Why events seek sponsors.
This requires examining why you want sponsorship for it provides more to an event than dollars, raffle prizes, or in-kind services. It enhances credibility. It sends messages that help shape the image of your event. Beer and tobacco sponsors suggest one thing and a tie in with the American Cancer Society something else altogether. Lots of local sponsors suggest widespread community awareness and support; national sponsors a high profile in a wide area. Instrument makers involvement promises plenty of pickers at the festival.

Why sponsors sponsor
Sponsorship is not philanthropy. Sponsorship involves no donations. Sponsorship is marketing. Unlike advertising, sponsorship permits the sponsor to make an emotional connection with its target audience, for a corporation to appear more than just an entity trying to sell a product. Sponsorship consistently does better than advertising in boosting corporate image, encouraging a propensity to purchase, and increasing brand awareness. Advertising exceeds only in communicating product attributes. Successful sponsorship involves a business partnership in which value is received for value given. If the deal is one-sided, it will not endure.
"What can appeal to potential sponsors is that bluegrass has a lot of young, energetic talent coming into the field," Tom Robinson from Nashville PR firm Dye, VanMol & Lawrence told a seminar at the IBMA World of Bluegrass 1997 in Louisville. "They want to bring along that next generation that probably doesn’t have that brand loyalty right now, and they’re looking for a way to reach them…. That’s the advantage bluegrass music has. That’s something you really ought to leverage when you go and pitch it." Loyalty to bluegrass music suggests brand loyalty, Tom asserted.
Examine why sponsors get involved with events. Sponsorship fills perceived marketing needs. Tony Polychronis from Salt Lake City volunteered how Founders Title became the major sponsor of IAMA’s festival because they wanted comp tickets to give to real estate agents since their business was prohibited form traditional advertising in Utah. Eric Hoogstad from the IBMA European Bluegrass Network described how, by creating a street fair environment, the European World of Bluegrass was able to attract support from entities, in this case, a tourism commission, interested not in bluegrass, an unfamiliar music, but in the potential audience. Look at other ways your audience can be defined beyond being a bluegrass festival audience.

How to identify potential sponsors
Identify potential sponsors through a variety of means: see whose sponsoring other events in your community, check out whose sponsoring other bluegrass events, approach companies directly involved in bluegrass and directly involved with your community, track corporate marketing approaches in the Wall Street Journal and more specialized publications (IEG’s Complete Guide to Sponsorship and biweekly Sponsorship Report; Entertainment Marketing Letter; Ad Age), remember your friends and business associates, and network. If, for one example, you have a positive, long term relationship with your banker, then approach your bank. Local franchises are the best route to major corporations. Lead generators include reports in IEG Sponsorship Report on deals sought and made and marketing strategies, future new product launches, recommendations from prospects that were very interested and open but decided to pass, recommendations from sponsors whose contacts liked your event by have been forced to discontinue by outside forces, intros by current sponsors in return for a discount on their fees, companies advertising for jobs or with stocks at 52 week highs. Wright noted that Gibson is sensitive to their artists participating in an event. IAMA reached three sponsors simply through a stage announcement that sponsorships were available.
Don’t get trapped in the bluegrass music business box when considering potential sponsors. The best support often comes from businesses in the greater community rather than our field. IBMA propaganda does a nice job of suggesting businesses that relate well to the bluegrass demographic. Look for companies that have a need in your market such as to rebuild a tarnished image or establish a new big box store.
Non-profits can pursue community development or relations money from corporations, instead of just marketing money for sponsorships.
Examine the market data compiled by IBMA for both demographic ammunition and to identify potential sponsors outside our field. IBMA propaganda does a nice job of suggesting businesses that relate well to bluegrass demographics. "The first place I’d go in bluegrass is to IBMA’s Simmons Research," Robinson stated. Often the best support comes from businesses outside our field. In Europe, this point becomes even more critical, as Eric explained. "The first step if you want to build a major event is to get sponsors who are not really interested in the music, but in reaching customers who are… at the festival grounds and want to sell their product to those people. Then you have a budget and you can get entertainment…. Then you can attract sponsors from within the music community."
Try to anticipate the needs of potential sponsors and bring them proposals that address those needs. IEG Sponsorship Newsletter reports what sponsors are seeking.
A key to success is matching the support requested to the budget of the potential sponsor. This requires considerable guess-work, but I’d guess that more proposals have lost steam due to asking for too much or too little (in the case of major corporations) than any other factor. On the other hand, one doesn’t want to offer a deal so sweet that you lose money on it.

