One common concern of most event organizers is how to arrange the funding. No matter how brilliantly you’ve planned your event, you need money to execute your plans. It all boils down to how many sponsors you have and how much they are funding. From booking seminar room rental to arranging foods and accommodation for guests and to rent training room, everything needs to be planned ahead and you should arrange enough funds for everything.

However, getting more sponsors for your event is easier said than done. It’s like applying for new jobs. The employer can accept, decline, and choose not to even respond to your application. You should keep trying, but make sure you know how to impress prospective sponsors with your proposal. Here are some useful tips.

Give them enough information about your attendees

Your prospective sponsors want to know details about your attendees, including their age, contact details, gender, profession, likes and dislikes. This information helps them decide whether they should advertise on your event. For instance, if you are expecting more participants in their 20s, sports goods selling brands that mainly target youngsters may be interested to sponsor your event. You can collect details about your audience at the time of registration. Have them fill out a registration form with some mandatory fields, such as, name, age, address, and occupation. It is also important to organize the collected data before presenting it to your prospective sponsors.

Ask for money

Your sponsor proposal should mention an amount you are looking for. Some event organizers think asking for money in the proposal is not a nice thing to do. They fear that the prospective sponsor may turn down their application, if they ask for an amount. On the contrary, a pitch without a definite amount may give an impression that you are confused and have lack of confidence. Also, don’t sell yourself short. Ask for an amount that you think you deserve. Often, sponsors judge your confidence from the price you charge. If you can charge a handsome amount, this shows you are confident about your capabilities and about the effectiveness of your event.

Tell a story

Don’t make your proposal sound boring. Feel free to make it interesting, after all you are taking to human beings. One good idea would be to tell a story. It could be about your past achievements or future plans. Just make sure it has a human touch. Remember, stirring a little emotion in your proposal helps sell the idea well.

Approach the right person

A big part of the game is to find out the right person in the company who you should approach. He or she could be someone from the company’s marketing department, public relations office, head office, or sales department. Do your own research and find out the influential person in the organization, who often makes important decisions regarding sponsorship.

In addition, you should try and improve your online presence. If your prospective sponsors look for your company online, they should find many positive reviews of your company.