How to get Hackathon sponsors?

[TensorCalculus]

TL;DR Summary: Inquiring about how to get sponsors for hackathons

So basically, I have been running hackathons for a while, it's been about half a year now. The process is gruelling but extremely rewarding.
Every time me and my team run these hackathons, one of the main problems is sponsors. We send out literally hundreds of emails and maybe get a response from a handful, maybe 2 or 3 if we're lucky.

Here's the email I tend to use for food sponsors, with personal information taken out (the email is similar for monetary sponsors too):

Dear Sir/Madam,

Hello, my name's [name] and I'm a Year 9 student at [school] here in Cambridge.

I'm emailing to enquire about a sponsorship opportunity for an upcoming community event run by our nonprofit organisation, [organisation], of which I am a cofounder and the marketing head - a hackathon, an event where young people come together to make things, supported by [a big tech company] and held at their global headquarters.

[Comment about their food] - I would be absolutely thrilled if [company] would be able to sponsor our event, by provision of food for 60 [or the amount of food] people. In return, our team will promote you in our event, as well as feature you on our event website and marketing materials.

This is out [number] event, following on from [number] very successful past hackathons [links to past event sites]. This Hackathon (named [name]), scheduled for [date], has the theme [theme].

We believe this would be a wonderful opportunity to support young people interested in engineering and coding.
[more comments on their company, and saying we would be thrilled/delighted etc if they were to sponsor us]

I look forward to your response! Let me know if you need any more information.

Kind Regards,
[my name]

So, we have managed partnerships with pretty big tech companies before, but they have not given us huge amounts, only one provided significant funding and support with a venue etc. Mostly the rest just provided us with merch. Of course, we had food sponsors provide food. But for the scale that our nonprofit is getting to, it would be great to establish some long term partnerships, or manage to get larger sums of money. How do you suggest I switch about my strategies in order to increase my chances of landing better sponsors? I am running another hackathon in a couple of months and before I go out and ask for sponsors, I'd like to get some feedback and hopefully increase my success rate when it comes to sponsorship - especially as other areas of my life get more and more busy, it would be nice to not have to send like 200 emails just for a couple of sponsors...

 

[berkeman]

Hi, so I'm not sure if this really fits into Tech

I've moved it to the General Discussion forum for now.

I'd like to get some feedback and hopefully increase my success rate when it comes to sponsorship

One thing that may help to generate sponsor interest is to provide some links to previous events of yours and be sure to have a Sponsor page for each of those events. That way they can see you are legitimate, and are a growing source of interest from students and the public.

 

[TensorCalculus]

One thing that may help to generate sponsor interest is to provide some links to previous events of yours and be sure to have a Sponsor page for each of those events. That way they can see you are legitimate, and are a growing source of interest from students and the public.

Yep, done here:

This is our [number] event, following on from [number] very successful past hackathons [links to past events' sites].

 

[berkeman]

Yep, done here:

No, I mean a link to a website for your events. Like this one for a running event where I am a Medic each year:

https://leighhsc.org/stampede-sponsorship/

 

[TensorCalculus]

Like this, no? : https://youthacks.org/
and then one for each event as well, for example: https://scrapyard.hackclub.com/cambridge

 

[berkeman]

Like this, no? : https://youthacks.org/
and then one for each event as well, for example: https://scrapyard.hackclub.com/cambridge

Yes, exactly! Be sure to put those links into your e-mail solicitations in a way that makes it easy for prospective sponsors to see how they could be featured.

 

[TensorCalculus]

Yes, exactly! Be sure to put those links into your e-mail solicitations in a way that makes it easy for prospective sponsors to see how they could be featured.

Yep, that's what we do! Do you think it is worth also adding links to things like our social media in the email, or is that too much?

 

[sbrothy]

TL;DR Summary: Inquiring about how to get sponsors for hackathons

So basically, I have been running hackathons for a while, it's been about half a year now. The process is gruelling but extremely rewarding.
Every time me and my team run these hackathons, one of the main problems is sponsors. We send out literally hundreds of emails and maybe get a response from a handful, maybe 2 or 3 if we're lucky.