The Proposal Process
You must have the goods before you can sell sponsorships for your event. Every other aspect supports the sponsorship initiative; otherwise you can’t deliver the demographics. Building a great event will earn more sponsorship dollars than the best-crafted proposal.
Robinson stressed "a one size-fits-all approach no longer works…. Know the demographics [of a major corporation] and ask yourself if you can reach their buyers. If you can’t, don’t attempt it. They need very specifically to know how you’re going to reach them, what are the opportunities, and then what my net results are going to be…. How many cases will it sell for me? If you do your homework and present it a professional manner, then I think you can get their ear and make them see the big vision of what’s in it for them."
The decision makers need to know, not think, that the proper audience match exists ("You have to drive people to their business," offered California event producer Don Tucker.). Create opportunities for sponsors: exhibit space on site, web sites, festival program books, raffles, title sponsorships of stages and specific events, inclusion in advertising and promotional mailings, and banner placements.
Realize that many sponsors, especially those in the bluegrass field, can better handle in-kind contributions than cash. Raffles are one example of converting goods into cash. It’s even better when one can also use in-kind donations to avoid purchasing or renting items.
The first step consists of identifying a potential sponsor and finding the correct contact person through IEG information, the company’s web site, or cold calling and asking who handles sponsorships. Do not contact this person, however, until you have a good idea of their marketing needs and how your property can solve the problems they face.
Then send a one page "Opportunity Summary." This exists only to sell the potential sponsor on meeting with you or reviewing a full proposal, thus it briefly describes the demographics of the property and its benefits and why you think the potential sponsor would be a good fit. It does not discuss the specifics of the sponsorship. The "Opportunity Summary" should contain a call to action indicating when you plan to call or email to discuss whether you may make a proposal.
When you call, you need to sell the gist of your story in the first 15 seconds. Remember that you are selling the idea for the potential sponsor to look at your proposal or listen to your presentation. Spend 10% of your time stating how your property will solve the potential sponsor’s marketing problems, 10% sharing your strategy for the sponsorship, 10% sharing research, and 70% of the time listening. You are listening for five facts (what they need; their budget; who makes the decisions; when; and how you will follow-up) and one impression, where is their pain. Their pain is a marketing strategy that has either failed altogether or once worked but has grown stale or too expensive. Provide a viable balm to that pain and you will have a deal.

What sponsors need in a proposal from an event
Avoid premature presentation. Spend three-quarters of your time preparing for the proposal, 10% on the proposal or presentation, and 15% on follow-up. Come to potential sponsors with a specific proposal tailored to their marketing needs, as revealed by the research you have done. Only go fishing when that’s the sole option and even then offer a menu of specific options. Always remember that you are selling solutions to the sponsor’s problems.
Keep proposals themselves short enough to be read in less than five minutes. Book size proposals look impressive, but don’t quickly tell the sponsor what you want. Just cover the basics: who, what, when, why, where, and how, while providing back up materials in the form of a media kit. The proposal must be clear about the opportunity being pitched, its most significant benefits, and the rights fee or in-kind contribution.
Wright’s office receives about fifty proposals a week; about a fifth make it through the screening process to his desk. "What can you really do for the sponsor and what would you like the corporation to do for you. Don’t make them guess. We get so many you read and basically wonder what they really want." He also pointed out that large corporations need a lot of lead time, at least six months. It is generally best to approach a sponsor more than a year ahead of the event proposed so that they can visit this year’s festival and enjoy VIP treatment there.
Always include a call to action as they close, detailing when you will contact them to discuss the proposal.
Use exclusivity, right of first refusal, tie-ins, and on site product displays as bargaining chips.
Do not quantify the values of specific sponsor benefits. You’re selling the association with your event, not the individual perks that come with it.
Provide as specific numbers about the demographics, media reach, and etc. of your event as possible.
Offer creative solutions to get around the "no budget" wall such as credits for referrals, co-operating with sister brands, or accepting in-kind services or products.

How sponsors evaluate proposals
Sponsorship used to be measured in impressions, the number of people who are exposed to the sponsor’s name or message. Everything, not to long ago, that aggregated impressions enhanced your chances for success. "What my directors ask for more and more are specific numbers of impressions – the number of times the company’s name or logo will be heard or seen," Wright related a mere six years ago. "Good numbers make it so much easier to present it to the decision makers. You look at specific numbers of impressions and calculate the cost per impression." It became clear, however, that this sort of approach failed to distinguish and account for the fundamental qualitative differences between sponsorship and advertising.
By 2003 the issue has become how well the proposal solves a preconceived marketing problem for the sponsor. We are selling experiences at our events that solve marketing issues for the sponsor by exploiting the emotive link between attendees and festivals. Show how your event can provide experiential branding, allowing your attendees to sample the personalities of the sponsor.
A recent IEG study of sponsors revealed the following hierarchy of sponsor objectives:
Increase brand loyalty 75%
Create awareness 75%
Develop image 66%
Showcase community/social responsibility 44%
Drive retail traffic 43%
On site trials 40%
Showcase products 38%
Capture leads/build database 36%
Entertain clients 29%
The same survey called for sponsors to evaluate benefits in achieving these ends:
Category exclusivity 69%
Signage 62%
Broadcast ad opportunities 56%
ID on media buys 53%
Title of proprietary area 46%
Title of collateral materials 44%
Ad in program 40%
Access to sponsee mailing list 39%
Presence on web site 38%
Access to research 37%
Right to use property trademarks 35%
Tickets and hospitality 30%
And the survey asked which factors sponsors analyzed in making decisions:
Demographics 88%
Attendance 67%
Fan passion 61%
Pyschographics 52%
TV Ratings 41%
What competitors sponsor 30%

