An event's pitch to one company: the audience, the levels, what's still open and a deadline.
Most sponsorship decks are written once and mailed to forty companies, and they read that way. Windfall's proposal is addressed to one credit union, by an organizer who showed one of its people around last year's festival. The festival and its figures are invented. What's worth copying is how little it leaves the sponsor to work out alone.
Who it's for
Organizers of festivals, conferences, races, leagues and fundraisers, writing to a company that has shown some interest. They came last year, they asked what it costs, or a board member made an introduction. Send it within a week of that conversation.
It doesn't replace the paperwork. After a yes you still need a signed agreement and an invoice, and a page can take neither a signature nor a payment.
What a good one contains
- A note to a person. Three sentences to Andre that mention the day he walked the market. It shows this wasn't a mass mailing.
- Last year's numbers, with a source. 8,400 visitors, 62 vendors, 11,200 newsletter readers, and a gate survey of 1,120 people behind the percentages.
- The audience in the sponsor's terms. A credit union cares that 58% of visitors live within 25 miles and 41% are aged 30 to 44.
- Levels with prices and specifics. Five levels from $750 to $15,000. Tent sizes and pass counts are spelled out, because "premium visibility" tells the person approving the spend nothing.
- What's already taken. Ten of 25 places are gone and one level is sold, with the buyer named. A reader believes that sooner than the words "limited availability."
- One recommendation. The sample suggests Sunday's Demo Stage and admits Sunday is the quieter day. Then it shows where the $7,500 goes, line by line.
- What sponsors don't get. No say over vendors, no visitor contact details. Better they read it in January than argue about it in August.
- A hold date and a next step. The place is held until Friday, March 19. Reply with a yes, and an agreement and an invoice follow.
Count your places twice. If the page says four of six rows are open, your spreadsheet has to agree, and the committed total has to match the levels sold. A sponsor who finds one sum that's off will wonder about your attendance figures too.
Use real numbers even when they're modest. An honest 3,500 on a Sunday, with a reason it suits this sponsor, beats a rounded-up crowd. When a level sells, replace the page. The link stays the same, so a company that opens it a month late sees today's availability.
How to send it
With a password. It's written to one company and shows which levels others have already bought. Give the password to the person you met, in a separate message.
Every page you publish gets one link that opens in any browser. You choose who can open it: anyone with the link, anyone with the password, or only the people and company domains you name, who sign in with Google or Microsoft. Change the page later and the link stays the same.