Here's the email I tend to use for food sponsors, with personal information taken out (the email is similar for monetary sponsors too):

Dear Sir/Madam,

Hello, my name's [name] and I'm a Year 9 student at [school] here in Cambridge.

I'm emailing to enquire about a sponsorship opportunity for an upcoming community event run by our nonprofit organisation, [organisation], of which I am a cofounder and the marketing head - a hackathon, an event where young people come together to make things, supported by [a big tech company] and held at their global headquarters.

[Comment about their food] - I would be absolutely thrilled if [company] would be able to sponsor our event, by provision of food for 60 [or the amount of food] people. In return, our team will promote you in our event, as well as feature you on our event website and marketing materials.

This is out [number] event, following on from [number] very successful past hackathons [links to past event sites]. This Hackathon (named [name]), scheduled for [date], has the theme [theme].

We believe this would be a wonderful opportunity to support young people interested in engineering and coding.
[more comments on their company, and saying we would be thrilled/delighted etc if they were to sponsor us]

I look forward to your response! Let me know if you need any more information.

Kind Regards,
[my name]

So, we have managed partnerships with pretty big tech companies before, but they have not given us huge amounts, only one provided significant funding and support with a venue etc. Mostly the rest just provided us with merch. Of course, we had food sponsors provide food. But for the scale that our nonprofit is getting to, it would be great to establish some long term partnerships, or manage to get larger sums of money. How do you suggest I switch about my strategies in order to increase my chances of landing better sponsors? I am running another hackathon in a couple of months and before I go out and ask for sponsors, I'd like to get some feedback and hopefully increase my success rate when it comes to sponsorship - especially as other areas of my life get more and more busy, it would be nice to not have to send like 200 emails just for a couple of sponsors...

If you're not already, offering some kind of evident / straightforward advertisement opportunity might work wonders... but I guess it's so obvious you're already doing something along those lines.

 

[TensorCalculus]

If you're not already, offering some kind of evident / straightforward advertisement opportunity might work wonders... but I guess it's so obvious you're already doing something along those lines.

Yeah, we offer to feature them on social media, which I guess is pretty direct advertisement. But then at the same time, our social media accounts are small so...

 

[sbrothy]

Forgive me for being a little old and out of the loop, but these "hackatons"... are they generally meant as a physical meeting of like minded individuals or is there also widespread online participation? I mean I understand the charm of meeting physically. I did something similar in my youth, just with games - in particular board- and role playing like Star Wars, Call of Cthulhu, Twilight Zone, Supremacy etc.... It was kinda before it made sense dragging your C64, or in my case my MSX Toshiba HX-22 anywhere and the internet was basically a dial-up modem with which you were lucky to reach this new state of the art thing called a BBS.

EDIT: Man, I really was a nerd.

 

[TensorCalculus]

Forgive me for being a little old and out of the loop, but these "hackatons"... are they generally meant as a physical meeting of like minded individuals or is there also widespread online participation? I mean I understand the charm of meeting physically. I did something similar in my youth, just with games - in particular board- and role playing like Star Wars, Call of Cthulhu, Twilight Zone, Supremacy etc.... It was kinda before it made sense dragging your C64, or in my case my MSX Toshiba HX-22 anywhere and the internet was basically a dial-up modem with which you were lucky to reach this new state of the art thing called a BBS.

Hackathons are supposed to be social events for nerdy people who like making stuff :)

Basically what happens is that over a specific period of time (maybe that's 12 hours, 24 hours... I have heard of 5 day hackathons before too) the attendees form teams and spend the hackathon making something, anything, a cool project relating to the theme of the hackathon. They're free to do basically whatever they want (within reason), so long as they have a project by the end of it. There's a really nice mix of pure software projects (most people at hackathons are coding nerds) and projects that combine multiple disciplines - like art, music, coding, physics and hardware work. Then at the end of the hackathon, the projects are often judged and people get prizes!

