What's a Sponsor?
Sponsors are businesses, brands, or other organizations that want to support local Meetup Groups.
Each sponsorship is unique, a sponsor might offer a place to meet, special discounts or samples, useful information, or even pay fees to you for promotion.
If you found your own Meetup Group sponsor, your sponsorship benefits and the placements are whatever the two of you agreed on. Learn more about getting your own sponsors.
If Meetup HQ brought you a sponsor, the benefits and placements will be outlined in your invitation email and onlined in the Sponsors area of your Group Settings. We'll automatically display their logos, communicate with you as Organizer about the benefits and deposit sponsorship payments, if any, directly into your Amazon Payments Business Account.
Cool, so how do i get one?
First step is to go to your Group Settings > Sponsors section in
your Meetup Group. Then click on "Get Me Sponsors". Be sure to turn on and
customize the "Sponsor Our Meetup Group" feature, so potential
Sponsors looking for Meetup Groups can contact you directly. It also allows Meetup HQ to contact you with sponsorship offers.
For more guidance on how to get your own sponsors here are a few ideas.
Where will Sponsors display on my Meetup Group's Pages?
I already have my own sponsors, can I promote them all my Meetup Group pages?
Yes!
Just go to your Group Settings > Sponsors section in your Meetup Group
and you'll be able to add your sponsors. Only their name is required to
display, but you can also add a 120 x 90 logo/image, a brief description
of what they are offering and even link directly to their website.
How many sponsors can I have?
You
can have up to 100 Sponsors displayed on your Meetup Group pages, and as many as you want in your archives. Right now, a Meetup Group can only
participate in 1 Meetup HQ sponsorship at a time.
Under the "Sponsors" section in my Group Settings there are 2 options, "Displayed" and "Archived", what does that mean?
Your "Displayed" Sponsors are the Sponsors you're currently promoting on your Meetup Group pages.
"Archived" Sponsors are Sponsors that are saved but not displayed -- perhaps they were sponsoring your Meetup for a specific month, and you want to save their info for a future use.
If my sponsorship involves receiving money, am I obligated to tell my members?
As Organizer of your Meetup Group, it's completely up to you what information you disclose to your membership.
What's the "Sponsor Our Meetup Group" prompt? How do I get one?
This is a way for mostly local Sponsors to contact you from Meetup.com.
You can customize what your Meetup Group is looking for in a sponsorship, and
we'll show that to Sponsors before they contact you. They'll then
fill out an email form, which will be submitted to you directly. If you're interested, you can reply to the sponsor directly and work out all the
details.
How do I get a sponsor from Meetup HQ?
Meetup HQ works with Sponsors that are looking to support lots
of Meetup Groups, like "Pug Meetup Groups" or "Meetup Groups in
Atlanta". We'll take the sponsor's requirements and match them up with
the right Meetup Groups.
To be considered for a Sponsor offer from Meetup HQ, you must be opted in. You can Opt in by going to Group Settings > Sponsors > Get Me Sponsors and select the option.
I have a Meetup HQ Sponsor, why can't I move it down on my Sponsor list?
That's part of the terms of a Meetup HQ sponsorship. If you do not
want top placement to go to your Meetup HQ sponsor, you can always
choose to opt out of the sponsorship.
My sponsor from Meetup HQ is offering money, how & when do I receive my sponsorship payments?
Meetup
HQ sponsorship payments are made to the sponsored Organizers through
Amazon Payments. The Organizer will automatically receive payment into
their Amazon Payments Business Account at the end of each full month
they are sponsored. You need to be Organizer and participating in the
sponsorship for the majority of the sponsorship month in order to
receive payments.
What is Amazon Payments?
Amazon Payments is a way for people to securely send and receive money. On
Meetup.com it's a way for Organizers to charge members to attend their
Meetups and receive sponsorship payments - to cover their costs, pay
for venues, or generally make their Meetup Groups strong organizations.
Read the basics about Amazon Payments.
Do I have to use Amazon Payments to receive sponsorship payments?
Yes. The only way we can give Organizers sponsorship payments is through Amazon Payments.
If you do not want to use Amazon Payments, you can still participate in the sponsorship and continue to receive all of the non-financial benefits.
How to I set up my Amazon Payments Business Account? Is there a cost?
There is no cost to open an Amazon Payments Business Account, and we'll help guide you through the process. Follow these steps
I didn't open my Amazon Payments Account right away, do I lose my sponsorship payments?
No. As long as you're still being sponsored, you will receive all
past payments when you open your account. If the sponsorship ends or
you choose to opt out of the campaign, the funds owed to you will be
held for 30 days otherwise they will be forfeited.
Do I have to pay taxes for the sponsorship payments I receive?
Meetup
is required to report to the IRS payments made to you by Meetup, Inc., in
the amount of $600 or more. We will prompt you for your tax
identification information before you reach this amount, so it won't be
a surprise.
Can I get my sponsorship payment through Paypal?
Not at this time.
Can I get my sponsorship payments just credited to my Meetup account?
No.
I am stepping down as Organizer, what will happen to my group's sponsorship?
If you step down as Organizer before receiving your sponsorship payment, you will NOT receive your payment.
If a new person steps up to be Organizer, they will receive the sponsorship payment only if they have been Organizer for most of the sponsorship month (at least 15 days) or their first payment will be the next month.
I just stepped up as Organizer of a Meetup Group that had a sponsorship going before I became Organizer. Do I need to do anything?
Set up your Amazon Payments Business Account in order to receive any payments from Meetup HQ.
If you do not want to keep the sponsorships, just go to Group Settings > Sponsors > Manage and update your sponsors.
What if I don't want a sponsor?
No problem. If you don't want to participate in a specific Meetup HQ
sponsorship you can always remove it in Group Settings > Sponsors > Manage area.
If you do not what to be invited to any future Meetup HQ sponsorships or to have the "Sponsor Our Meetup Group" prompt on your group, you can turn off both of those options by going to Group Settings > Sponsors > Get Me Sponsors.