What makes for a successful sponsorship arrangement
Corporate sponsorship is a business deal that has to work for both parties. Corporate sponsorship is about building relationships over time. Get sponsors on board, even if at lower than the desired level, then build up. Sponsors need to feel that they are valued parts of the event, members of the team. "A lot of companies will tell you, I can write you a small check and get you some product. If it’s a good match, consider it seriously," Robinson asserted. "Give them an alternative, especially if they seem genuinely interested." "Give the corporations options," says Wright. "Try to be creative and kick some ideas out." Sponsors need to feel that they are valued parts of the event, members of the team.
Sponsorship requires a total team effort on the part of event staff. Emcees need specific announcements to make, which should be tracked by the stage managers. The gate people need to be prepped to provide a warm welcome to the sponsors. Identification of sponsors through such devices as name badges makes things much easier for the event staff. Little works worse than to have a $25K sponsor treated rudely by a teen-aged security volunteer.
Follow-up and renewal – nurturing the relationship - requires providing strong customer service and an event even better than promised. Make sure they know they are appreciated in every aspect, and momentum will build year after year.
Good communication begins the process. The contract should be comprehensive and include all the information the sponsor will need, such as exhibit details, ad specs and deadlines, and who is responsible for signage. MerleFest uses an email list to remind sponsors of upcoming deadlines and keep them up to speed with the latest festival news. Sponsors should be designated one specific contact person at the property with whom to deal. It can be acceptable for one sponsee representative to handle sales and another fulfillment, but that proves the lone exception and works only because the sponsor is dealing with one person during each phase of the relationship. All sponsor phone calls should be return no later than the next morning, and all emails answered each weekday. Build allies at the sponsor, involving sponsor employees as much as possible.
"You can’t be in the situation of not wanting to take a sponsor’s call. The more you communicate the better," Mark Livingston, director of strategic alliances for Vans Inc, told IEG Sponsorship Report. The most successful property manager for Gen-X event marketing, Livingston goes so far as providing extensive consulting services for clients regarding their other sponsorships. Sponsees are in a total service business.
This process continues on site. Greet and thank your sponsors. Attend to their needs throughout the festival. Educate your audience through announcements, the program, and your web site about how much sponsors contribute to the festival. Have photographers document all signage and other sponsor involvement with the event. Survey your audience on behalf of the sponsors. Get demographic data, test sponsor recognition and attitudes toward sponsors, and, if possible, gather lifestyle and, most valuable of all, psychographic data.
Creating a superior fulfillment report and getting it out quickly forms the next step. Within three weeks after the festival, the sponsee should mail packages to sponsors that go far beyond a thank you letter. The fulfillment report sells renewal. According to a survey of sponsors by IEG, the fulfillment report is the single most important service provided them by the property. It includes color photos of the sponsors on-site presence and large crowds have a good time, a report on festival attendance, a description of how the festival served the sponsor’s goals, next year’s dates, a reminder about the renewal clause in the contract, copies of a couple of glowing newspaper or webzine reviews, a report on print media results with circulation totals, and a summary of the survey results. If the latter two items are not yet ready, they should be dispatched as soon as completed.
IEG polled sponsors on the most important factors in renewal. Sadly, the most important factor at 88% was internal feedback. In other words, the decision maker asks the on-site reps if the event worked and if they say yes, then they renew. Everything else was far down the list:
Sales bounce back 56%
Print media analysis 51%
TV exposure 46%
Dealer response 43%
Primary consumer research 42%

