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Best Practices for Sponsorship Sales + Marketing Plan

Kubernetes Community Days

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Setting Sponsorship Goals

Each KCD should have a minimum of 3 sponsors

NOTE: The 3 sponsorships are not required to be secured ahead of the CFP launching

Set conservative goals

3-5 sponsorships is reasonable for first-time KCDs

All sponsorship goals should align with offsetting cost of your overall budget
Budgets are annually planned, so the earlier you can announce your KCD, the more likely you are to get sponsors

NOTE: Keep in mind many companies do not have a fiscal year aligned to calendar year, many start their fiscal year in August

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Sponsorship Prospectus

Prior to selling sponsorships, your KCD will need to determine what sponsorships you will offer. Including:

Sponsorship Levels, Pricing, Benefits, Quantity
Whether you will offer marketing promotional opportunities

You can check out the Linux Foundation master prospectus for ideas
Review other KCD prospectuses and ask previous organizers for insight and feedback on their sponsorship offerings

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Sponsorship Sales - Intent Letter

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Sponsorship Sales: Grassroot Marketing

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Sponsorship Sales: Discounts

Offering sponsorships discounts is up to each KCD and should be discussed early on between key stakeholders.

You will want to give a discount to companies, simply as a benefit to have them as a sponsor.

This is to each KCDs discretion.
Discounts can be noted in a monetary amount, or a percentage

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Sponsorship Sales: Sponsorships aren’t selling

Look into why:

Is there enough outreach being done and to the right companies?
Is the pricing too high?
Are the sponsorship benefits appealing enough?

Consider adding benefits

Offering more free tickets, discounts to next year’s KCD, or a sponsor blurb in an attendee email

Can I share the attendee list with sponsors?

No, but you may allow sponsors to collect attendee data on-site or in their virtual booths

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Sponsorship Sales - Contracts

Here is a sample contract you can copy and edit per your unique KCD standards.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The CNCF cannot give legal advice. Each KCD should review the terms and conditions, and edit to their standards.
The cost examples are given in USD and Euros based on CNCF current standards. This of course may differ per region and size of event.

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Marketing Your Event

Please make a copy of this marketing plan document and iterate on it for your specific KCD.

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Questions?

Reach out to kcd@cncf.io

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