🎯 The Complete Sponsorship Guide for Schools and Clubs.

Your Guide to Approaching, Winning and Keeping Sponsors

✅ Part 5: Thanking and Keeping Your Sponsors

Sponsorship Delivery and Follow-up

Hooray - you’ve got a sponsor! 🎉 Now comes the most important part of the partnership: following through on your commitments.

This is where you prove you’re a professional, respectful, and trustworthy partner - and where the groundwork is laid for next time.

🎯 Why Delivery Matters

You might think the hard part is over once you get a sponsor on board, but your work is only halfway done. Delivering on your promises is essential for:

• Maintaining your credibility

• Encouraging future support

• Building word-of-mouth goodwill (sponsors talk!)

• Strengthening your organisation’s reputation

When a sponsor says, “They made it easy - and they really delivered,” you’ve struck gold.

📋 What Does “Delivering” Actually Mean?

Let’s get practical. Delivering on your promises can include:

• Displaying the sponsor’s signage as agreed

• Including their logo on flyers, social media, programs, or shirts

• Giving their verbal shout-out at the event (don’t forget!)

• Honouring exclusivity clauses

• Providing access to their stall, marquee, or activity

• Handing out or displaying their marketing materials

• Updating them with event results or photos

• Saying thank you

💡 Top Tip: Go back to your proposal document and sponsorship agreement. Use it as your checklist to tick off what’s been delivered.

🛠️ Tools to Help You Stay Organised

Sponsorship Tracking Spreadsheet
Keep details such as contact information, what was promised, what was delivered, and notes for next time.

Delivery Checklist for Event Day
Print and use it like a bump-in schedule: set up signs, prepare shout-outs, place brochures, etc.

Sponsor Pack Folder (Physical or Digital)
Include copies of promotional material, social media screenshots, and thank-you letters - a great record to pass on to next year’s team.

🤖 Let AI Help You Nail the Details

Use Fundraising Whisperer AI to help keep things on track:

• “Make me a checklist of everything I promised to deliver to a Gold Sponsor of our school disco.”

• “Draft an email confirming to a sponsor what we’ve planned for them on event day.”

• “Create a PA announcement thanking our sponsors and naming each one.”

💬 Communication Is Key

Don’t leave sponsors in the dark. Keep them informed with:

• Pre-event reminders: “We’re excited to have you! Here’s what to expect.”

• On-the-day updates: A welcome message, help finding their stall, etc.

• Post-event wrap-up: Results, photos, feedback

Sponsors want to feel included and acknowledged, not forgotten once the money is transferred!

🚩 What to Do if Something Goes Wrong

It happens. A banner doesn’t arrive. A logo is left off a flyer. Here’s how to handle it:

• Own it quickly

• Apologise sincerely

• Offer a make-good (e.g. extra shout-outs, a bonus feature on your socials)

• Record it for next time so it doesn’t happen again

Sponsors aren’t expecting perfection - they’re expecting professionalism. How you respond matters.

🙌 Thanking and Keeping Sponsors

The fundraiser’s over. The glitter has settled. The sausages are eaten. But before you pack away your bunting, it’s time to do something fundamental - thank your sponsors.

This isn’t just good manners (though we do love those!). It’s also a smart strategy. Sponsors who feel valued are way more likely to support you again.

Let’s make them feel like the legends they are.

🫶 Why Thanking Matters

Sponsorship is a relationship, not a transaction. Showing your appreciation:

• Strengthens your connection

• Reinforces the value they received

• Sets the stage for repeat support

• Helps YOU stand out from the crowd

Think of it as the starting point for your next sponsorship conversation.

🎁 10 Creative Ways to Thank Your Sponsors

• Handwritten Greeting Card
  Skip the business letter. A short, warm card feels much more personal and memorable.

• Send a Photo
  Snap a photo of kids holding a 'thank you' sign, or of the sponsor’s logo displayed proudly.

• Create a Shout-Out Video
  Record a quick thank-you on event day. Simple, authentic and shareable.

• Gift Something Sweet
  Think cupcakes, bikkies or even a plant with a note: “Thanks for helping us grow.”

• Public Thank-Yous
  On social media, your website, and your newsletter. Tag them and give them a little digital fame.

• Certificates of Appreciation
  These often end up proudly framed in local businesses. Add student signatures or event photos.

• Invite Them to an Event
  Let them see their impact firsthand by attending awards nights, concerts or assemblies.

• Feature Them in a Sponsor Profile
  Share a Q&A about their business in your next newsletter or Facebook post.

• Run a Thank You Tent
  Like a sponsor lounge at your event – light nibbles, name tags, good vibes.

• Follow Up with Results
  Send a mini report: what you raised, what it funded, and what it meant.

📌 Sample Thank You Message (for social media)

“A massive THANK YOU to [Business Name] for supporting our school fete! Thanks to your generosity, we raised over $6,000 for new playground equipment! 💛 Please support the businesses that support our kids. #communitymatters #fetesuccess”

👀 AI Can Help You Say Thanks

You can use the Fundraising Whisperer AI to:

• Write heartfelt thank you messages

• Create fun and personal certificate wording

• Draft social media captions or email copy

• Generate ideas based on your event type

Try prompts like:

• “Write a thank-you note from a P&C to a local vet who sponsored the animal nursery.”

• “What’s a funny but appropriate caption to thank a plumbing company that sponsored a portaloo?”

💡 Tip: Start Building the Next Relationship

After the thank you:

• Ask if they’d like early access to next year’s sponsorship options

• Offer to include them in future newsletters

• Ask what worked well (and what didn’t)

Every time you connect after the event, you deepen the roots of that relationship.