Sponsorship Lead

Role description

Throughout entire event:

In charge of the sponsors welfare.

Before event:

• Review the sponsorship package.
• Approaches potential sponsors.
• Handles sponsorship queries.
• Makes and signs contracts with sponsors.
• Makes sure advertising materials get placed in the right spots.
• Sends information for billing to the finance lead.
• Make sure all sponsor bag materials are onsite the day before the tutorials so bags don't need to be handed out w/ partial content
• Contact sponsors a few days in advance to check on the time and date they'll be setting their booths, and the contents that they will be bringing.

During

• Handles liaison with the sponsor, making sure that they get a good reception and get the opportunities and service they paid for.
• co-ordinate with venue team to ensure that sponsors booths are well taken care of.

After

• Sends followup letters to the sponsors, thanking them for their participation and sending hopes that the sponsorship will show results in improved business.
• Invites the sponsor to return next year.

Guidelines

To source for sponsor as soon as the package tier, venue and date is confirmed

Be creative.

• Do send out prospectus as early as possible.
• Ensure that payment has been made latest 2 weeks before event
• Try not to close most sponsorship 1 month before event.
• Treat all sponsors not as one off transactions but for long term. Most sponsors return when they have a great experience in their previous year.
• If possible, get in touch with the decision makers directly. Mostly the CEOs, the founders or the head of marketing.

Sourcing the right sponsors

Create a wish list of sponsors you’d love to partner with, based on industry, location, and past sponsorship history. Then your research begins. Find out what each brand is focused on so you can tailor a conference sponsorship package that will meet their goals.

PyCon Thailand has a list of previous years sponsors refer to the list and check out who has not been approached yet and decline to due budget constraints. They might have the budget if approached at the right time.

Conference sponsorship package valuation

Deciding how much to charge for sponsorship — commonly referred to as sponsorship valuation — can be an elusive step in the process of selling conference sponsorship packages. The good news is: it’s less complicated than you might think.

Sponsors will spend money on anything that improves their business. If you can prove a return on their investment, the only thing that will keep them from sponsoring your event is their budget.

To maximize revenues, you’ll need to find the sweet spot between the cost of each opportunity and the sponsor’s perceived value of it. Use the steps in this post to determine your market value and perceived value and set the price of your conference sponsorship packages.

Keeping track

Ensure that sponsors can fill in a form with contact information that gets stored in a list and also e-mailed to the sponsorship coordinator. (For Admin purposes) The coordinator can enter sponsors who've committed: contact info, sponsorship level (platinum/gold/silver), invoice number, paid Y/N, web graphic, banner provided Y/N, banner received Y/N, comments on where the banner should be displayed.

Also check on step 4 of quick guide for reference.