What a Sponsorship Letter Is For
A sponsorship letter is the personal opener in a sponsorship sale. It goes to one named person at one company, explains in a few paragraphs why your event fits their goals, and asks for a conversation or a commitment. It is not the place for every package and price; that is the job of your sponsorship prospectus, which you attach or link.
| Document | Job | When it goes out |
|---|---|---|
| Sponsorship request letter | Opens the conversation with one named contact | First contact, or renewal outreach |
| Sponsorship prospectus | Lists every opportunity, price and deadline | With the letter, or after a reply |
| Sponsorship proposal | Recommends specific packages for one company | After a discovery call |
| Sponsorship agreement | Records what was agreed and what each side delivers | When the sponsor says yes |
| Sponsor thank you letter | Confirms value delivered and opens the renewal | Within two weeks of the event |
For a proposal tailored to one company after a first call, see our sponsorship proposal guide. When a sponsor commits, record the terms in a sponsorship agreement.
What to Put in a Sponsorship Request Letter
- 1
A Subject Line With Their Name in It
Name the event and the company, for example: [EVENT NAME] and [COMPANY]: reaching [AUDIENCE] in [MONTH]. Generic subject lines read as mass mail.
- 2
An Opening About Them, Not You
One or two sentences on something specific: a product launch, a market they are entering, a booth they had at a similar event. This line shows the letter was written for them.
- 3
The Audience in One Paragraph
Who attends, how many, their roles or buying responsibility, and where the figure comes from. Sponsors buy access to an audience, so this paragraph carries the letter.
- 4
A Clear, Sized Ask
Name a level or a price so the reader can judge fit. A letter asking for support in general gets a polite no; one asking about the [LEVEL NAME] package at [AMOUNT] gets a reply.
- 5
Two or Three Benefits That Match Their Goal
Pick the benefits from your sponsorship levels that serve their objective, such as a session sponsorship for thought leadership, or a booth and lead retrieval for pipeline.
- 6
One Next Step and a Deadline
Propose a short call and mention a real deadline, such as the date a package level closes or the logo deadline for printed materials.
Sponsorship Request Letter Template
Use the full letter for first contact with a senior decision maker, and the short version for an email to a marketing or partnerships contact who already knows your event. For a returning sponsor, replace the opening with what they received last year and offer first refusal on their package before it is released to others.
Following Up on a Sponsorship Letter
Most sponsorship replies come after a follow-up, not the first letter. Plan the sequence before you send, and make each message add something new rather than asking whether they saw the last one.
- Day 0: send the letter to a named person, with the prospectus attached or linked
- Day 5–7: a short follow-up that adds one new fact, such as a confirmed keynote or an exhibitor in their category
- Day 14: a final note with the deadline, and an offer to send the details to a colleague if they are not the right person
- After that: move them to your next outreach window, such as the program announcement, rather than writing weekly
Keep a simple log of every letter: the contact, date sent, each follow-up, the reply and the outcome. It stops two people on your team writing to the same sponsor, and next year it shows which approaches and which packages got answers.
Sponsor Thank You Letter Template
A sponsor thank you letter is the first step of the renewal. Send it within two weeks of the event, while the sponsor's team still remembers the show, and make it specific. A generic thank you is forgotten; one that lists what was delivered becomes the document they forward to their manager when budgets are set.
- Thanks to the named contact and their team, not only the company
- Each benefit in the agreement and confirmation that it was delivered, with photos where you have them
- Figures you can verify, such as profile views or leads scanned, taken from your own reports
- Anything that fell short, and the make-good you are offering
- First refusal on their package for next year, with a date
Sponsorship Letter Mistakes to Avoid
- Sending to a general inbox instead of a named person
- Leading with your organization's history instead of the sponsor's goals
- Asking for support with no package or price, so the reader cannot judge fit
- Listing every package in the letter instead of attaching the prospectus
- Quoting attendance with no source, or rounding it up
- Following up weekly with the same message
- Promising benefits in the letter, such as category exclusivity, that are not in your prospectus
- Skipping the thank you letter, then cold-pitching the same sponsor next year
Letters are one part of a wider sales plan. Our guide on how to get sponsors for an event covers building the prospect list, pricing packages and renewing sponsors year over year.