Plan budget and fundraise

When creating a draft list of costs, overestimate — budget about 1.5 times what you’d normally guess. Most organizers track this in a spreadsheet, broken down by key categories such as:

• Venue, including food and beverage
• Photo and video, during and after the event (including post-production)
• Marketing
• Speaker management
• Administration
• Audience experience

Cash and in-kind donations

Many costs can potentially be covered by in-kind donations — services someone provides in exchange for something in return. A local baker might provide pastries in exchange for tickets, or a videographer might edit talk videos in exchange for promotion. Add both cash sponsorships and in-kind donations to your budget so you can keep track.

• The Sponsor Marketplace lists select products and services that TEDx organizing teams can access at a discount or for free.

A big part of approaching a potential sponsor is helping them understand what it means to partner with a TEDx event. TEDx offers sponsors a chance to do something different: to join you on a journey and invest in it together. Three core principles to keep in mind:

• Sponsors are entering a collaborative relationship to be part of something meaningful: your TEDx event.
• Target partners who would want an authentic dialogue with the TEDx community.
• Encourage partners to be creative and dream up interesting, value-adding ways to reach both of your audiences.

Key steps:

1. Review the TEDx sponsorship rules.
2. Brainstorm potential sponsors that might be a good match for your event. Research both local businesses and larger businesses with local branches.
3. Make sure that prospective sponsors do not fall under the prohibited sponsors list or the prohibited industries list.
4. Reach out to potential sponsors with a letter. Write your own or use this template.
5. Finalize your sponsorship using an agreement. Build your own or use this template.
6. Collaborate on your activation, whether it's a booth, merch or activity.
7. Invite your sponsor to your event — many teams set aside seats for sponsor attendees.
8. Send a thank you note after the event, along with photos and a recap of your event.
9. If you’d like them to sponsor next year’s event, keep in touch.

Communicate your event’s value

• TED and TEDx speakers tackle humanity’s toughest questions with innovation, enterprise, and enduring optimism. Explain that your TEDx event is a place in your community that inspires people to change their lives, their futures, and ultimately the world.
• If you’ve hosted before, look for stories that show how people have been positively affected by your event. If you haven’t, point to the broader TEDx community’s reach and impact. Talk about the community you’re engaging and why they’re a remarkable group to reach — open-minded, curious and eager to learn.
• Get creative in sharing your vision: your theme, and any speakers you’ve confirmed or hope to recruit. Just as important, communicate the benefits for the partner.

• These might include:
• A chance to launch a new product during a workshop
• Networking opportunities
• Space to showcase a project or product offstage and outside the theater.
• Visibility through offstage programming or entertainment, like an activity booth or food and beverage offerings

Create sponsorship packages

It helps sponsors to see a detailed plan of what the sponsorship could look like and the value they’d get from partnering with your event. A sponsorship package can include:

• A brief history of TED and TEDx
• An overview of your event, including theme, speakers, and audience
• Sponsorship tiers and benefits (many TEDx events offer tiers such as $100, $500, and $1,000+)
• A detailed budget showing exactly where their money will go
• An in-kind option for sponsors who can’t contribute money (photography, food, t-shirts, printing, gift-bag items)

Find the right contact and timing

• Reach out to the person who can make sponsorship decisions (often found on a company’s “about” or “contact” page). If you’re unsure, ask the administrative department to point you in the right direction.
• Timing matters. Many teams take a multi-step approach: a letter, then a one-page project brief, a phone call, an in-person presentation of slides or a portfolio and follow-up calls. Sponsors already familiar with TED and TEDx may need fewer steps. Schedule plenty of time in your process to secure sponsors.

Sample outreach email

Not sure how to start? Use the sample sponsor outreach email as a template, and customize it to fit your event.

Work out the details early

Put together a sponsor agreement to be signed by the sponsor and the lead organizer. Clearly outline what the sponsor will provide and what they’ll get in return. Build your own or use this template.

To decide how a sponsor will engage your attendees, hold a meeting to brainstorm options based on what they can provide. A few examples:

• A “sponsored meal”: an announcement that a meal or snack was provided by the sponsor.
• A gift from the sponsor to all attendees. Gift bags are a great place to feature your sponsors.
• A short demonstration of a new technology, held offstage and outside the theater.
• An engagement area in your social space.
• Logo placement on your website and other materials.

How to feature sponsors on social media

Your social media audience is a powerful draw for many sponsors, but a logo on its own won’t serve your followers — logo-only posts read like ads and are easy to scroll past. Feature partners by showing what they made possible: focus on the product, service, or part of the event they funded and, where you can, include a photo or video of their contribution.

There’s a lot you can do to give a sponsor meaningful visibility:

• Mention a sponsor’s specific contribution by tagging their account, using their hashtag, or naming them in a caption.
• Create content together that highlights their contribution — a post, photo, or video. Have your team approve it first so the partnership is represented accurately. Once approved, either of you can share it on your websites, newsletters, and social channels, including as a collaborative post.

Keeping partners in the loop

• Add them to your event update emails, and follow up with personal notes on relevant details or new speakers.
• Foster relationships between your team and sponsor representatives where it makes sense (for example, if a sponsor is demoing a product, introduce them to your event manager).
• Invite them to pre-event activities so they get a feel for your TEDx community and spirit.

Check in at the event

Make sure your sponsor is comfortable and attended to on the day. Consider assigning one or more team members to connect with them a few times during the event.

Follow up and assess impact

After your event, follow up to review the partnership. If you’d like to partner again, let them know you value their feedback and care about the impact the partnership had. Share what you learned and discuss how to improve it next time.