking at the venue. Some of you might be thinking, why on earth would an event host pick a venue that has limited to no parking? It happens more often than you think, especially if you are in a very crowded metro area. There are all kinds of venues that don't have their own dedicated parking lots.
[00:08:34] So what typically happens is the host will then hire a valet, a valet service for that event. So that's one possibility. The problem is you have limited to no parking. Your solution is hiring a valet. OR…You could talk to a local car company that has a similar target audience to yours.
[00:08:56] Again, that's key, and see if they would be willing to provide valet service for your event. And how this valet service would work is that your guests would go and park in a designated parking lot that you arrange with the venue, the auto dealership has a fleet of cars and drivers, they go and they meet your guests at the parking lot and drive them to the front door of the venue in one of their vehicles. Any dealer knows that the key to car sales is the test drive. While your guests aren't going to be driving the car, they would be able to see what the interior looks like, how the car rides, what some of the features are. It's something the guests aren't going to forget the next time they're in the market for a car.
[00:09:43] And again, target market is key. If your target audience is big burley men who work in construction, you are probably going to want to approach an auto dealership that has large trucks for the sponsorship opportunity. And once again, just like with Rolex, the dealership isn't going to have salespeople driving these cars and, and pushing sales of these cars.
[00:10:09] It's really about forming a bond with the audience and giving a great impression of the car. The car will sell itself if the experience is a positive one.
[00:10:21] Problem number two. You host an all-day conference and after sitting for hours your audience is sore and stiff. Now, typically with an all-day conference, you have some kind of an afternoon break with pastries and coffee.
[00:10:36] That's one option. However, you could also get a sponsor to host an afternoon stretching session with a juice or a fruit bar, or maybe they're going to host a mini Zumba or cardio drumming session. Something to get your guest blood flowing, maybe work off a little stress.
[00:10:56] Keep in mind, it doesn't have to be a fitness center that sponsors this activity. Maybe it's a local insurance agency that's focused on corporate wellness, and your audience for this conference is HR professionals, or maybe it's a realtor that has some listings in a metro area where most people get around by walking.
[00:11:16] The realtor knows that the people who attend an afternoon break with physical activity are going to be more likely to be interested in that type of a listing. As you can see, it's all about pairing the activity with the audience. Last example. Problem number three. You host an event that features desserts or any kind of food.
[00:11:40] There are lots of opportunities for activations at a food related event. Sponsors could offer food printing and branding at the event. There are printing machines that can put your guest's face on a cookie or a latte. And talk about a social media goldmine! Think how many guests would post that on their social media pages.
[00:12:03] You could direct the guests to share their image and tag your event and your sponsor. It's just a win-win. Other food related ideas are sponsor-hosted mini demonstrations or classes. Maybe it's a liquor company that shows the audience how to pair cocktails with whatever food you're serving. Again, keep in mind it doesn't have to be a food or beverage related company to host this type of activation.
[00:12:28] A bank could host a station where they put your guest's face on a cookie with a tagline or slogan that says, “We want to see your face at our bank!” The best activations are creative.
[00:12:40] I hope these examples give you an understanding of what an activation is and why this is a much better way to forge a long-term relationship with your sponsors. It gives them more exposure and you get a much more interesting event. You obviously can't offer these unique activations to every single company, which is why I prefer a hybrid model of the tiered package plus activations.
[00:13:06] There are some companies that either don't have the staff or budget to carry out activations or simply aren't interested. Some companies will sponsor a lot of events in the hopes of reaching large numbers of people. To keep their brand top of mind. They aren't interested in a deeper bond with your audience. And that's okay because there are companies that are interested in that relationship. That's why it's an exclusive opportunity. Hopefully my examples of sponsor activations got your creative juices flowing, and you're starting to think of ideas for activations for your event.
[00:13:42] But you may be wondering how to implement this hybrid sponsorship program that includes the tiered packages and activations. I am going to walk you through it so you may want to get a pen and paper or take notes on your computer.
[00:13:56] As always, you can get info in the show notes or see the transcript of this episode at That sounds like a plan.net.
Step number one, create a list of wants and needs for your event. If you don't already, you should always survey your audience after an event. This is where you'll find your audience's greatest frustrations and get suggestions for improvement.
[00:14:24] In addition to audience feedback, think about your organization's vision for the event. What are some of those wants that could take your event to the next level? Audience and organizational wants and needs are prime opportunities for sponsor activations. Step two, put together three to five ideas for activations.
[00:14:48] The ideas don't have to be totally flushed out just yet, but at least have a general idea of what the activation could look like and the approximate cost. You can do a Google search of sponsor or brand activations to get a starting point for ideas.
