Launching a summit can transform your business in many ways, from increasing revenue to providing global exposure and expert status to industry connections. Securing summit sponsorship can mean adding crucial dollars to your summit income. But first, you need to create your summit sponsorship packages and make sure they are priced right for your audience. 

Finding sponsors can feel time-consuming and difficult – but it doesn’t have to be. I’ve got some strategies you can use to make your summit a valuable and attractive sponsorship opportunity. 

Step 1: Brainstorm

First, you need to identify the target audience of your summit and make a list of the businesses and private institutions that would be potentially interested in reaching that audience. Once you know exactly who your audience is, it’s time to brainstorm ideas on what you can leverage in your summit for those sponsorship opportunities. 

Ask yourself what you can leverage in your summit and in your business to entice your sponsors. Don’t be afraid to get creative with what you have to offer. 

Here are some examples of what you can leverage in your summit:

• Sponsor logos on landing pages and internal pages
• Sponsor logos on the confirmation email 
• Sponsor logos on daily emails to your registrants
• Sponsor shoutouts on live, daily speaker panels
• Sponsor shoutout in the pop-up Facebook group for the summit
• Freebie/Lead magnet from sponsor offered in the official summit digital swag bag
• 10-minute promotional video inserted into daily speaker pages
• Make sponsors the official sponsor of a VIP package 
• Include their logos on any promotional graphics for the summit, including banners and speaker graphics (this should be used for a premiere sponsor and only 1- 2 sponsors max)

Here are some examples of what you can leverage from within your business:

• If you have a podcast, leverage giving sponsors a pre-roll spot for a month 
• Give sponsors a featured episode on your podcast 
• Offer social posts for your sponsors such as stories, reels, etc. 
• Offer sponsors the opportunity to send a solo email to your email list after the summit 
• Offer sponsors the opportunity to do a webinar or “lunch and learn” to your email list after the summit
• If you have a Facebook community or LinkedIn group, you can leverage that space for a webinar with the sponsor or a live training.

Step 2: Create your sponsor packages

Next, it’s time to create your sponsor packages to send to potential sponsors. Think about the wording you use to appeal to your sponsors – you want to make the summit sponsorship sound like an attractive opportunity they won’t be able to turn down. You must offer valuable and competitive sponsorship package options. Typically, it’s best to create 3 main sponsor packages and 1 premiere sponsor package at a premium price. With the tier model, you provide sponsors with the option to choose the package that’s right for them. It goes without saying that the bigger the sponsor package, the bigger the price of that package…we’ll cover that shortly.

Here are the sponsor packages you can offer:

Tier 1 Sponsor Package

The Tier 1 sponsor package is your entry-level package and should include just a few items to entice potential sponsors. 

Tier 2 Sponsor Package

The Tier 2 sponsor package includes everything from Tier 1 and should have additional goodies in it to strengthen its appeal.

Tier 3 Sponsor Package

The Tier 3 sponsor package includes everything from both tier 1 and tier 2 and should offer additional goodies that make it a must have

Premium Sponsor Package

The Premium sponsor package should include everything from the Tier 3 sponsor package, as well as exclusive and valuable additions that go above and beyond all other packages to make it a truly premium offer.

Note: You can put a limit on the number of packages at every level if you want to and create some exclusivity at each tier. Most of my clients will set 20 spots for tier 1, 6-10 for tier 2, only 3-6 for tier 3 and just one premium sponsor. You can always add more if you want to each tier depending on how they are selling. 

Step 3: Name your sponsor packages

The next step is to name each of the packages. Some of my clients name their packages based on themes that reflect their business. One of my clients used Alpinist, Mountaineer, and Basecamp for a business that had mountains as part of their theme and brand. Another client of mine used Sparkle, Glisten, and Shine to name her feminine-based summit sponsor packages. 

The best thing you can do is to choose package names that resonate with your brand and reflect your brand’s mission, theme, and vision and stay away from generic names like gold, silver and bronze. 

Step 4: Price your packages

Once you’ve created your sponsor packages, it’s time to price them. Your tiers should all have incremental pricing, starting with your first tier. Tier 1 should be priced to be accessible to speakers on your summit and will be the most popular with them. Essentially, pricing for your packages is going to highly depend on what you perceive your sponsors can pay and would find of value. 

To put it into perspective, one of my clients had her packages priced at  $150, $300, and $600 with a premiere price of $1200. Another client who was in a different niche priced their packages at $497, $997, and $1297, with a premiere price of $3000.  And lastly, a third client priced their tier 1 at $997, tier 2 at $1500, and tier 3 at $3000 with a premier at $7000. The price of your packages depends on what you think your sponsors will agree to pay for what you’re offering them. It’s crucial that your packages are valuable to sponsors and worthy of their price tag.

How to use your summit sponsorship dollars

Depending on your pricing for each tier, you could end up with several thousand dollars to tens of thousands in sponsorship dollars. What do you do with that money? My first thought is always – how can we reinvest into your summit to get the most out of it? 

Here’s my suggestions: 

• Hire a summit producer like myself who will get you results! 
• Use the money for paid ads
• Pay a designer to create a special workbook for your summit, designed and including areas for notes. Have it include the picture, bio and summary from each speaker’s interview.
• Hire a copywriter to write all the promotional copy for your summit and possibly the funnel too. Better copy equals  more registrations and VIP buyers so it’s worth investing in. 
• Donate a portion to charity

Final Thoughts

Hosting a summit is an exciting opportunity for you, your business, and potential sponsors. Securing summit sponsorships can be made easy with these simple and effective steps. 

I’ve organized over 350 successful summits and have worked with many experts globally. If you’re looking for an expert to guide you and offer advanced strategies to help transform your summit, apply to work with me today.