How to get
your event funded
by a brand

What a brand actually funds

"Could you support us?" never gets a reply, because it doesn't map to any line in the budget of the person reading it. They don't have a "support clubs" pot. They have a budget per campaign, with identifiable costs, and your ask has to look like one of them.

"£600 for the room hire for our 12 June event, 80 people expected" gets handled in thirty seconds. It's an amount, a date, a thing, a number. They know exactly what they're buying, which means they can say yes without asking anyone.

The lines that get funded most easily

They share one property: they're costs you can back up with a quote or an invoice.

• The venue : the simplest line to get covered, because it's indisputable and the whole event depends on it.
• Food and drink : priceable per head, and it's what people remember. A drinks brand will often rather supply than pay.
• Kit : bibs, signage, sound, refreshments. Cheap, highly visible, frequently funded without discussion.
• A photographer or videographer : the easiest line to sell, because the brand gets the resulting content directly.
• Prizes and giveaways : many brands would rather give product than cash, and it counts just as much for you.

Ask for a line, not a lump sum. A brand that funds the photographer this time will fund the venue next time.

How much to ask for

Add up what the event actually costs you, then ask for one line, or two if they belong together. That total is your credibility floor: you can justify it, so you can hold it. It's also the best protection against being negotiated down, because there's nothing to shave off a venue quote.

What not to do is start from what you think the brand can afford. That's how people ask for £300 for something that costs £800, cover the difference themselves, and never do it again. If the event costs £800, the ask is £800.

What you give in return

Funding gets repaid, otherwise it's a donation, and donations don't recur next year.

• Real presence on the day : the brand exists during the event, in the room, in people's hands, in what gets said at the start.
• The content from the night : photos and video you hand over, with the right to use them. Agree that beforehand, never after.
• Access to your members : someone from the brand who comes and talks to people, which is worth more to them than a logo on a poster.
• A write-up afterwards : turnout, photos, what people said. Two paragraphs sent within the week moves you from beneficiary to partner.

All of it belongs in writing in your sponsorship proposal.

The problem isn't your ask, it's the date

A brand has budget available at certain points in the year and not at others. That's the number one reason for silence, ahead of the quality of your request, and there's no way to guess it from outside. Kithe removes the problem: you add your club once, free, and your profile stays visible for when the budgets open.

• Free for organisers.
• Brands arrive when they have budget, not when you happen to write.
• Every approach goes through you: you say yes, no, or not now.

Frequently asked questions