[00:15:06] The goal isn't to steal someone else's idea, but to use it as a way to spur ideas for your event. If my examples didn't get your creativity flowing, just try to do a little Google search and see if there are some ideas out there that get you thinking about activations.
[00:15:22] So step two is you're going to put together a list of three to five ideas for activations. Step number three. Do your research. This is the most important step. I want to emphasize that research is your most important step. You're going to create a list of two to three companies that you think would be a good fit for each activation.
[00:15:46] So let's say you've got three activation ideas. You're going to have a list of two or three companies for each of those activations. Now, in order to do so, you need to learn as much as you can about each organization as possible. You need to understand who their target market is, what their products or services are.
[00:16:09] How do they usually promote their company? Have they sponsored events in the past? If so, how many? What organizations did they sponsor and at what?
[00:16:20] research, who the best person is for you to talk to about sponsorship opportunities. Once. Once that time comes, make sure the company that you're targeting is a good fit for your organization and your event. You don't wanna waste your time or theirs. Once you've done your thoroughly exhaustive research, put your list of companies for each activation in order of either the most viable or the most desired to the least.
[00:16:52] So we, we'll keep this math simple. Let's say you've got two activation ideas and you've got two companies for each activation two prospects. Under activation number one, you're gonna list as number one, whoever, either the most viable or the most desired company is first. And the reason you're doing this is because, as I said, these activations are unique sales opportunities.
[00:17:21] You're not gonna blanket this offer to a bunch of companies at once. You're gonna offer each activation opportunity to one company at a. Once a company has declined, you can move on to the next one on your list. But this is an exclusive opportunity and should be treated that way. You want the sponsor prospect to feel special because you thought of them specifically for this opportunity.
[00:17:45] Step number four, now that you have your list of companies ranked in order, you've researched them as thoroughly as possible, put together a detailed and personalized proposal for that top company for each activation. The proposal should show that you've done your research on their company. It should also be full of pictures so that the potential sponsor can visualize what you have in mind for this activation and personalize it if you can.
[00:18:15] So let's say we're talking about putting faces or logos on a cookie. Put your sponsor prospect's logo on that cookie so they can see what that would look like. Don't put the price of the activation in your proposal. You want to get your sponsor prospect excited about the possibilities before you talk about the costs.
[00:18:35] Have your proposal ready, but do not send it to your prospect yet, because what you're going to do is you're going to actually print it out and bring it with you to an in-person meeting.
And that's step number five. You want to get a meeting with your contact at the company. Let them know you have an idea for how they can engage with your audience, you gotta let them know who your audience is, and let them know you have an opportunity for them to engage with your audience in a unique way. You can tease your idea a little bit, but don't give it all away.
[00:19:07] The goal is to get an in-person meeting, and in order to do so, you might have to be a little vague.
Step number six, once you're in a meeting with your sponsor prospect, you have your proposal with you. Don't just hand them the proposal. Start by talking to them about their goals.
[00:19:26] Ask them about their most recent experience as an event sponsor. This is how you can show you've done your research. You can say, “Oh, I saw that you recently sponsored such and such event. How did that go? What did you like about it? What didn't go so well? What are your biggest challenges when it comes to event sponsorship?”
[00:19:47] After you've talked about them, then it's time to break out your presentation and talk about your activation idea. Based on your conversation, you may want or need to tweak things a little bit on the fly.
[00:20:01] You want to weave into your presentation what you just discussed, and that's why it's best to have your proposal be mostly pictures so that you can ad lib your sales pitch a little. Now at some point your sponsor prospect is going to ask you about the cost. There are some formulas that you can use to determine the approximate value of a sponsorship opportunity, but it's usually for much larger corporations or event hosts. It's really complicated and for a small nonprofit, I don't think it's worth the time to go through it. As a general rule of thumb, when determining a cost of an activation, I usually take, or sorry, the fee for a sponsor activation, I usually take the cost of that activation and multiply it by two or three to get the price or the fee of the activation for that sponsor.
[00:21:01] So if you have an activation that’s hard costs will cost your organization $5,000. You want the sponsorship activation fee to be $10,000 to $15,000 for your sponsor.
[00:21:14] Step number seven, once a sponsor has said yes to your activation idea, make sure you put systems in place to measure the effectiveness of the activation for that Sponsor. That means you have to understand what their goals are for that activation. Because at the end of the event, you are going to create a recap report so that they can see that it was a success and will want to do it again next year.
[00:21:40] There's a company called I E G. They focus on event sponsorship. They survey sponsor decision makers each year and get all kinds of valuable information that they put into a report. Now you have to be a member to get this report, and it's quite an expensive membership. But in 2018, I was able to get the report and I can't really recall why or how I may have paid for that report.
