The Importance of In-Kind Sponsorship

By Nan Krushinski

The world is slowly opening up and events are planning their return. Are you ready? Did your budget survive the last year? Do you need help covering your bottom line?

For most event and festival planners, 2020 was rough to say the least. No events. No work. No income. Maybe, no job. Now, it’s time to regroup and tell the world (and your boss) you’re ready to get planning again.

It’ll be okay. Even though events have pretty much come to a screeching halt around the world, and sponsors are saving their money for events in late 2021 and beyond, companies still want to be involved with events and festivals.

If they don’t have the money to spend at this point, you can always ask them for In-Kind donations. In-Kind donations are services or products that can be used at your events and festivals without an exchange of cash. And they can help your bottom line by not costing you money out of pocket to buy or rent.

Corporations are looking for way to get their products in front of consumers – be it virtually, through sampling, couponing, or on-site promotions.

As a festival or event, you need products and services. You need dumpsters. Wouldn’t it be nice to save hundreds or thousands of dollars by trading those dumpsters for tickets, advertising in your program book, social media, signage, VIP packages, referrals, and a lot of other creative ideas that you and your team think up?

If your soft drink vendor will donate product for your VIP area and volunteers, that will help your bottom line, too.

A Very Brief History

Sponsorships have been around for a long time – 5th Century BC – Ancient Greece. While we aren’t looking to name coliseums, we are looking for a little love for our festivals and events. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, budgets have been affected by most corporations and small businesses. These are the folks we first approach for partnerships. There is still hope. These companies still want to get their businesses out there and we still need what they have to offer – but with a twist.

But first, let us talk about what In-Kind Sponsorship is.

Tandem describes the difference as In-Kind Sponsorship provides a value in form of goods and services, whereas cash sponsorship is when a sponsor pays a fee in the form of cash for promotional return. In-Kind Sponsorship can also be known as value In-Kind Sponsorship. Sponsors can add product and/or services on top of cash, too.

In-Kind Sponsorship is different than a donation. Donation of product or services typically does not require anything back from you in turn, such as promotions, advertising, or anything else of perceived value. In-Kind Sponsorship is another type of sponsorship but with products or service in lieu of cash.

While it’s easy to be concerned about money, money, money, there are plenty of ways to get creative, and after all, that’s what we do best! So, let’s talk about how to get creative with sponsors in ways that help you and help them.

There are pros and cons to In-Kind Sponsorship. In-Kind Sponsorships help with your bottom line. It can add to attendee and volunteer experiences. It can help companies with travel fees and hotels. It helps with board development. The downside of In-Kind Sponsorship is taking something because it is offered, but not essential to the event or non-profit, can be costly, cumbersome, or just unnecessary.

Value of In-Kind Sponsorship

The value of In-Kind Sponsorships can be viewed in different ways. It can off-set hard costs for your event or festival, relieving some line item in your budget, which will in turn save you money. It can bring an association with a high-value corporate client, and it can help get a sponsor in the door which can eventually lead to a cash sponsorship.

You do not always have to accept In-Kind donations to your event or festival. Realize there may be costs to implementing an In-Kind Sponsorship. There may be products or services that you do not need but are being offered. Think about what you would do with these. Are you able to store them? Are you able to use them? Are you able to off-set any hard costs by having them? Will it cost you to accept this donation? You can always say no, even if you think you should be saying yes, because a sponsor wants to be involved in your event. This must work for you and your event.

Essential vs Non-Essential

Essential items are needed for the event or festival to function – dumpsters, barricades, port-a-johns, staging, sound, fencing, tables, chairs, and so on.

Non-essentials items that are offered to a festival or event can still be useful. IEG recommends that non-essential In-Kind Sponsorships be valued at 50% of their cash value. Again, this can vary and like with anything, is always negotiable.

When it’s time to think about looking for In-Kind Sponsorship, think outside the box. According to TandemPartnerships.com: Hilton and Live Nation have a five-year deal that includes Hilton members using their Hilton Honors points for exclusive concerts, events and other related experiences, Live Nation executives and artists qualifying for reduced rates at Hilton Hotels, and Live Nation, along with Ticketmaster, promoting Hilton rooms on their websites after guests purchase tickets.

Sporting events will utilize In-Kind Sponsors for a variety of areas including supplies, equipment, transportation, food and beverages, giveaways for their participants, accommodations, and travel expenses. Housing for traveling athletics can cost a bundle. New hotels in a market love to get their name out and will often exchange, or deeply discount, rooms in exchange for promotional consideration.

Supermarkets, beverage distributors, and local stores might be willing to donate products for exposure. Sometimes their stock will include close-to-expiration goods that they cannot sell in a store but are still perfectly fine for consumption.

Giveaways are the grand slam when you are dealing with sporting events, be it an athlete, fan, or spectator. Everyone seems to love the medals, t-shirts, and memorabilia that comes with being at an event. Sponsors love being associated with a great event and will gladly donate the printing costs or even the shirts to be a part of the fun.

Promotional consideration for any of these sponsors might include extensive social media coverage, logos on uniforms and merchandise, and programs ads. Do not forget the ubiquitous flashing signs at games and in arenas!

Your local municipality can also offer In-Kind Sponsorships in the form of police and fire department personnel services and support. Public works departments can offer the use of dumpsters, trash compactors, and garbage boxes. Parks departments may have venues available for your next great event. And of course, municipalities can offer large discounts on all these services when it’s time to pay for these costs.