Our aim is to organise free hackathons for teenagers (that includes materials, food... everything), because we all know what it's like to be ostracised as a nerd and being able to create spaces where nerds can come together and have a ton of fun, make new friends, and learn, is something really cool! (Well, clearly lots of the big companies and Universities don't since they won't sponsor us, but oh well haha) Our hackathons are all in-person, physical, but there's some online hackathons and hybrid hackathons, we just think that the best type of hackathon is in person.

(By the way, that meeting with the games sounds really fun!!!)

EDIT: Man, I really was a nerd.

I can imagine when I'm older I will be saying the exact same thing :)

 

[sbrothy]

That the big companies and universities wont sponsor you is their loss. They should really have people out there spotting the next geniuses to support. Then again I guess the days when you earned your PhD at the age of 16 is mostly over unless you're the kind of genius in danger of crossing the line to schizophrenia.

Hope you have fun!

EDIT: But I can understand how the personal aspect is important. For your generation the internet is a given I guess.

 

[TensorCalculus]

That the big companies and universities wont sponsor you is their loss. They should really have people out there spotting the next geniuses to support. Then again I guess the days when you earned your PhD at the age of 16 is mostly over unless you're the kind of genius in danger of crossing the line to schizophrenia.

Hope you have fun!

Thanks - that is so nice of you! :D - yes, we definitely have some geniuses in our organising team and our participant pool (the sorts of kids who can come second in a super time-pressured nationwide coding competition for which you are supposed to be in teams of three... on their own... a year before they're the average age the competition gets) but nothing like PhDs at 16! Thank you for your good wishes - you have no idea how much it means to a small kid like me to be hearing this sort of stuff from people doing the sorts of things I wish to do in the future like you :D

 

[berkeman]

@TensorCalculus -- are you familiar with Maker Faires and the Maker community? It looks like the closest one to you would be in Belgium, unfortunately:

https://makerfaire.com/globalmap/

They are showcases for the Maker movement:

https://makezine.com/?utm_source=ma...utm_campaign=maker-updates&utm_content=launch

It's similar to the Hackathon movement, but with a very broad base of interest.

 

[jack action]

Have you tried contacting the University of Cambridge? Their department of computer science and technology has outreach and public engagement activities. They even have ties with the Raspberry Pi Foundation.

If they cannot help you directly (after all, you could be considered a partner that inspires some of their prospective students), you may find resourceful people to help you find your sponsors. (You have one email address on each page linked above.)

 

[TensorCalculus]

@TensorCalculus -- are you familiar with Maker Faires and the Maker community? It looks like the closest one to you would be in Belgium, unfortunately:

https://makerfaire.com/globalmap/

They are showcases for the Maker movement:

https://makezine.com/?utm_source=ma...utm_campaign=maker-updates&utm_content=launch

It's similar to the Hackathon movement, but with a very broad base of interest.

Oh wow yes, this looks very interesting. I have not heard of it before. I might pop over to some of their events if they ever do any nearby, they sound fun! Do you think they would be open to providing funds for us, if we were open to then adding the event to their catalogue of Maker Faires?

Have you tried contacting the University of Cambridge? Their department of computer science and technology has outreach and public engagement activities. They even have ties with the Raspberry Pi Foundation.

If they cannot help you directly (after all, you could be considered a partner that inspires some of their prospective students), you may find resourceful people to help you find your sponsors. (You have one email address on each page linked above.)

Yes, multiple times, even through people that we know within the University (professors, etc). Every time we have been ignored: though for this hackathon I am going to try once again, with a different department, different contact... never hurts to try. I just realised that I have never contacted the outreach officers: they should have been my first port of call! Is there anything you think I should change about the email template I provided above (apart from of course making it talk about providing funds rather than food) before I send them an email?
We already have close ties with the Raspberry Pi Foundation - they are our main partner and provide us with a lot of support! The Raspberry Pi name is a huge asset when reaching out to other sponsors, too. :D

 

[jack action]

Is there anything you think I should change about the email template I provided above (apart from of course making it talk about providing funds rather than food) before I send them an email?