[00:22:05] It may have been something you could pay for prior to having to be a member.
[00:22:11] The point is I have the 2018 report, and according to the 2018 survey, the top sponsor benefit that companies valued was exclusivity. And the most valuable service that an event host could provide to their partners or sponsors is helping to determine if the sponsorship is meeting its goals. In order to do that, first you have to know what the goals are.
[00:22:39] Second, you have to put systems in place to measure those goals.
[00:22:44] And third, you need to provide a recap document to show how the actual performance measured up to the goals. That's partly why you're adding a two x or three x value on top of the cost of an activation. Now, hopefully the bulk of that money, on top of the cost, goes to the organization, but some of it is going to be eaten by administrative costs of researching prospects, fulfilling the sponsorship activation, and then creating that recap report.
[00:23:14] But you can see how activations fulfill those top two desires of sponsors: exclusivity and measurement.
[00:23:23] Step number eight. For all the other companies that you would like to be part of your event that you think would be a good fit, this is where you use the tiered package method. That's the hybrid version of activations and tiered package.
[00:23:38] If you need a refresher on creating a tiered package, go back and listen to episode number 28, Getting ready for sponsorship sales. There are two caveats on sponsor activations that I want to point out. One, make sure that the companies you're targeting for sponsorship activations have the means to pay for what you have in mind.
[00:24:00] Like I said, you can't just look at the cost of an activation. It's the cost times two or times three. You don't want to spend a lot of time getting a potential sponsor excited about an activation idea, only to find out that it's way outside of their budget. This is, again, where research is key and will pay off.
[00:24:22] You can see what types of events your prospect has sponsored, and at what monetary levels. So if you have a $15,000 sponsorship activation opportunity and your prospect, the highest they've ever sponsored is $5,000, you can cross them off your list. I can't emphasize enough the importance of research.
[00:24:41] Caveat number two, there are IRS rules about sponsorship. Now, if you're listening from outside the U.S., you're going to have to research and find out what your own rules are for sponsorship.
[00:24:54] But here in the US it can sometimes be a fine line when sponsorship becomes advertising. It doesn't mean you can't do it, you would just have to factor the added income tax into your budget.
[00:25:06] There's something called UBIT, unrelated business income tax. And so if the IRS were to deem that a sponsorship package is advertising and not sponsorship, they're going to tax that income, that sponsorship income. So you can still do it. You just, again, you just have to factor that into your budget and you would have to determine if the amount of the sponsorship dollars and the opportunity to forge that long-term relationship with that sponsor is worth that income tax hit.
[00:25:40] I highly recommend that you talk to your lawyer or your tax accountant or both, and talk to them about what you have in mind for sponsor activations and packages and see what they would say if that would fall into UBIT or if you're pretty safe on that.
[00:25:56] In the next episode, I talk with Minneapolis attorney Jess Birkin about that very fine line. Is it sponsorship or advertising? There's a reason that the tiered package has been an industry standard for years. It's safe, it's relatively safe. Putting a sponsor's logo on a bunch of stuff has traditionally not been flagged by the IRS as advertising, and so therefore, it's a safe.
[00:26:22] Now that I've outlined the process to create and pitch sponsor activations, you can see that it is a lot more work than simply doing a tiered method and emailing your packages to as many companies as possible. There's a reason it's more work. The goal is to do the hard work on the front end so that you can build a long-term relationship with that sponsor and keep them around for a few years, hopefully longer.
[00:26:49] Plus, adding those unique sponsor opportunities makes your event more interesting.
[00:26:54] I would also add that it may seem like it's less work to create this tiered package and send it out to everybody, but you are still doing quite a bit of follow up. There's still a lot of work in the tiered package.
[00:27:07] It may seem like it's less than doing activations, but when you look at ROI of activations versus tiered, I don’t know, it's different for each individual, but you would have to see for yourself if activations has bigger payoff or the tiered package, or as I said, the hybrid version, which is what I prefer.
At the end of every episode, I like to give an action item something that is meant to give you a quick win for your day and drive momentum as you're planning your event. If coming up with three to five activations feels daunting, start with one. Come up with one activation idea and one to two companies that you think would be a good fit for that activation.
[00:27:51] Do tons of research on those one to two companies. If after you research companies one and two and they aren't a good fit, come up with a couple more names and do research on them. Keep going until you have at least one really good, viable candidate for your activation.
[00:28:10] Put together a proposal and get a meeting on the calendar with your sponsor, prospect, and start building that relationship.
[00:28:18] Now that sounds like a plan. Thanks so much for listening. If you're enjoying the content on my podcast, please like, share and review it on Apple Podcasts. I'll see you next time.