The “Party With a Purpose” event at PCMA’s 2025 Convening Leaders featured a number of music and event sponsors. Photo by Whatever Media Group

Event sponsorship is a win-win, offering numerous benefits for all involved. For planners, it’s a great way to significantly boost the event budget, leading to bigger, better events. Beyond providing financial support, sponsorships can also increase a brand’s reach and credibility, while creating new marketing and networking opportunities.

For companies and organizations, sponsorships present a chance to promote their products and services to a much wider audience. In exchange for a financial investment, they can benefit from increased visibility and enhanced brand association, as well as new marketing opportunities and greater community engagement. However, the most important reason to sponsor an event is always the same: attendees.

For Sponsors, It’s All About the Attendees

“Sponsorships generally fall into two broad categories,” says Sam Lippman, president and founder of Lippman Connects in Arlington, VA. “In the first kind, sponsors are seeking face-to-face engagement with customers and prospects. In the other type, the sponsors are primarily seeking brand exposure. In both cases, the attendees are highly valued by the sponsors.”

Hunter McKinley and Jordan Walker are the founders of Backtrack, an AI booth sales assistant that exhibitors can use to record and summarize their conversations at trade shows. Headquartered in Kissimmee, FL, Backtrack regularly sponsors events, and it’s all about acquiring sales leads.

“The reason we chose to sponsor [certain] events [this year] is we know we’re going to get guaranteed face time with key people who will move the needle for our business, whether it’s customers or partner,” Walker says. Another reason, he adds, is to get early access to the exhibitor list.

“Most event planners will agree with this — that as a good exhibitor, most of your work actually starts before the show,” he says. “So, by getting that exhibitor list ahead of time, we’re getting a list of hundreds, if not thousands, of qualified leads … that we can then begin reaching out to ahead of the show, [to] start scheduling meetings with. And then when we get to the show — because we decided to sponsor and have this booth — we have a designated meeting spot where we can sit down with these people, we can talk, we can iron out details and hopefully come to some sort of agreement and … partnership.”

McKinley gives an example of someone he and Walker were talking to — this person’s entire sponsorship strategy is about one thing: getting the exhibitor list. To him, McKinley says, the booth, brand recognition and logo placement are all secondary considerations, and the plan is simple. He makes a targeted list of the top 10 people his staff needs to meet. Then they disperse at the beginning of the day and connect with all of them. This person made $100 million last year from trade shows alone, according to McKinley, who argues that while brand recognition remains important to companies, their priority for sponsoring events is changing.

“Most people, they just get their logo put up there,” he says. “And I think that this has been changing since COVID because people are realizing that the ROI really isn’t there as much as it used to be. No one stands there and looks at the huge list of logos anymore. It’s more about: What are you doing while you’re on the floor? What are you doing ahead of time to actually hit these people up? It’s not going to magically come to you.”

How to Find Good Sponsors

When it’s time to look for potential event sponsorship partners, planners should think about the following:

— Your event type: Are you hosting a conference,  trade show or a convention?

— Your event needs: What kinds of goods and services will be there, what’s the theme and will you need appearances by celebrity or thought leaders?

— Your attendees: Will they align with your potential sponsors’ target audience

During the search, refrain from reaching out to every company you can think of, as this might come across as somewhat desperate and unorganized. Instead, be strategic, keeping in mind the values and culture of the organization you’re representing, as well as your desired demographics. Searching online — using websites such as SponsorMyEvent, OpenSponsorship and SponsorPitch — is a great way to start.

It’s essential to include hard data when reaching out to potential sponsors. Companies and organizations are going to want to know, first and foremost, about the ROI potential of the event. How can they expect to benefit to make it worth their investment in sponsorship? Since it hasn’t taken place yet, planners can provide KPIs from similar past events. These might include:

• Target market
• Attendance figures
• Demographics
• Social media engagement metrics

You can also provide case studies of sponsors you’ve worked with at previous events, highlighting how they benefited and their success metrics.

