How to Attract Sponsors and Keep Them Coming Back
FREE WEBINAR: October 20th 2026 12:00pm Australian EST
Seats Limited - Register Now Free
How to Attract Sponsors and Keep Them Coming Back
Stop chasing one-off sponsorships.
Start building partnerships businesses want to renew.
Sponsorship can provide your organisation with much more than funding.
The right business partners can bring expertise, services, products, networks, greater visibility and valuable connections to your NFP.
But successful sponsorship is not simply about asking businesses for money.
It is about understanding why a business would want to partner with you, what value you can offer them, and how you can build a relationship that benefits both organisations.
In this practical webinar, we’ll show you how to approach sponsorship differently—moving from one-off requests to mutually valuable partnerships that sponsors want to continue.
What You’ll Learn
Identify businesses that are genuinely a good fit for your organisation
Understand what businesses are looking for when they sponsor an NFP
Develop a clear sponsorship value proposition
Create sponsorship opportunities that offer more than just logo placement
Approach potential sponsors professionally and start the right conversation
Tailor your sponsorship offer around a business’s objectives
Deliver on your sponsorship commitments
Keep sponsors engaged throughout the partnership
Demonstrate both community impact and sponsor value
Have stronger renewal conversations and increase the likelihood of sponsors coming back
Sponsorship Is a Partnership
Not a Donation
One of the biggest shifts NFP leaders can make is changing the question from
“How much money can we ask for?”
to:
“Why would this business want to partner with us?”
Businesses may support your cause, but most sponsors also need to demonstrate value to their customers, employees, community, leadership team or brand.
That value could include
Brand awareness and visibility
Connection with a particular community or audience
Employee engagement and volunteering opportunities
Customer engagement
Community credibility and trust
Social impact and ESG outcomes
Content and storytelling opportunities
Networking and relationship building
Evidence of meaningful local community contribution
Sponsorship Is a Partnership
Not a Donation
One of the biggest shifts NFP leaders can make is changing the question from
“How much money can we ask for?”
to:
“Why would this business want to partner with us?”
Businesses may support your cause, but most sponsors also need to demonstrate value to their customers, employees, community, leadership team or brand.
That value could include
Brand awareness and visibility
Connection with a particular community or audience
Employee engagement and volunteering opportunities
Customer engagement
Community credibility and trust
Social impact and ESG outcomes
Content and storytelling opportunities
Networking and relationship building
Evidence of meaningful local community contribution
Find the Right Sponsors
Not Just the Biggest Sponsors
You don’t necessarily need the biggest company with the biggest sponsorship budget.
You need businesses with the strongest connection to your organisation, your audience and your impact.
During the webinar, we’ll explore how to assess sponsor fit by looking at factors such as
Shared audiences
Geographic connection
Aligned values
Community priorities
Employee engagement goals
Existing relationships
Products and services
ESG or corporate responsibility priorities
Opportunities for a longer-term partnership
Create an Offer
Businesses Can See Value In
A sponsorship proposal should not begin with a long list of everything your organisation needs.
It should demonstrate the opportunity for both organisations.
You’ll also learn how to build flexible sponsorship packages that might include benefits such as
Website and social media recognition
Newsletter features
Event signage and speaking opportunities
Exhibition opportunities
Employee volunteering
Networking
Co-created content
Impact stories
Community engagement
Media recognition
Post-event or partnership reporting
We’ll show you how to build a simple sponsorship value proposition that clearly explains:
Who you help + the impact you create + what the partnership will make possible + what the business will receive + the shared outcome you can achieve together.
You’ll also learn how to build flexible sponsorship packages that might include benefits such as
Don’t Start With a Proposal.
Start With a Conversation.
Sending a generic sponsorship PDF to dozens of businesses rarely
creates strong partnerships.
Instead, we’ll walk you through a practical sponsorship approach:
You’ll learn the questions to ask potential sponsors so you can understand their priorities before developing your offer.
For example:
What community priorities matter to your business?
What would make a community partnership valuable?
Are you looking for brand exposure, employee engagement or community impact?
Which audiences would you like to connect with?
How does your organisation measure sponsorship success?
The answers to these questions can dramatically change the way you structure your sponsorship opportunity.
Don’t Start With a Proposal.
Start With a Conversation.
Sending a generic sponsorship PDF to dozens of businesses rarely
creates strong partnerships.
Instead, we’ll walk you through a practical sponsorship approach:
You’ll learn the questions to ask potential sponsors so you can understand their priorities before developing your offer.
For example:
What community priorities matter to your business?
What would make a community partnership valuable?