Corporations are willing to give you volunteers in exchange for corporate recognition. Volunteers are invaluable and, in some cases, can even eliminate staff costs. Charities will come on board if given the opportunity to fundraise for their organization. You can use them to help serve beverages, for example, and they can take a piece of the pie of what they’ve sold.

Some organizations, such as Globally Connected: A Soiree in Honor of International Service, is a global themed, festive, and formal fundraiser for the programs and initiatives of the Young Professionals for International Cooperation of Southern NY (SNY YPIC). SNY YPIC serves as the young professional arm of the nation’s largest grassroots foreign policy organization – United Nations Association of USA. Their requests come in hopes that their In-Kind Sponsorship items are eco-friendly, “green,” promote sustainable development, or are international affairs related. They also find gift cards, vouchers, and discount coupons are useful.

Here is a list of possible in-kind donations. The list can be endless; limited only by your imagination.

• Airlines can trade seats for speakers, artists, company employees, athletes, staff, and VIPs • Alcohol (Malt, Wine, Spirits, Cider, Craft Beer)

• Arts and Crafts Store (supplies, baskets, paint, fake flowers, paper)

• Audio-Visual (photographer, videographer, sound, lights, engineers)

• Automotive (dealers, service, sales) • Balloons (decorations, children’s area)

• Banks (help with token counting, handle cash onsite or deposits at night, volunteers)

• Barges (floating bars, fireworks)

• Barricades

• Book dealers (genealogy, children’s area, fundraisers)

• Children’s (diapers, wipes, sanitizer)

• Chiropractors (for entertainers and staff, or for the general public)

• Clothing and misc. (Target, Walmart, etc.)

• Computer equipment (chargers, phones, tablets, laptops, scanners, speakers, and more)

• Craft store supplies (yarns, glue, markers, crayons, and more for children’s area)

• Cranes

• Credit Cards

• Décor/Decorations

• Door prizes (gift cards, hotel stays, meals, games, promotional items, books, and more) • Electrician (charging station, services, equipment)

• Emergency Services (Police, Fire, EMT, Ambulance)

• Entertainment (fundraisers, disc jockeys, bands)

• Equipment (tools, tarps, etc.)

• Fencing

• Floral (onsite decorations, backstage, green rooms)

• Food Councils (Beef, Milk) • Food items (Sampling – chips, grain bars, candy)

• Golf carts (staff, entertainment transportation, equipment transfer, garbage collection)

• Graphics services

• Grocery Stores (inserts, cross-promotions, in-store events)

• HealthCare (hospital systems, Urgent Care)

• Home Improvement Stores - Lowes, Home Depot (lumber, zip ties, tools, ladders, sinks, and more)

• Hotel Accommodations for discounted or complimentary rates for artists, speakers, VIPs, raffles

• Landscaping (onsite landscaping)

• Law Firms (pro bono work)

• Light Towers

• Lottery

• Media (TV, radio, newspaper, social media) can offer television, radio, print, and digital advertising

• Moving Company (moving services, boxes)

• Music Store (props, strings, repairs, backline)

• Office Supplies (printing, paper, supplies)

• Outdoor supplies (first aid kit, hand sanitizer, sunscreen, bug spray, binoculars, compass/GPS, poison ivy lotion)

• Parks

• Pharmacy (safety items – ear plugs, sunscreen, first aid kits, diapers, wipes)

• Phone and Internet Services

• Printing (invite, program book, mailer, etc.)

• Production (Sound, Lights, Staging)

• Raffle and Auction gifts

• Realty

• Reception items (goody bags, candy, beverages, snacks, booklets, gift items)

• Refrigeration (reefer truck, ice)

• Rental Vehicles (transportation for entertainers, volunteers, VIPs)

• Restaurants (local, chains – hospitality area, board meetings, volunteer area)

• Signage (banners, foot path signage, pole banners, feather, billboards, kiosks)

• Soft drinks - pop, waters, teas, juices, energy, coffee (for sale, volunteers, green room, hospitality suite, staff)

• Sporting Goods

• Tax Services

• Teams – sports (appearances, donations)

• Tents, tables, chairs

• Toy Stores (gifts, entertainment for green room)

• Trailers (storage, green room, staff trailers)

• Transportation (trains, planes, and automobiles, vehicle rentals, 15 passenger vans, cargo vans, Uber, Lyft, and buses) •

Travel (online, agent)

• TV services (Direct, cable, etc.)

• Utilities (Electric, gas, water)

• Valet

• Venues (fundraisers, staff, committee and board meetings, trainings, press conferences, package pickups, performances)

• Volunteer supplies (t-shirt, food, water, sunscreen, bug spray, hat, gloves, etc.)

• Waste Management (dumpsters, garbage boxes, removal services)

• Wholesale Clubs - supplies, food, and beverage donations (green room, hospitality suite, volunteers, staff, onsite sales, vendors)

The benefits are clear – while cash and your typical sponsorship might be preferred, there is a lot to be said for In-Kind Sponsorship at festivals and events. Think beyond the usual. Get creative. I would love to hear your brilliant ideas!

Credits:

• IEG

• Racedirectorshq.com

• Tandem

• Sponsorship Early Days

Nan Krushinski has thirty-five years of festival and event planning experience. She is the Special Events Administrator for the City of Delray Beach. Nan is also the co-founder and director emerita of the Pittsburgh Irish Festival, and co-founder of the Association of Irish and Celtic Festivals. She can be reached at 412-654-9000 and KrushinskiN@MyDelrayBeach.com.

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