Why Your Top Sponsor Tier Should Sell Out
Most sponsor decks are built backwards.
Somebody starts with the companies who gave last year, works out what they might give this year, and builds the levels around those numbers. Then a few more tiers get added underneath so there is something for everyone.
The result is a shelf. Anyone can buy anything, any level, at any time, right up to the day of the event.
An open shelf tells a prospect that your top tier is a price.
Prices get negotiated. Prices get compared. A price is the kind of thing a company asks for a discount on, and the kind of thing they can walk away from without losing anything.
A capped tier tells them something different. It says the top tier is a position, and there is one of it.
Positions do not work like prices. There is one presenting sponsor, and when it is taken it is taken, and the company that wanted it has to wait until next year. That changes the conversation from what does this cost to who else is asking.
So build the inventory first.
Decide what exists before you decide who buys it. How many tiers, how many of each, what each one actually carries in visibility and access, and what it is worth relative to how many people will be in the room.
Then cap the top and say so in writing. One presenting sponsor. Two at the tier below. Put the number on the page.
The resistance to this is always the same. What if somebody wants to buy in at the top and it is gone.
Then you have discovered that your top tier is worth more than you charged for it, and you know exactly what to do next year.
There is a rule underneath all of this and it is worth stating plainly.
Frictionless to transact. Earned to belong.
Take every obstacle out of the transaction. Giving should take one action, buying a ticket should take one action, sponsoring at the ordinary levels should take one action.
Then keep the deliberate obstacle on the thing that confers standing. The cap is the obstacle. That is the point of it.
People do not value what anyone can have.
One more thing makes the cap work now. Scarcity is only persuasive when the thing being made scarce can be verified, and a seat in a room is about as verifiable as attention gets.
Anchor works with community nonprofits, foundations, schools, and parishes. If you want this looked at for your organization, start with getting your bearings. It's free and takes about five minutes.