Are you looking for brand exposure, employee engagement or community impact?
Which audiences would you like to connect with?
How does your organisation measure sponsorship success?
The answers to these questions can dramatically change the way you structure your sponsorship opportunity.
Winning the Sponsor Is Only the Beginning
Sponsors are far more likely to renew when the NFP is organised, communicates well and delivers what it promised.
We’ll cover the practical systems you can put in place after a sponsor says yes, including:
Sponsorship agreements
Clear relationship ownership
Benefit delivery schedules
Regular communication
Sponsor engagement
Impact updates
Evidence collection
Reporting
Renewal planning
Sponsors shouldn’t have to chase you to find out what happened.
We’ll show you how to demonstrate both the community impact created and the business value delivered, so your renewal conversation becomes much easier.
Winning the Sponsor Is Only the Beginning
Sponsors are far more likely to renew when the NFP is organised, communicates well and delivers what it promised.
We’ll cover the practical systems you can put in place after a sponsor says yes, including:
Sponsorship agreements
Clear relationship ownership
Benefit delivery schedules
Regular communication
Sponsor engagement
Impact updates
Evidence collection
Reporting
Renewal planning
Sponsors shouldn’t have to chase you to find out what happened.
We’ll show you how to demonstrate both the community impact created and the business value delivered, so your renewal conversation becomes much easier.
The Five Principles of Successful Sponsorship
Throughout the webinar we’ll come back to five simple principles:
1. Start with alignment
Look for businesses whose audience, values, location or priorities naturally connect with your work.
2. Focus on mutual value
Explain what the sponsor receives—not only what your organisation needs.
3. Build the relationship before making the ask
Learn about the business and shape an opportunity around their priorities.
4. Deliver what you promise
Create clear agreements, responsibilities and systems for delivering sponsor benefits.
5. Report, review and renew
Demonstrate results, gather feedback and start renewal conversations before the partnership ends.
The Five Principles of Successful Sponsorship
Throughout the webinar we’ll come back to five simple principles:
1. Start with alignment
Look for businesses whose audience, values, location or priorities naturally connect with your work.
2. Focus on mutual value
Explain what the sponsor receives—not only what your organisation needs.
3. Build the relationship before making the ask
Learn about the business and shape an opportunity around their priorities.
4. Deliver what you promise
Create clear agreements, responsibilities and systems for delivering sponsor benefits.
5. Report, review and renew
Demonstrate results, gather feedback and start renewal conversations before the partnership ends.
Who Should Attend?
This webinar is ideal for:
NFP CEOs and Executive Directors
Fundraising and Partnerships Managers
Community Engagement teams
Marketing and Communications teams
Board members
Program Managers
Event organisers
Smaller NFPs where sponsorship is shared across several rolesAnyone responsible for developing relationships with businesses
Whether you are preparing to approach your first sponsor or want to improve the way you manage existing sponsorship relationships, this session will give you a practical framework you can use immediately.
Speaker
Kerrie Sheaves
Co-Founder NFP Ocean
Kerrie Sheaves is a seasoned business strategist with over two decades of experience helping for-profit companies grow through purpose-driven partnerships. As the co-founder of NFP Ocean, she’s leading a movement that reshapes the synergy between service providers and the not-for-profit (NFP) sector.
Through her work, Kerrie has helped craft a platform that transforms how services are are accessed by NFPs — enabling providers to offer their expertise while significantly enhancing their societal impact. By fostering collaboration rooted in mutual understanding and shared values, she empowers both sides to grow together with purpose.
Kerrie brings deep insight, practical frameworks, and a passion for connecting commercial success with meaningful community outcomes.
Kerrie is an experienced leader who is transparent and able to keep teams and clients accountable to their goals - all with a good dose of her wicked sense of humour! I would recommend Kerrie to small business owners at any stage of their business maturity.
Partner, Marketing Agency
Walk Away Ready to Take Action
By the end of the session, you should be able to identify at least one potential business partner, understand why they may be a good fit, articulate the value your organisation can offer them, and determine the first step you will take to start the relationship.
The goal isn’t simply to find a sponsor.
It’s to create a partner who understands your impact, values the relationship and wants to keep coming back.
Webinar Details
How to Attract Sponsors and Keep Them Coming Back
Format: Practical online workshop
Workshop Content: 1 Hour
Suitable for: Not-for-profit leaders, staff, board members and volunteers involved in sponsorships, partnerships or fundraising
Ready to build stronger business partnerships?
Register now and learn how to turn sponsorship from a one-off transaction into a long-term, mutually valuable relationship.
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