Before you start sending out sponsorship proposals you should research a pool of prospective sponsors. Let’s say you put together a list of 100 suitable companies that align well with your event or project. Find direct contacts to the marketing or brand representatives at these companies.
Make sure your proposal is both addressed and delivered to the person with power to approve a sponsorship. Once you have this in place, call them with a brief introduction. Ask them for permission to submit your sponsorship proposal by email or via FedEx/UPS. We don’t recommend using regular mail as packages delivered this way generally receive less attention.
If you send the proposal via email, prepare a professional email that includes their name and attach the sponsorship proposal and introduction letter in PDF format.
Follow up with your list of prospects periodically to refresh their memory but don’t call or email too often. If you have a series of events going on, consider inviting your prospective sponsors to one of your events and show them how their brand could benefit from being a future sponsor.
Plan well ahead and make sure you have plenty of time to negotiate with sponsors, secure sponsorship and promote your project prior to the scheduled event.