Sponsors' evening (thank, re-sign and sell)

A club hosts its sponsors and local business owners at the clubrooms for drinks, food and a short show-and-tell, to thank them, renew this year's deals and sell open sponsorship packages.

Typically raises

$5,000

$1,000–15,000 per eventest.

About $167 per organiser hour

Based on one club sponsors night

Is it right for us?

Money: $2,000–10,000
Work: Weeks, part-time
Helpers: 3–6 people
Lead time: 1–2 months
Red tape: Light

Uncommon: few clubs formally host sponsors, so it stands out

People: 4-8: sponsorship lead, MC, two or three hosts, bar and food crew (estimate)
Organiser time: 20-40 hours incl. building the sponsorship menu, invitations, follow-up meetings (estimate)
Lead time: 6-8 weeks before the season starts or ends (estimate)
Up-front cost: $800. Finger food and drinks for 30-60 guests, printed sponsor packs, small thank-you gifts (estimate). Food can often be sponsored.
Risk: Low-medium: hosting cost is spent whether or not anyone signs.

Suits: Sports club or team

Less usual for: Community group, marae or service club, Kapa haka, choir, theatre or band

When: Autumn (Mar–May), Spring (Sep–Nov), Start of the sports season, End of the sports season

How big a job: Several weeks, part-time, 3–6 people

How it works

The money, as an example sum

Sell at $200 a sponsor, keep $200, so 29 sponsors = $5,800, or about $5,000 after about $800 of costs. That’s about the typical result.

Using the figures on this page. Your prices and costs will differ.

Where the money figure comes from

No NZ benchmark for the event itself. The money comes from renewed and new sponsorships signed on or after the night. Raised says small sponsors at '$200-500 each add up when you have ten of them' and hospitality packages run '$50-80 a head' (Raised). Figures are an estimate of sponsorship value secured net of a $500-1,500 hosting cost (estimate).

Last checked October 2026. Ran this? Tell us what you raised and we’ll use real results to improve the figures.

Step by step

Build a sponsorship menu first: every placement (jersey, signage, social posts, naming rights, hospitality) with a price, duration and what the sponsor gets.
Prepare a one-page result for each current sponsor: photos of their sign or logo in use, social reach, member numbers, games played.
Invite current sponsors, lapsed sponsors and 10-20 target businesses; ask players' parents who own businesses.
Keep the formal part short (15-20 minutes): thank sponsors by name, a player or coach speaks, show what this year's money paid for.
Present the open packages on a board or printed sheet with 'still available' marked.
Have a board member or sponsorship lead talk to each guest; book follow-up meetings rather than pushing for signatures on the night.
Send renewal agreements within a week while the night is fresh.
Invoice promptly, deliver what was promised (logos up early) and report back mid-season.

Getting the word out

Even a well-run plan fails if nobody hears about it. There are two asks, and the first one goes out first.

Ask for help: Helpers for the day or night, and local businesses for prizes.
Ask people to buy: People to book tickets or tables, and turn up.
When to start: Ask for helpers first, as soon as the date is set. Start the public ask about 3–4 weeks out, and book newsletter and paper notices before that: small newsletters close early.

Where to put it

School, club and church newslettersYour own newsletter is free and read by the families most likely to say yes. Check when it closes.
Local Facebook pages and community groupsPost in your town’s community page and local groups (check their rules), and share from your group’s own page.
Facebook events and what’s-on listingsMake a Facebook event people can say they’re going to, and list it on your council’s or town’s what’s-on page.
Community newsletters and magazinesResidents’ newsletters, village magazines and other churches’ bulletins often run community notices free. Small ones close early.
Other groups sharing itAsk the school, kindy, church, sports club or marae down the road to share it in their newsletter or page. Offer to share theirs back.

The full guide to getting the word out: every channel from flyers to the evening news, with lead times and costs.

What you’ll need

Place: NeededYour own grounds or hall
Landowner’s permission: Not needed
Council permit: Not needed
Food rules: Not neededNo food sold
Alcohol: NeededA special licence, applied for through your council at least 20 working days ahead (20 Dec–15 Jan doesn’t count). Alcohol in the ticket price counts as selling it
Gambling rules: Not neededNot gambling
Insurance: CheckCheck your cover

Clubrooms with a club licence can usually serve under it; otherwise selling or including drinks in a charge needs a special licence from the District Licensing Committee. Sponsorship is paid advertising, not a donation.

Make more from it

Silent auction of sponsor-donated items
$500-3,000 at a 40-60 guest evening (estimate)
business guests like to show their products and bid on others'
Announce a naming-rights package on the night
one larger deal, often several thousand dollars (estimate)
the room is full of the people who could buy it
Jersey and kit sponsorship renewals
renewals signed in follow-up meetings (estimate)
sponsors see the players they fund

Stack it: on its own, about $5,000. With the add-on above, roughly

$6,800est.

What you can get donated

Ask an existing sponsor (caterer, winery, brewery) to supply food or drinks in return for naming the evening after them.

Tips

Lead with what sponsors get: as RTS puts it, 'Sponsor us' is not an offer; 'a jersey front is an offer' (RTS).
Events are where 'a sponsor stops being a patch on a sleeve and becomes part of the club's story', which makes renewals easier (RTS).
Hold it in the clubrooms with the team present; sponsors want to meet the players they fund (estimate).

Watch out for

Turning it into a drinks night with no ask: no packages shown, no follow-up.
Under-delivering on last year's promises (signs never put up) and then asking for renewal.
Pricing packages so low that one big sponsor can lock out others for years.

Free tools for this

Sponsorship ask letterLine up hole or table sponsors with an honest letter and a log of who you’ve asked.
Event budget and break-evenWork out how many tickets cover the venue, entertainment and prizes.
Cash float and takings counterDoor and food-stall cash, counted in pairs and banked the next day.
Event run sheetPlan the night to the minute so the auction and draw don’t run late.
Checklist for any ideaBefore, on the day and after, built from this idea’s own steps and rules.

Typical rules

Alcohol: if you sell drinks or include them in a ticket at a venue without its own licence, you need a special licence from the District Licensing Committee; clubs with a club licence can usually host members' guests under it. Free drinks with no charge of any kind generally need no licence, but check with your council (Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012; see ‘Quiz night’).
Any raffle or auction on the night: a raffle is a lottery under the Gambling Act 2003 (no licence up to $5,000 in prizes and $25,000 turnover, proceeds to authorised purposes); an auction is not gambling (DIA).
Sponsorship is a payment for advertising, not a donation: sponsors get no donation receipt, and a GST-registered club must charge GST on sponsorship (estimate; check with IRD).
If the club is a registered charity, sponsor benefits must not give anyone private pecuniary benefit beyond fair value (Charities Act).

Check the details

Alcohol · Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012

Sources

Researched October 2026. All fundraising ideas

* General fundraising information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Money figures are examples and estimates, not promises. Check current official requirements before you commit. About this guide