As event organizers, you often wreck your heads in the process of obtaining sponsors. You’ve sent hundreds of emails to sponsors, yet there are no replies. Either you don’t know what you can do for sponsors, or these sponsors themselves don’t know what they want you to do for them. Most tedious of all, you have to keep looking for even more sponsors on top of your existing ones.
As student leaders, you probably already have a lot on your plate. You have your grades, internships, and social life to worry about on top of your club responsibilities. But fret not, we’ll take a load off your back with these pro tips, and you will be easily clinching sponsorships with less time and even lesser stress!
#1 Keep Your Sponsorship Deck Content Concise
There are hundreds of clubs in Singapore who are all also in this journey of acquiring sponsorships. As such, with so many proposals to look through, marketing managers spend an average of 2 minutes looking through your sponsorship deck. You have to keep it short and sweet, not write essays that are overwhelming to look at!
So, keep your proposal to a maximum of 2 pages. Get to the point and state what the company can achieve with you. Companies are not interested in the significance of your event or your club’s history; all they require is that they are able to reach out to your members or participants and generate their own revenue and outreach. You should also list the past sponsors you have worked with, so as to boost your club’s credibility.
#2 Searching For Sponsors (Products, Vouchers etc.)
Google is a powerful search tool that not a lot of people utilise effectively. These are some of the many keywords that you can google to kickstart your search for sponsors and occupy you for at least a week:
- Event sponsorship Singapore
- Club sponsorship Singapore
- Sponsorship Singapore
- Product sponsorship Singapore
However, if you have specific sponsors in mind, go on and write to them via their contact us page as most companies do not have a dedicated page for sponsorships.
#3 Always Understand The Motivations Of The Sponsors
Though sponsorships to school clubs are generally non-monetary, corporates still are looking for something in return. A common mistake clubs make is offering simple marketing for the sponsors like adding their logos on their social media posts. These are indeed incredibly easy for the club to fulfil, but they are mostly useless to the corporates. These sponsors are most concerned about their brand image, their reach and products. Thus, you have to customize your marketing offering around their specific motivations. Remember, every corporate sponsor is unique!
#4 Always Ask the Corporates if You Can Use Their Logo in Your Marketing Materials
While logo placements have low use for corporates, some might still require you to use them in your marketing materials. As mentioned earlier, they are extremely concerned about their brand image – thus, it is vital that you request a png of their logo from them directly. They will provide you with a high quality vector which is miles better than a low resolution image from a google search. Most importantly, some sponsors might have recently changed their logo, or they might have a specific logo they want to associate with sponsorships.
Whatever it may be, you don’t want to get the marketing manager who is helping you in trouble so ask them directly!
#5 Always Communicate and Adjust What You Feel Confident in Achieving to the Sponsors
Sure, you may be tempted to say whatever it takes to secure a quality sponsorship. You may agree with their terms and conditions that seem too unrealistic for you to achieve, because it is one of the best sponsorship agreements you’ve come across. Or you may promise them a high participation number in your events, even though you are actually unsure if that will be possible.
But sponsors prefer your realistic expectations and offerings. This is much better than the worst case scenarios where you overpromise and underdeliver, as this will be a big hit to your credibility as a club. In drastic situations your school might be involved as well. Tho schools will help pacify the breach of trust for you, but trust me! You will most probably not see that sponsor responding to your request again.
So yes, you will be faced with rejections, but eventually you will find the best sponsorship for your club that you can realistically fulfil!
#6 Compile All Marketing Work and Evidence into a Google Folder
Many clubs tend to forgo collecting evidence of the fulfilment of their sponsorships. Even if you really did fulfil your part of the agreement, the sponsor has no way of knowing this unless you produce the receipts. Compiling them into a Google folder is incredibly useful and convenient for sponsors’ reference, and yours as well! Be Professional and it will go a long way for your club and for you, in your future career as well, by cultivating good habits.
#7 Be Proactive in Updating Your Sponsors
What kind of impression do you want to leave on your sponsors? Sponsors have a negative impression on clubs that they have to repeatedly reach out to on the progress of their sponsorship. Busy marketing managers will appreciate your regular updates on the status of the promised marketing activities. This will have the added advantage of possibly securing a repeat sponsorship for your next event as well! And in luckier situations, you could be referred to another quality sponsor too!
#8 The Shortcut: Tap on AllForU’s Sponsorship Platform!
Getting sponsors is undeniably a difficult task. So why do it alone? You can tap on AllForU’s Sponsorship Platform that has partnered with over 60 brands for a smoother sponsorship process!
We are trusted by event organizers around Singapore and have garnered close to 900 reviews on Google and Facebook. Get your event reviewed and matched to sponsorships in as little as 7 days on average! Fill up our sponsorship form here today!
Keep yourself updated to the latest sponsorship deals in Singapore by joining our Sponsorship Alert Telegram Channel!
Save time, effort and money with these resources offered!