No Matter How Important Your Event May Be, If It’s Not On TV, Then It’s Local
That, unfortunately, proves a truth of sponsorship marketing today when dealing with the mainstream corporate world. By being on TV, one does not mean local TV coverage; we’re talking about events covered on at least a decent national cable channel. This is why sports occupy the kick-butt position in event sponsorships. With musical events, especially in bluegrass, we’re talking about an audience that includes few beyond those on site, or who visit the web site. It is true that we are on the cusp of anything and everything being cybercast, but once high speed Internet connections make that possible, the advantage will remain with those having the greatest pull power, which will be off air and cable networks for a long time to come.
The ramifications prove extraordinary for our industry particularly because the business entities in our field are not large enough to fund major sponsorships. Yet without TV, our proposals often involve figures that fly below the radar of major corporate sponsorship marketing departments. In other words, we ask for too much from our internal sponsors, while we can’t ask for enough from mainstream corporations. And, since we’re not on national TV, the major businesses consider us local and those we’re left to fish for whatever local co-op or community involvement funds that the local or regional dealer may have.
This puts bluegrass in a position similar to what NASCAR faced in the 1960s – big crowds, but little TV or sponsorship money. NASCAR proceeded to build one of the extraordinary success stories in event marketing by building upon a national network of local events long before stock car racing became a hot TV property. Clearly cooperation among a select number of the strongest festivals working together as a package can accomplish a lot more than each of us individually.

Use Media or Retail Sponsors as a Starting Point
A solid foundation for a sponsorship program can be built by first enlisting a media sponsor. In return for allowing the media sponsor to sell through sponsorship in preapproved categories, you can obtain advertising that you can bundle into your sponsorship packages. You can then offer specific tagged advertising to potential cash sponsors. One can employ a similar strategy with retailers. Allow the retailer to "pay" for its sponsorship with POP displays, especially aisle caps. Then you can resell that end-aisle space to sponsors. If a presenter proves extremely smart and resourceful in this area, that person can end up paying nothing to promote the festival.

Individual Donors
Develop programs to handle smaller, individual donations – a friend of the festival approach. This should be kept clearly separate from sponsorship. This also recognizes that the needs of those looking for a marketing tie-in are much different than those of someone who simply loves the festival. A number of people exist who’ll give $250 to $2000 who have no interest in being sponsor of anything except for the event in general. This approach works particularly well for concert series. They receive perks such as special seating, events, or access.

Glossary
Activation: Marketing activities conducted by a company in order to leverage its sponsorship.
Ambush Marketing: A non-sponsor, often a competitor of the title or presenting sponsor, executes a strategy to make it appear falsely to be a sponsor of a event. Ambush can occur when non-sponsors can purchase certain sponsorship benefits, such as advertising or exhibit space, ala carte.
Arts Marketing: Promotional strategies linking a sponsor to the visual or performing arts.
Brand Loyalty: The consumer’s decision to repurchase a brand continually.
Category Exclusivity: The right to be the only sponsoring company from a particular broad category such as telecommunications, beverages, or audio equipment.
Cause Marketing: Sponsorship directly linking a product or company to a non-profit organization representing a popular cause. For example, free or reduced admission for a donation to a food bank.
Cross Promotion: Two or more co-sponsors activating their sponsorships through joint marketing efforts.
Escalator: An annual percentage increase built into the sponsorship fee for multi-year contracts.
Event Marketing: Sales and promotion linking a sponsor or product to a sports event, festival, or concert.
Fulfillment Report: A document or documents detailing the delivery of the benefits promised in the contract.
Guarantee Sponsorship: A contract wherein a company receives usually a title or presenting sponsorship in return for guaranteeing a certain revenue minimum for the event. Say that the Bank of Chatham receives the title sponsorship of the Bank of Chatham Bear Creek Bluegrass Festival by guaranteeing gross revenue of $150,000. If the festival earns from other sources only $100,000 then the bank has to pony up 50 large. If, however, the event earns $150,000 then the bank gets the sponsorship for nothing.
Hospitality: Hosting key clients at the event, usually with backstage access, meals, and special parking.
In-Kind Sponsorship: Complete or partial payment of the sponsorship fee through goods and services rather than cash. For example, a sponsor could reach a $5000 fee by paying $2000 in cash, getting a $1500 credit for providing an item to be raffled, a $1200 credit for promoting the event in their direct mail, and a $300 credit for working as a stage manager during the festival.
Licensing: Granted sponsors the right to use the festival’s trademarked logos in promoting their association with the event.
Make Good: Providing extra sponsorship benefits to a renewing sponsor to compensate for some error on the property’s part.
Media Sponsor: A TV, cable, or radio station, publication, ezine, or webzine that trades advertising in lieu of a sponsorship fee.
Presenting Sponsorship: The second most valuable property, just below the title status, i.e. the Bush Hog Festival presented by Ditch Witch.
Primary Sponsor: The single most important sponsor of an event that has neither a title nor presenting sponsor.
Property: An entity available for sponsorship aka Sponsee.
Psychographics: The study of assumptions gleaned from psychology, sociology, and probability to be used in concert with traditional marketing data to predict consumer behavior. Psychographic services, such as LifeMatrix, sort people into broad categories with concomitant purchasing patterns.
Title Sponsor: The top of the sponsorship pyramid wherein the sponsor’s name becomes an integral part of the name of the event, i.e. Ben & Jerry’s Newport Folk Festival.