Sponsorship Checklist: 25 Questions to Ask Before Signing
Before signing a sponsorship, confirm the audience, exact rights, complete budget, operating responsibilities and process for handling changes. Use the answers to check whether the proposal supports the campaign your team intends to run. Essential benefits should be specific enough to plan and deliver.
The 25 questions below form a commercial review checklist. They help prepare the proposal for your procurement, legal and other internal reviewers; they do not determine whether an agreement is legally sufficient.
Which audience and event details need confirmation?
1. Which event, dates and locations does the package cover? Separate a single event from a season, series or multiyear offer. Record any dates that remain tentative.
2. Who is expected to attend? Ask for audience characteristics relevant to the product and the markets the brand serves.
3. What supports the attendance forecast? Request prior results and current registrations where available. Keep forecasts distinct from recorded attendance.
4. Which part of that audience can this package reach? Check access restrictions, activation location and operating hours rather than relying only on the event total.
5. What changes from previous editions? A new venue, schedule or format can make last year’s evidence less comparable. Ask which assumptions the seller has updated.
Which rights should be defined in the proposal?
6. What are the quantities, formats and placements? Replace general benefits such as “digital exposure” with the channels, deliverables and dates being offered.
7. What exactly does the sponsor designation allow? Request the wording and the materials on which it will appear.
8. Which marks, content and appearances are included? Ask who controls each permission needed for your planned campaign and which approvals are separate.
9. What does category exclusivity cover? Define the product category, locations, channels, term and existing-partner exceptions.
10. Can the seller deliver every essential right? Identify dependencies on a venue, artist, athlete, broadcaster or other party. Treat unresolved permissions as open conditions.
What should you ask about cost and execution?
11. What is the total rights price and payment schedule? Confirm the term and basis of the quoted amount rather than assuming it is annual or all-inclusive.
12. Which services are included and excluded? Separate space, equipment, production, staffing, utilities and product handling.
13. What will the brand need to supply? List artwork, stock, staff, equipment, guest information and other inputs with deadlines.
14. What are the operating requirements? Obtain setup, breakdown, access, storage and delivery instructions early enough to price the work.
15. Does the complete campaign fit the budget? Combine the rights price with execution and supporting promotion. Label unquoted allowances as estimates.
Who will own approvals and delivery?
16. Who is the accountable contact on each side? Identify the person coordinating the campaign and the contacts responsible for specific workstreams.
17. What needs approval before production? Ask for the submission process, reviewers, specifications and expected turnaround.
18. When do final materials need to be ready? Confirm production cutoffs for print, signage, content and any event-owned placements.
19. Who handles event-day decisions? Establish who can resolve access, placement or delivery problems while the activation is operating.
20. What evidence will show that assets were delivered? Agree on relevant photographs, screenshots, placement records or other documentation, plus the delivery date.
For an example of why the process matters, SXSW’s client resources hub separates deliverable submissions such as sampling requests, booth design and recording applications. Ask the event for its own current requirements; one sponsor submission does not necessarily settle every activity.
What should be discussed if plans change?
21. What is the agreed process if the date, venue or format changes? Ask your reviewers to assess how the proposal addresses those situations.
22. What happens if an important asset becomes unavailable? Request a clear process for proposing and approving alternatives rather than assuming any replacement is equivalent.
23. How will additional work be requested and approved? Identify who can authorize a change and how its cost and timetable are recorded.
24. Which dates affect future decisions? Have the appropriate reviewers identify renewal, notice and other relevant deadlines before the team makes calendar assumptions.
25. Which promises are still missing from the final documents? Reconcile the proposal, attachments and agreed revisions so the operating team has one consistent scope.
How should you use the completed checklist?
Keep a response log with the question, answer, supporting document, owner and status. Mark an item confirmed, not applicable or unresolved. Focus first on issues that affect the reason for purchasing the package.
Do not treat 25 completed boxes as a guarantee of a sound purchase. An answer can be clear and still reveal that the offer does not fit the campaign. Escalate legal and other specialist questions to the relevant reviewers, then make the commercial decision against the original brief.
Use the sponsorship comparison guide to evaluate alternatives. When exploring opportunities on Anvara, include these questions in the proposal review so important delivery details are resolved before the commitment.
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