BENEFITS OF IN-KIND SPONSORING EVENTS

As VP, Marketing & Communications for the Greater Orlando MPI (GOAMPI) chapter I definitely see the benefit of event in-kind sponsorships. GOAMPI doesn't have to pay out companies (from our very limited budget) for providing us products and services and they allow us to create an outstanding event! But from a business owner's perspective it is a bit more difficult to justify being able to provide these products & services in-kind a.k.a. FREE, without knowing ahead of time if we will get ROI (Return on Investment). Being on both sides, I can tell you the advantages of having your company become involved in sponsoring an event.


GOAMPI being a non-profit means not having the budget that allows us to bring over-the-top, outstanding events to our members and guests without being creative. When I say creative I mean coming up with ways to get businesses involved with us and making sure everyone benefits. It has been one of our priorities to figure out ways to show ROI to businesses interested in partnering with GOAMPI. We want businesses to get business from helping out one of our event! It is a priority for us!

There are many advantages for businesses to choose to donate their product or services for an event. The number one reason is the exposure for their business. The event gives businesses an opportunity to get up in front of all the attendees and let them know they are out there! Sometimes product samples are involved so people actually get to "experience" your business. With GOAMPI, our promotions don't end with just the event... prior to the event we put the business logo and website on our marketing flyer's. Once that is created we post the flyer on the GOAMPI website, which received around 650 hits a day. After that we utilize our social networking tools to post the event and market it out there; Twitter, Facebook, Linked In and You Tube. Between the four social networking sites we have over to 2,000 followers. So with the GOAMPI website e-blasts and the social networking sites, businesses have the potential of reaching well over 3,000 people! Not to mention they have the support of an internationally recognized Industry Association supporting and promoting them.

Once at the event, the sponsors have an opportunity to network with everyone at the event. Most attendees are sales people from hotels, DMC's, venue's (such as Disney & Universal), as well as meeting planners and event suppliers. We have anywhere from 80 - 150 at each of our events. At the event networking becomes extremely important. Once in front of the attendee's that is your time to talk up your business and make sure everyone knows your the face behind the sponsorship. Exchanging business cards become extremely powerful and making connections proves to be very important. Make sure to seat yourself at a table where you could have potential clients as well.

Once the event is over, the marketing of the sponsors continues. We put the business logo (with web link) on the GOAMPI website as advertisements, as well as on a GOAMPI page specifically created for sponsorship information. We also mention the business it in our monthly newsletter as well as our quarterly publication Florida Connects which we share with the rest of the Florida chapters. In addition, we now keep a list of who the in-kind sponsors are and circulate that amongst the Board of Directors and soon to the entire membership. Our in-kind sponsors are extremely important to us and we will go above and beyond to get their businesses out to our members any opportunity we can!

The potential for future business is extraordinary! Your business name is put out there and people can see what your business is all about. If you're willing to donate your time and possibly your product, the benefits are there. I gave examples of what GOAMPI does for their in-kind sponsor's, but check with other organizations you are contemplating sponsoring and make sure you are getting a ROI on your donation. Your in-kind sponsorship is just as important as the organization having a great event!