Know-How Exchange : Strategy

Hi!
Sponsors need to see their returns on investment.
For most brands 400 people is not really enough. They would look at a wider reach.
Yes..offering ads on the facebook page and I-net page is good, but also offer them place at the event for a promotional stall where they can sample/ distribute flyers etc.
Try approaching fashion/ make up brands which target women. Even food brands should work. And banks,, Good Luck!

You might try local retailers or franchises that target female customers. Is there a Curves in your area? Local furniture and gift stores would want to build good will in the community and attract women to their stores.

October's basically around the corner, and so getting corporate sponsorships is likely not to be easy. Corporations require plenty of advance notice to fit into their budget cycle.

Your 10,000 people who see your FB page may be of interest - or not - to local businesses. But they key is the "fit" between their brand/offering and your audience. The more you know about your members the easier it'll be to evaluate the fit.

Start by getting a media sponsor. Then your additional sponsors will be assured that they'll get adequate visibility for their efforts. And start locally - with local family-owned companies and/or franchises. If it'll benefit people in your community, then they're more likely to care about the community as well.

The funding you need is going to be modest, given that it's an annual event for 400 souls. Your Facebook page could be the answer as you can offer this to businesses who are interested in advertising to people who like the things your demographic likes.

You can check through the people who liked your site to find out what else they liked, and build up a portfolio of other "likes" that they have - and you can offer this to companies who would be likely to advertise to such people. That way you'd be able to target the right businesses to start with, so saving you a lot of frustration.

Does this help any?

List the benefits you'll offer sponsors and then list the kinds of sponsors who may be a good fit when it comes to supporting your event. Then, approach each potential sponsor and outline the value of the match between them and your cause.

Use Facebook to drive traffic to an opt in page where you ask (through PayPal) for donations to your cause. Offer a range of payment buttons ($1, $5, $10, $15, $25, $50, $75, and $100+) and ask people to give within this range of buttons at a level that best suits their ability to give.

These buttons need to be simple radio-style buttons. For the $100+ level, offer TWO buttons: one with the $100 amount, and one that's an empty field that people can fill in. You might also want to set up an appeal via a crowdsourcing site. Here's a list of the major platforms: https://dowser.org/top-ten-crowdsourced-funding-platforms/