Did you know there are businesses willing to sponsor your Meetup?
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- What a Sponsor Can Do for You
Read more!
- What You Can Do For the Sponsors
Read more!
- Approaching a Potential Sponsor
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What a Sponsor Can Do for You
First, decide what you hope to achieve/gain through a sponsor. A sponsor could:
- Cover your subscription costs
- Partly cover your subscription costs
- Supply free products to distribute to your members
- Offer free services to your members
- Offer discounts on products and service to your members
Deciding what you want will help you figure out who to approach and what to ask for. Ron Purvis, Organizer of The Atlanta Dungeons and Dragons Meetup Group, looks to local gaming stores for free products to give as door prizes at events:
”There are a number of stores that sell D&D gaming products. I can ask them all to sponsor a month at a time.”
Door prizes get members excited about events, boost turn out, and get people buzzing about your Meetup! Sunnie, Organizer of Mothers Inc., also uses sponsorhip to get discounts and products for her members:
“For me, the sponsors are not just about off-setting my costs, but
getting special deals and goodies as rewards for my members loyalty!”
Now that you're thinking what you want from a sponsor, time to consider what they want from you.
What You Can Do For the Sponsors
Businesses are alway looking for ways to get the word out about their
products and/or services. And between your Meetup events, member word
of mouth, and the web traffic to your Meetup page, your Meetup can be a
great, easy marketing tool for these businesses. In exchange for group
subsidy (whatever form it may take), you can offer a sponsor any of the
following promotional opportunities:
- Upload their logo, offer and link in the "Our Sponsors" section of your group pages
- Mention their sponsorship on your About page & Message Boards
- Talk about them in the messages you send your Meetup members
- Acknowledge their support at your Meetup event
For example check out, The Cedar Park Super Moms that show's off their sponsors with special discount offers to their members.
You want something, a sponsor wants something. A little quid pro quo.
That's understandable. Time to contact one and make it happen!
Approaching a Potential Sponsor
So you know what a sponsor can do for you and what you can do for them.
But who should you contact? Who would be a great and willing sponsor?
Well, think about your Meetup, its topic, and members. What's the
shared interest? Look to businesses with the same focus. They're the
ones that will benefit the most from a potential sponsorship and will
meld best with your Meetup. Got a dog Meetup Group? Approach a pet
store, breeder, or vet. Vegan Meetup? Talk to a favorite restaurant,
health food store, or yoga center. You'll be surprised who's willing to
contribute to your Meetup when you mention you've got a "captive
audience."
When talking to a potential sponsor, list the many things a Meetup like
yours can offer: web traffic, lots of potential customers, and the word
of mouth they generate. ReneeA, Organizer of the Cincinnati Nutrition & Natural Health Meetup, remembers how she approached her holistic doctor:
“I told him that... I could give his website a… link. Then… he
would pay per month for the exposure I could offer him. I told him I
could offer:
- A link to his website
- Photos or logos placed on my pages
- A description of his practice or other written material on my about page”
Sarah, Organizer of the Week, January 15-21, 2006, used large event attendance as a way to get free products for her Meetup members:
“For the last Meetup I noticed that we had a very large amount of
“YES” RSVPs. I contacted the company… and mentioned to them that we
would be meeting in a few weeks, and there would be a large amount of
potential customers all meeting in one place”
For help making that initial contact, here's a great sponsorship request letter written by Ron Purvis. Click here to read it.
Finding and contacting a potential sponsor can be made even easier by getting your whole group involved. Hilary Moon Murphy
opened a discussion on her Meetup’s message board encouraging her
members to throw out ideas of businesses to contact. Getting your
members involved can generate suggestions and potentially lead to a
contact that'll make approaching a company easier.
And sponsorship can be flexible, you don’t have to look for a long term
deal. You can ask for sponsorship of a single event, a single month, or
a few months.
Sunnie sums up the heart of finding a sponsor with these 4 important questions one should ask.
- What do YOU want from them?
- What do THEY want from you?
- Are they a large or small business? What can they afford?
- What can you offer your sponsors?
A sponsor can really add to your Meetup's overall experience. And
collection of people such as your Meetup can leverage their numbers to
gain a sponsorship that will benefit not only you, but the sponsor as
well. It's a win win! Now that you know the ins and outs of getting a
sponsor, get crackin'! Fire an email to your members and tell them
you're on a quest to find a Meetup sponsor big or small. They'll be
excited about the prospect and will be eager to help.
