Sponsorship package template Give sponsors a reason to move up

This sponsorship package template is a tier-by-tier menu of what any sponsor can buy at your event, ready to copy into your own document or slides. It’s a package menu, not a proposal: to pitch one tier to one sponsor, start from this sponsorship proposal sample. Each row asks for a tier name, a price, the one moment that tier owns, what the brand gets to do, where its name shows up and what the sponsor gets after the event. We’ve added a short note on how to fill in each column.

The sponsorship package template

A package is a menu. A sponsor reads it the way anyone reads a menu, scanning for what they came for, then checking what the next option up adds for the extra money. Make the next option worth ordering.

Copy the three parts below into your own document, replace every bracket with something true about your event, and cut any row you can’t fill honestly. If it’s the whole program that needs work, Events Authority helps organizer teams build a sponsorship program sponsors come back to.

In Part A, airtime is time when the sponsor’s brand is heard or seen doing something, such as a welcome from the stage or a hosted session. Activation is something attendees do with the brand on site, such as a demo, a game or a hands-on station.

Part A: the package menu

The menu has five rows. Keep as many as you have distinct signature moments.

Tier	Price	Signature moment	What the brand gets to do	Visibility	After the event
[Top tier name, custom]	[Starting at (price), built with the sponsor]	[The biggest moment at your event, shaped with the sponsor]	[Airtime: stage time, a session or the welcome]; [Activation]	[Where the name appears: signage, program, website, emails]	[Report contents and delivery date]; [Renewal conversation date]
[Tier 2]	[Price]	[A different moment from the top tier, not a smaller copy of it]	[The airtime or activation this tier owns]	[Where the name appears]	[Report and delivery date]; [Renewal date]
[Tier 3]	[Price]	[A moment neither tier above offers]	[What the brand does at that moment]	[Where the name appears]	[Report and delivery date]; [Renewal date]
[Tier 4]	[Price]	[One moment a sponsor can point to afterward]	[What the brand does at that moment]	[Where the name appears]	[Report and delivery date]; [Renewal date]
[Entry tier]	[Price]	[One small moment a sponsor can picture whole]	[One thing the brand does, however small]	[Where the name appears]	[Proof the benefit happened]; [Renewal conversation date]

Part B: the inventory list

Inventory is everything at your event that a brand could put its name on or take part in. List all of it here before you touch Part A.

Item	Where it lives (stage, booth, program, digital, hospitality)	Tier(s)
[A welcome, a short spot between sessions, an award or a hosted session]	[Stage]	[Tier(s)]
[Exhibit space: a booth, a table or a tent]	[Booth]	[Tier(s)]
[A listing or an ad in the printed program]	[Program]	[Tier(s)]
[A mention on your website, in your emails or on social media]	[Digital]	[Tier(s)]
[A meal, a reception, tickets or seats for the sponsor’s own guests]	[Hospitality]	[Tier(s)]
[Anything else a brand could use]	[Where it lives]	[Tier(s)]

Part C: the fit and renewal lines

• Who it’s for: [Who this package is for: the kinds of brands that want to reach your attendees]
• Who attends: [Roles and seniority of the people in the room, and how you know]
• What the event is about: [The reason people come, in one line]
• Who is speaking: [Who leads the program, and on what: hosts, peers or sponsors]
• Post-event report: [What we report after the event, and by what date]
• Renewal: [Renewal conversation date]
• Commit by: [The date sponsors need to commit]
• Contact: [Name, role, email and phone]

How do you fill in a sponsorship package template?

Fill it in out of order. Start with Part B and finish with the Price column, because if you set the price first, you’ll tend to pad the tier with logo placements until it looks worth the number.

The inventory list. Before you decide who gets anything, list every item across the build-up to the event, the day itself and the follow-up after it. The easy miss is small stuff, like a coffee break with a name on it, which can be exactly what an entry tier needs. Fill in the Tier(s) column last. An item in no tier is inventory you’ve chosen not to sell, so make sure that was a choice.

Signature moment. One per tier: the moment a sponsor can picture before the event and point to after it. Write it before the other Part A columns, and name the tier after it if you can. The common mistake is two tiers with the same moment in different sizes; merge them, or give the lower tier a moment of its own. It doesn’t have to happen on a stage. A hosted break or a named award counts, as long as the sponsor can point to it afterward.

