Sponsorship program design A program they renew
Tracie Crites founded Events Authority after more than fifteen years in the IT channel, buying sponsorships as a Chief Channel Officer and owning a festival's sponsor relationships. CRN 2025 Channel Chief and Woman of the Channel.
We design sponsorship programs for conference, festival, association and town event teams. We look at yours from the sponsor’s side of the table, because that’s the side that signs.
What you get
- Scope. The tier structure, the benefits at each level, the package and proposal a sponsor reads, and the renewal rhythm between events.
- Outcome. A program built to be renewed rather than re-sold each year. The retention record below came from running one that way.
- Timeline. We start before your next sponsor cycle opens, so the package is ready when prospects are deciding their year.
- Who it’s for. Conference, festival, association and municipal teams who sell sponsorships.
- Who it’s not for. Brands buying sponsorships. That’s trade show consulting.
What needs fixing?
- Tiers and prices. How many levels, what they’re called, and where the price breaks fall.
- Benefits sponsors can point to. Stage time, recognition, hospitality, things to do on site. Not just a logo on a banner.
- The package and the proposal. What a sponsor sees first, in the order they’ll read it.
- Renewals. Keep in touch between events, so next year’s ask isn’t the first call of the year.
Why do sponsors say no?
Disclosure
Tracie Crites ran Breach Secure Now's trade show and channel event program from 2020 to 2025, first as VP of Sales & Marketing and then as Chief Channel Officer.
She spent those years deciding which sponsorships to buy, and which to turn down. Her rule, in her own words:
Not to kick the hornet’s nest, but if you are being asked to sponsor an event for, let’s say, $100,000 with little to no airtime for your brand, the answer should be a simple and firm no.
Tracie Crites · Founder, Events Authority
What brings them back?
Tracie Crites has owned the sponsor relationships on the Town of Frederick’s festivals for six years and built their tiered sponsor program.
The Town’s staff run the events. The published tiers for the Frederick in Flight balloon festival start at $500, and every tier comes with something a sponsor can point to: a balloon flight with their banner on the basket, a minute on the stage, a place on the sponsor wall.
“SM Energy was honored to sponsor the Frederick in Flight Balloon Festival this year. We are committed to partnering with the communities where we live, work and operate. Spending the day there with our families is what that partnership looks like in action. Thanks for a great afternoon, Town of Frederick!”
SM Energy Company · LinkedIn, June 30, 2026
More proof is in the case studies.
Events Authority is led by Tracie Crites. She leads every engagement.
Common questions
Do you sell the sponsorships for us? No. We design the program and build what your team sells with: the tiers, the benefits, the package and the proposal. Your team runs the sponsor conversations.
What does the engagement cover? Tiers and pricing structure, the benefit ladder, the sponsor-facing package and proposal, and a renewal rhythm so next year’s ask is not the first contact of the year.
How long does it take? It depends on how many events your calendar carries and how much of the current package survives the review. The assessment tells you which it is before you commit.
Our tiers sell, but sponsors don’t come back. Is that the same work? That is usually a benefits and cultivation problem rather than a pricing one, and it is the more common of the two. Same engagement, different starting point.
What’s the first move?
Send us your current sponsorship package and last year’s sponsor list. You get a written read on which tiers are priced to sell, which benefits sponsors can’t use, and where renewals are likely to slip.