Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Sponsorship levels and incentives for local businesses

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Sponsorship levels and incentives for local businesses

    I've searched the forums here and found some older posts on trying to get sponsorships from local business, but not any that really dive into what people are doing that seems to work so I'd like to bring it up again.

    We're a new haunt opening this year, so exposure is really important for us, but we also want to see if we can get some sponsors to help cover costs of things like ticket printing, offsetting marketing expenses, etc. I know that that the big question from any business will be, "what will this get me?". So what have you guys seen work to entice businesses to "buy in"'? What types of businesses have you had the most success with? Do you offer different levels of sponsorship? Are "in-kind" sponsorships the most common you are getting instead of monetary?

    As a primer, we were thinking of something along the following lines:
    • Level 1: For X dollars, you get on our printed promotional materials (flyers, coupons, etc) and on our website/social media, and we offer you X free tickets
    • Level 2: For 2X dollars you get everything from Level 1, plus another X free tickets, and we put a coupon for your business on the back of our tickets
    • Level 3: For 3X dollars you get everything from Level 2, plus another X free tickets and a special behind the scenes tour for up to 20 of your employees


    These are just some rough ideas we were throwing around, but I'm really hoping you guys with experience can give some pointers on good or bad ideas in this area.

    Thanks!
    -Eric
    Chief Engineer/Co-Creative Director
    HUSH Haunted Attraction

    sigpic

  • #2
    You likely need to be established before a company is gonna be associated with you.

    Comment


    • #3
      Well

      If you don't ask, the answer is always "No"...
      -Eric
      Chief Engineer/Co-Creative Director
      HUSH Haunted Attraction

      sigpic

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by eanderso13 View Post
        If you don't ask, the answer is always "No"...
        So true. So true. My main business is in marketing. Over the past 10 years of running it I have seen many local "kids" fresh out of college who were able to convince established businesses to buy into their visions via sponsorship of some event or activity. I never hear of success stories. But it keeps happening. I don't have the kind of personality / persuasive personality to pull of that kind of thing. But kudos for those who can and do. So, you don't have to have a history of success to bring in other people. Just a good convincing story and salesman.


        Originally posted by eanderso13 View Post
        Are "in-kind" sponsorships the most common you are getting instead of monetary?
        We run an outdoor haunt. We've been able to receive a lot of free building materials from other small businesses, and in some cases they even delivered it on site which saved time and hassle of finding trucks large enough to transport it. Most of it we received simply by networking, becoming friends, and asking for assistance.

        Comment


        • #5
          My haunt has been in business for 10 years. We dont have any problems with getting sponsors. As a matter of fact they fight to earn our business.
          If you are just starting out I would start with a pizza establishment. Probably a local business for your first year. Sometimes they are more willing to work with you. We started by offering them tickets for their employees as a bonus for their good work and advertising mentions on our radio spots and banners in the que line in exchange for food for our crew and flyers or posters in their stores.
          Feeding the crew and making them feel special is a vital part of a haunt and gives it that family feel.
          Our sponsors have included Monster Energy drink, Dominos, Pizza Hut, Subway, White Castle, John Deere, Pepsi and Coke just to name a few larger ones. They were not hard to get and all were very beneficial at one time or another over the years.
          I would say dont oversell what you have to offer. Be up front and as honest as possible on what you are offering them and let them know what you expect from them as well.
          In the long run its a win win for both businesses.
          With time you can get sponsorships from all sorts of businesses. Ticket printing is cheap so dont start asking for monetary handouts. They will be much more eager to co-sponsor when they can trade their goods for yours. Just my .02

          Greg
          Greg Allen
          scarygreg@andersonfarms.com
          www.andersonfarms.com

          Comment


          • #6
            We run a two level sponsorship program
            1 level free tickets, add on flyers, link on web page, and mentioned on social media contests

            2 level everything from level 1 plus x number radio commercial tag lines and coupons on tickets.

            Local pizza places are great for feeding the scare-actors like someone else mentioned, also if you personally know someone with a small business they might be more likely to sponsor you than someone who doesn't know you at all. Just inform them that there is no hard feelings if the say no this time or the following year.

            Remember everything can be negotiated

            Ned Baughman
            www.hauntedtownhall.com

            Comment


            • #7
              Food works for us!

              We shoot for the food. I usually give them free tickets for their employees in exchange for feeding the actors. This works great and saves me a bunch of money (feeding these monsters is expensive!). I also have traded golf carts for tickets, which also comes in handy since Camp Nightmare is a tractor ride away from The Plague.
              Travis "Big T" Russell
              President
              Big T Productions Inc

              Owner and Operator of "The Plague" and "Camp Nightmare"

              Customer Quote of the year: "Damn, I pissed myself"

              Comment


              • #8
                Remember the key to ANY sponsorship program is helping that business sell more of whatever they sell... you need to show you can find a way to create revenue, new customers, and potential sales increases from working with your company. They are not interested in additional exposure they are interested in making money, selling more product they are interested in added value to their product.

                Larry
                Larry Kirchner
                President
                www.HalloweenProductions.com
                www.BlacklightAttractions.com
                www.HauntedHouseSupplies.com
                www.HauntedHouseMagazine.com

                Comment


                • #9
                  I need too save this thread for the hopefully soon future.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Since I'm new and still learning as well, I appreciate all the feedback! I live in a small town and we are just starting to build up the part of town that my new haunt will be in (in 2015) so I have already thought of contacting some of the businesses around me about wanting to sponsor our haunt by way of coupons on our tickets. Is this a bad idea? Someone said asking for money isn't the right way to do it. But honestly, as a nail salon owner, if someone came into my salon and said I could advertise on the backs of tickets for $25-$50 I think that's a pretty good deal. I'm not trying to get the entire cost of ticket printing covered, but if I could get maybe 4 local businesses to advertise on my tickets for $50 each that's $200 towards ticket printing that won't have to come out of my pocket, plus the other businesses get the advertising, so it seems like a win-win to me. Am I missing something? Remember, I'm new so I probably am!!!
                    ~nail in the coffin~

                    **Crawford School of Terror**
                    Connellsville, PA

                    Comment

                    Working...
                    X