What the brand gets to do. The airtime or activation that comes with the tier. This column tells a sponsor what its brand is there to do, and it’s the easiest one to leave blank on the lower tiers. Don’t. Even an entry tier can include one small thing the brand does.

Visibility. Where the name appears: signage, the program, the website, the emails. Every tier gets some. Fill this column in first, though, and the menu turns into a list of logo sizes.

After the event. Name what’s in the report and the date it arrives: proof that each benefit happened, photos or a recording of the airtime, and attendance with how you counted it. A cell that just says “report” gives the sponsor nothing to hold you to.

Price. Fill it in last, and set it against two things: what the tier now lets a brand do, and what comparable sponsorships go for at events like yours. At the top, write “starting at” with a number and build the rest with the sponsor, because your biggest sponsor may want something you’d never have thought to list.

The fit and renewal lines. It’s tempting to write “everyone” under who the package is for. Being everything to everyone makes you forgettable, so name the kinds of brands that want to reach the people in your room. Fill in the renewal date now, so next year’s conversation is already on both calendars.

What does a filled-in sponsorship package look like?

This page gives you blanks on purpose. For a real, published ladder read rung by rung, see the sponsorship package examples. Read that page for the shape; use this one to fill in yours.

What does a sponsor’s budget owner check on the menu?

Now read your menu from the other side of the table. I tell brands to ask four questions before they sponsor anything, and your menu should answer each one without a phone call:

• Who exactly attends? Answer it in the “Who attends” line of Part C, with roles and seniority rather than a headcount.
• What is the event about? One line in Part C, the reason people come.
• Who is speaking, and on what? The “Who is speaking” line. A sponsor wants to know whether hosts and peers lead the program or other sponsors’ pitches fill it.
• When do sponsors and attendees actually talk? Put the hosted meal, the set visiting hours or the networking slot in the “What the brand gets to do” column, tier by tier.

When a brand is asked for a big sponsorship with little to no airtime, I tell it the answer should be a simple and firm no. This applies to you too, organizers. Put a real price on a tier and leave the airtime out, and you’ve written the sponsor’s refusal for them.

Here’s the truth: a menu where every tier buys the same thing in a bigger size gives a sponsor no reason to move up. A bigger logo, a better spot on the banner, one more mention in the emails. Those are sizes, not reasons. One tier up, a sponsor should find something new for its brand to do, and you should be able to point to it in the Signature moment column.

Before you send the menu: the check

1. Is every item in Part B assigned to a tier, or held back on purpose?
2. Does every row you kept in Part A have its own signature moment, one no other tier shares?
3. Does every tier say what the brand gets to do, not just where its name appears?
4. Does every tier say what the sponsor receives after the event, and by what date?
5. Is the renewal conversation date filled in before the event happens?

A no on any line sends you back to that column before the menu goes out.

Common questions

What should a sponsorship package template include? Three parts: the package menu (each tier’s name, price, signature moment, what the brand gets to do, visibility and what the sponsor receives afterward), the inventory list of everything you could sell, and the fit and renewal lines, including who the package is for, who attends and the renewal date.

What is the difference between a sponsorship package and a sponsorship proposal? A package is your whole menu: every tier, written for any sponsor. A proposal is a letter to one sponsor that recommends one tier from that menu and explains why it fits. Fill in the package first, then write each proposal from it.

How many tiers should a sponsorship package have? No set number works for every event. The template shows five rows; delete any row that would share its signature moment with another, and add one only when you have a new moment to sell.

Is there a downloadable sponsorship package template? Not yet. Copy the three parts above into your own document or slides and fill them in there.

How do you price the tiers in a sponsorship package? Once the benefits are written. Price each tier against what it lets a brand do and what comparable sponsorships go for at events like yours, and keep the top tier custom with a starting price. This page gives no price ranges, because what another event charges reflects another audience.

Your next move

Moments first. Prices last.

Once the blanks are filled in, Events Authority’s complimentary event assessment reads your menu the way a sponsor’s budget owner would.