How to use your nonprofit’s website to recognize corporate event sponsors
Photo credit: Styled Stock Society
Updated August 2023
If you’re in the endless cycle of asking for corporate sponsors, you’re not alone. Nonprofits worldwide are depending on corporate sponsorship dollars to fill in budget gaps and continue to hold events that help broadcast their message and purpose.
So, what do you have to offer your potential sponsors? Many nonprofits go with the tried and true - logo on the website - method. (Be sure to read this post for other recognition ideas.)
To help you think outside the box, here are five more ways to use your website to recognize event sponsors.
The obvious - logo placement
The most obvious choice for recognizing sponsors on your website is to include their corporate logo on your event page, or a dedicated “sponsor thank you” page. While this might seem like a no-brainer, it’s actually a little more tedious than most people think and not all that effective.
For example, depending on your website platform, the logo sizes and formats can end up looking messy and unprofessional. Every company tends to send a different size file, some better quality than others, and the logo proportions are often inconsistent. Therefore, many of the logos end up looking huge while others look tiny.
You can resolve this problem in two ways.
Request that the company sends you a logo in a particular size or orientation.
Create a Canva template and then import each company’s logo into the template and save that as your final file to upload to your website. This way, all of the logos will have the same base size.
To increase the impact to your sponsor, consider offering two additional features in this category.
Link the logo to the company’s website
Add a caption to each logo (photo) with a short description of the company, what they do, etc.
If you’re working with a website designer to maintain your website, these types of projects may cost extra so be sure to check with them in advance. There are plenty of great website design companies out there who offer affordable website packages, like WebX360.
Allow the sponsor to do a guest post or feature them on your blog
If your website includes a blog or news feed, offering a “featured sponsor” post is a great way to recognize sponsors. You can do this through a few different formats.
A team member can interview the sponsor company with a preset list of questions used for each sponsor. You can then post the interview on the blog as a Q&A.
You can allow the company to submit a guest post on a specific topic (how or why they got involved in the event, their philanthropic mission, etc.) If you choose this option, give specific guidelines and put it in writing that you have final editorial approval.
If you’re not keen on content writing, there are plenty of resources out there to learn and hone the craft of writing for the web.
Create a Community Partners page
One of the least cumbersome ways to use your website to recognize corporate sponsors is to create a Community Partners page on your website. This page lists the names of companies that support your organization, adding links to their website if you’d like.
The list can be organized by event, alphabetically by company, by type of support such as volunteering, in-kind donations, financial sponsorships, etc.
It’s also nice to feature photos on these pages - highlights from different events or programs where corporate partners were present.
Give high-level sponsors their own page
For organizations with robust sponsorship programs or annual campaign sponsors (vs. individual event sponsors), each sponsor can have their own page on the website. This page can feature all types of information like:
A current total of the financial support provided by the company
Photos of the company employees volunteering or attending events
The company mission statement and goals for the partnership
This type of recognition should be limited to the elite sponsors and marketed toward companies most interested in public recognition.
Use pop-ups to give sponsor shout outs
If you don’t want to create new pages or keep sponsorship lists updated, you can use pop-ups to give sponsors shoutouts! Most website platforms allow you to create simple pop-ups right inside the website. (If yours does not, check out MailerLite’s promotions tools).
Create a pop-up template and swap out the company name when you switch to a new sponsor. This method is a speedy and easy way to give recognition.
How to use your website data in your sponsorship proposal
Don’t forget that when you present your sponsorship proposal, including your website analytics and potential reach can be a tremendous asset in getting that commitment. There’s more information about this in a few of my other sponsorship posts (linked below) and I have an entire template for a post-event impact report in the Nonprofit Template Library.
How to ask for a corporate sponsorship and get a yes (even if your event is virtual in 2021)
How to find corporate sponsors for your next nonprofit event
How to get your board to help you fundraise for sponsorships
By including data like your average number of website visitors and even email subscribers, companies will understand the power of partnering with you. Then, once you’ve added the recognition to your website in one of the ways described above, reach out and let the company know so they can share your website, too!
After the event, run your analytics and let the sponsor know some critical data that may be important to them, such as website views, clickthroughs, etc.
How do you recognize sponsors on your website? Leave a comment below!
Until next time,
Andrea
P.S. Save a few hours and steal my Sponsorship Proposal Template for your next event!
One Nine Design is a digital marketing company helping small businesses and nonprofits learn how to use their website and email list to grow their reach and make a bigger impact!