We already have close ties with the Raspberry Pi Foundation - they are our main partner and provide us with a lot of support! The Raspberry Pi name is a huge asset when reaching out to other sponsors, too. :D

There are two reasons for someone to sponsor you:

• They think they can get something out of it;
• They are excited about your project.

The University of Cambridge (UC) will probably be of the first kind. They want new "clients". It's the same as the local restaurant. The difference is that if your local restaurant feeds 60 people for free, what can they expect in return? Even if all 60 people eat once at their restaurant, it wouldn't be worth the effort, and the publicity reaching out to the public for your event can be considered next to none.

But for UC, if only 1 of the 60 people decides to join, that is a very big deal. And you are providing a pool of very motivated people who may be good candidates for university. This is your selling point, what you can provide for them. You are not asking for sponsorship, you are offering a partnership.

But you have to remember that you are also competing with their own outreach program. When you will reach them, the employees there might see you as outsourcing their jobs and think of you as a threat. They can dismiss you even if it is not in their employer's best interest. So you may have to please them too. One way may be to invite them to participate in your event. Could they make a small presentation? Could they send an invited judge? Maybe present the "UC award" to the most promising candidate?

I knew you were related to the Raspberry Pi Foundation (RPF) too, and that is why I mentioned it. This may fall in the second category. The fact that RPF is linked to UC, and they have a complete web page on their website, is most likely the result of a very passionate UC employee about RPF. His name and personal email are on the web page. It says a lot about his passion; he wants to be reached. I don't know how much power he holds or how many contacts he has, but it is worth trying to connect with a fellow RPF member and see where it can go.

Think partnership instead of sponsorship. And I'm not talking about just free publicity, which is very difficult to sell, especially when you have low visibility. Sell the kids you have. They already know that the kids doing extracurricular activities on their own are often the best students. Do a survey with your participants: are they thinking about going to UC? Emphasize the ones who don't, those who want to study abroad or prefer to get into the job market right after high school. Ask for help to convince them otherwise.

Another thing is to bring them into a conversation. If you only ask for something specific ("Can you give me money?" "Can you give me food?"), you are inviting them to a "yes" or "no" response, and then it is the end of your discussion. Leave an opportunity for them to give you a more detailed answer, something like "How do you usually contribute when helping your partners to reach out to young minds?" State your problem instead of just offering the solution you thought of: why do you need money or food? Sometimes they may think of some other way to help you and share it with you.

Having people skills is an art that requires a lot of practice, and I certainly have not mastered it. Sincerity is important to make genuine connections.

 

[TensorCalculus]

Wow, thank you so much for such an in depth and helpful response!

But for UC, if only 1 of the 60 people decides to join, that is a very big deal. And you are providing a pool of very motivated people who may be good candidates for university. This is your selling point, what you can provide for them. You are not asking for sponsorship, you are offering a partnership.

Cambridge uni are extremely prestigious though: they have no shortage of applicants, their problem lies within choosing the best of those applicants. Especially for computer science, which is the course most of our attendees would end up choosing, where the competition for spots is high and the acceptance rates are extremely low. Surely they wouldn't put in the money and effort to support our cause if they already have enough applicants? Do you think we stand higher chances with less prestigious universities?

But you have to remember that you are also competing with their own outreach program. When you will reach them, the employees there might see you as outsourcing their jobs and think of you as a threat. They can dismiss you even if it is not in their employer's best interest. So you may have to please them too. One way may be to invite them to participate in your event. Could they make a small presentation? Could they send an invited judge? Maybe present the "UC award" to the most promising candidate?

That's a great idea! And we get the benefit of a guest speaker/judge as well! Thanks :D

I knew you were related to the Raspberry Pi Foundation (RPF) too, and that is why I mentioned it. This may fall in the second category. The fact that RPF is linked to UC, and they have a complete web page on their website, is most likely the result of a very passionate UC employee about RPF. His name and personal email are on the web page. It says a lot about his passion; he wants to be reached. I don't know how much power he holds or how many contacts he has, but it is worth trying to connect with a fellow RPF member and see where it can go.

