Welcome to part three of my series on all things sponsorship and events! Part one discussed how to prepare for events, part two on what to do at the event, which means that there’s nothing more to say, right? Not exactly!
What you do after the event is incredibly important. In fact, I would argue that it’s the most important part of the process. Why do I say this? I have yet to hear a fundraiser or event planner tell me that they ran a great fundraising event, brought in tonnes of sponsorship and their boss told them not to increase revenue next year. As the saying goes “fundraising is a pie eating contest where the reward is more pie!” What does next year’s growth have to do with this year’s event? Well, if you have a 50% attrition rate and you are expected to raise even more money next year, you’re in trouble!
What if there was a way to keep all of your sponsors year after year, meaning that to increase revenue by 10% you only had to find one more sponsor? A dream come true right? This is why the post event follow up is so important. Good follow up can prevent sponsor attrition, lead to better, more tailored sponsorship packages and happier sponsors. We all know that happy sponsors take less work, tell their friends and move up the sponsorship ladder.
Here are the most important post event activities to keep your sponsors happy and raise more corporate dollars!
Tip #1: Your Mom was right!
When someone does something nice for you, you say thank you. I know you already thanked your sponsors 1000 times before and during the event. You made sure you thanked them before they left and so did your board chair and CEO. Good! Now send them a quick e-mail, phone call or thank you card within 24 hours of the event. Tell them you loved the event and that you heard great feedback and, most importantly, that you couldn’t have done it without them. Short, sweet and direct. In that note, call or ask them for 15 minutes in preparation for Tip #2 below.
Tip #2: Post event debrief
Wait a minute, didn’t I already tell you to do this in my second article? Sort of. This is a debrief with your sponsors! You’ve already met with your team, your volunteers and your leadership to discuss how the event went at the event itself. This time you want to reach out to your sponsors and ask them how it went. You’ve been working with these folks for months, so they will certainly take your call and since you took the time to build them a custom sponsorship package, they will gladly tell you what they thought of your activation and fulfillment.
Tip #3: The fulfillment report
We’ve discussed building an activation strategy so that you don’t miss any of the promised sponsorship benefits. You spent all that time and energy taking pictures of logos, signage, speaking opportunities and product placement…now show it to your sponsors! Using your activation strategy, custom sponsorship package and all of the collateral from the event, create your fulfillment report. Use any format that speaks to you but keep it simple. Prove to your sponsors that you did what you said you would and before you meet with them, send them a copy of the fulfillment report.
Tip #4: Ask for advice
Send the report to your sponsors and ask them to meet for some advice about the event and the fulfillment report. Ask your sponsors to circulate the package to their team and their decision makers and for their thoughts as well. Invite your sponsors to bring their leadership to the call as well. When you have them on the call, or at the meeting, ask them about what they loved and what they hated at the event. Ask them what you should do differently or better. Tell them that you want to shape the event around the needs of your sponsors and that you would welcome advice on how to do that.
Tip #5: Time is of the essence
The minute your event wraps up you have two weeks before you are completely forgotten by your sponsors. You need to get on their radar within 24 hours to thank them and secure the advice visit. You then have a few days to get them a fulfillment report so they have it in time for the meeting. You want to capitalise on their excitement and the fact that the event is fresh in their minds.
Tip #6: You’ve asked for advice…now ask for the sale
I know what you’re thinking…way too soon to do this. I disagree. If you did everything you said you would a the event and during the lead up, introduced them to leaders in the community and delivered a fulfillment report then you have earned the right to ask them for the sale. You’ve proven you are a trustworthy partner and on their side- in fact, they want to be asked!
This is no ordinary ask though. In this situation, ask you sponsors what they would change for next year. When they tell you, ask them if you can make this happen for next year, will they come back? Unless something went horribly wrong (which of course it didn’t because you read these articles!) their response will be a resounding YES! Ask them when they typically decide on their budget and ask for their permission to submit an updated proposal with the new pieces you’ve discussed. You now have a new deal, if you can deliver on an updated, highly tailored package then they will make sure that you are in the budget for next year.
This process is more work than the typical transactional relationship where we talk to them only during proposal time, if at all! Is it really more work though? I would argue that bringing in new sponsors every year to replace the sponsors you keep losing is far more work and far riskier than taking a strong relationship based approach with your partners. What’s true in individual giving is often true in cause marketing: it is far cheaper to keep a donor (or sponsor!) than to find a new one.
Bonus Tip#7: Ask for a referral
Before you end the meeting, ask your sponsors who else they think you should be talking to. Ask them if there is someone in their network or who they do business with that would enjoy your approach to sponsorship and want to reach your audience. Not only will you keep your sponsors with this approach but you may find you’ve met your new business goals before the new fiscal opens.
Give it a try and see how it works! You should have plenty of opportunities to do so over the next few months as we head full steam into gala season!
Chris Baylis is a cause marketing, sponsorship and corporate social responsibility (CSR) specialist. Chris has managed both national and local cause marketing campaigns and is a board member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
Connect with Chris via:
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