Types of Sponsorship Packages

One key to creating successful sponsorship packages is determining what kind of ROI an organization seeks. Typically, there are four main types:

Financial – In return for paying the event host, the sponsor receives advertising benefits

In-kind – In exchange for advertising with the event host, the sponsor receives free products or services

Media – The media sponsor agrees to promote the event on social media, TV or radio for free

Promotional partnership – Similar to a media sponsorship, individuals such as influencers, bloggers and other social media personalities cover the event and promote it on their platforms

To entice potential sponsors and accommodate various budgets, planners can create tiered packages of financial support and benefits. These can include advertising, VIP perks and data about the event’s target audience. Determining a potential sponsor’s ROI all comes down to research, as planners have to know exactly what a targeted company is looking to get out of the event.

“Ultimately, the metrics that determine a sponsor’s value or ROI from your event are going to be determined by each sponsor, based on their specific objectives,” Lippman says. “It doesn’t matter which kind of sponsorship we are talking about — the more valued the attendees, the smaller the audience size can be.”

He reiterates that sponsorships that deliver face-to-face engagement have more durable value across the board because companies can more easily measure the ROI.

“It’s only a matter of measuring the qualified attendees, time engaged, sales leads or other predetermined objectives,” Lippman says. “A sponsor looking to build or reinforce brand awareness will determine value by the number of qualified attendees who may have seen their logo, took their swag or enjoyed their hospitality. These sponsorships do not typically offer measurable results.”

Ultimately, the ROI depends on how much the sponsor values the hearts and minds of the attendees, he says, adding: “If your event is not capable of delivering either face-to-face engagement or brand exposure, then your event is not going to have much to offer sponsors.”

How Event Sponsorship Is Evolving

While face time with attendees is important for many companies, brand recognition might be equally as important for organizations and nonprofits that aren’t selling something. According to Meghan Risch, chief of staff and vice president of corporate communications at the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) in Chicago, IL, companies are looking for more opportunities to be part of an event’s programming.

“Sponsors want to be included in event programs as thought leaders — not to deliver a sales pitch for their products or services,” she says. “Essentially, the focus moving forward is compelling brands and experiences that resonate with the next generation of leaders.”

Risch notes that when PCMA hosted the Convening Leaders 2025 event in Houston, TX, many of the association’s partners created and supported unique activations. For example, Visit Houston sponsored entertainment to close out the Sunday Main Stage and kick off the opening reception, which featured 12-year-old singer Eduardo Antonio Trevino, accompanied by a Mariachi band.

Challenges Working With Sponsors

When dealing with sponsors, event planners will often be tasked with responsibilities such as managing conflicting marketing goals and expectations related to brand visibility, ensuring proper activation and dealing with last-minute changes.

According to Lippman, sometimes the person requesting the sponsorship doesn’t fully understand their company’s marketing goals or how they can be achieved at an event. He says that to avoid this, it’s important to carefully probe every new sponsor, to identify exactly what they want to accomplish.

“If your event is not going to satisfy their goals, it’s imperative to turn them away,” Lippman adds. “Overcoming the negative perception created by a customer that was a bad fit is just unnecessary work.”

When partnering with organizations on a sponsorship, common challenges can include:

• Balancing the sponsor’s needs with the vision for the event
• Managing multiple sponsorship levels
• Handling miscommunications regarding timelines, deliverables and expectations
• Navigating last-minute changes
• Dealing with sponsors competing with other brands for exposure and recognition during the event
• Providing detailed data to sponsors demonstrating the impact of their sponsorship
• Honoring contractual obligations and ensuring compliance with sponsorship agreements

Risch says that both the event strategist and potential sponsor should identify any synergies that can support a beneficial alignment between the brand and the event.

“Sponsor expectations and deliverables should be clearly communicated well before an agreement is inked, including visibility and ROI, and most definitely potential conflicts of interest,” she adds. “That said, international destinations may have very different guidelines on what is allowed in tandem with a sponsorship.”

Planners can mitigate these challenges by:

• Establishing clear and consistent communications with sponsors throughout the planning process
• Developing well-defined sponsorship packages with clear benefits, branding opportunities and deliverables
• Working closely with sponsors to develop customized activation strategies aligned with their marketing goals
• Monitoring key metrics throughout the event and providing comprehensive post-event reports to sponsors

Finding the right sponsors can significantly contribute to your event’s financial stability and enhance its credibility. It can also increase attendance and engagement and provide valuable exposure to the right target audience. By finding alignment between your sponsors’ brands and your event’s values and objectives, you can create a win-win proposition for everyone involved. | AC&F |