Ah yes: I did see his email at the bottom of the page, my first thought was that I should contact him. You're right: he's passionate and seems open to talking. Hopefully, when I email him, he won't ignore us haha. And I'll drop in the RPI name as well.

Think partnership instead of sponsorship. And I'm not talking about just free publicity, which is very difficult to sell, especially when you have low visibility. Sell the kids you have. They already know that the kids doing extracurricular activities on their own are often the best students. Do a survey with your participants: are they thinking about going to UC? Emphasize the ones who don't, those who want to study abroad or prefer to get into the job market right after high school. Ask for help to convince them otherwise.

Yeah, maybe saying that what we are giving in return is free publicity is not the best idea in hindsight. But should I explicity state that we have smart kids that are the sort of children the big corporations want to target? How should I go about implementing what you talk about? It's a brilliant idea but I don't know how to say it professionally - since I'm a baby to the world of communication in a professional setting :)

Another thing is to bring them into a conversation. If you only ask for something specific ("Can you give me money?" "Can you give me food?"), you are inviting them to a "yes" or "no" response, and then it is the end of your discussion. Leave an opportunity for them to give you a more detailed answer, something like "How do you usually contribute when helping your partners to reach out to young minds?" State your problem instead of just offering the solution you thought of: why do you need money or food? Sometimes they may think of some other way to help you and share it with you.

This is again another good idea! Definitely a better way to keep the conversation going. I never thought about the way that we were asking a very closed, yes-or-no question. We thought that asking for what we wanted was best but I see your point now...

Having people skills is an art that requires a lot of practice, and I certainly have not mastered it. Sincerity is important to make genuine connections.

Well, I am nowhere near, but you have brought me one step closer :)

 

[jack action]

Surely they wouldn't put in the money and effort to support our cause if they already have enough applicants?

They wouldn't waste money on outreach activities if they had enough applicants.

Do you think we stand higher chances with less prestigious universities?

Maybe. I don't know if you'd have better chances, but you have nothing to lose by contacting them as well.

But should I explicity state that we have smart kids that are the sort of children the big corporations want to target? How should I go about implementing what you talk about? It's a brilliant idea but I don't know how to say it professionally

Just state what they are doing and let them figure out how smart they are. Nobody wants to be told how to think. It's about emotion, making them feel important to you, not how great you are. Try to lure them into a conversation where they want to inquire about what you are doing. (I know, easier said than done.)

It is not as much as being professional as being genuine, authentic.

You are still thinking of making a sales pitch where you are saying, "We are the best, do you want us?" and people will answer, "Yes!" (A yes-no question.) People hear that every day, all day long, so the odds of getting a "yes" are very low. So you most likely get a "no", and then it is the end of your conversation.

No matter what, at the outreach program, you should logically find people with open minds because YOU are the kind of kids they want to reach out to (i.e., doing their job), and they certainly will try not to leave you with a "Well, Cambridge sucks!" attitude. It doesn't mean they will give you everything you want, but I cannot believe they won't be glad YOU reach out to them, and they should be excited to talk with you.

 

[TensorCalculus]

sorry for the late reply!

Thank you for another really thought through reply :)

Honestly, everything you have said makes perfect sense: and I see what you mean about rather than trying to make a sales pitch, which is the sort of thing they see all the time, start with something that is a seed for a conversation, something that makes them want to know more, as well as showing our passion for what we do (though I need to think about how to figure this out). Maybe the Universities are our best bet: I will definitely give them a shot!

 

[sbrothy]

As another poster (@jack action) pointed out using the Raspberry PI, or whatever the current version is, might get you the company's attention. These cigarette pack-sized computers are easy to incorporate into all sorts of projects, and they're relatively cheap.

 

[berkeman]

These cigarette pack-sized computers are easy to incorporate into all sorts of projects, and they're relatively cheap.

I'm pretty sure she knows that.