Tell potential sponsors who’s coming

Tell potential sponsors who’s coming

Oct 30, 2026 | Club building, Fundraising, General interest, Service projects | 0 comments

Demographic information can persuade local businesses to support your club event. 

By Tony Knoderer

When your club is planning a fundraising or service event, a search for local sponsors should be part of the process. After all, sponsorship support can help pay costs, draw community attention and generate further connections.

Of course, it’s important to show potential sponsors why they should get involved. But it’s often more than just a matter of telling them how many people will be there.

It’s important to know who will be there.

Thinking about demographics will give your club a good start. Here are a few examples of event attendees who might get the attention of potential sponsors: 

  • “Green” consumers. If your event has an environmental (or general outdoors) theme, it will attract folks coveted by garden centers and landscapers. 
  • Foodies. Planning a meal-intensive fundraiser? Grocery chains, caterers, bakeries and restaurants should top your list of sponsorship candidates. 
  • Sports enthusiasts. For a sports-themed event, sporting goods stores and local teams (professional or semiprofessional) have an obvious interest in reaching attendees. A less obvious (but potentially fruitful) option is your local sports medicine center. 
  • Pet lovers. Cat and dog owners spend a lot of money on their four-legged friends — and plenty of businesses know it. If your event (or a portion of it) caters to this crowd, pet stores, veterinarians, groomers and kennels want to hear from you. 

Want more information like the tips above? Our sponsorship toolkit has it. You’ll find all the guidance you need for the process, from identifying potential sponsors to pricing and selling opportunities — and delivering what you promise. 

5 steps to sponsorships

5 steps to sponsorships

Oct 29, 2026 | Club building, General interest, Service projects | 0 comments

See how to start seeking out the partners who will enhance your club’s fundraising event.

By Tony Knoderer 

For Kiwanis clubs around the world, the best fundraising events have sponsors — the local partners who will boost club resources, raise your community profile and create access to a pool of potential members.  

But sponsors don’t just come knocking on your door. You have to find them. Your club can make that work easier by taking these five steps to organize the sponsorship search:  

  1. Create a demographic report on your club. Include average age, education level, professional background and anything else that a prospective sponsor might find useful.  
  2. Identify the best club members for the hunt. Who can bring special skills or enthusiasm — or both — to the search for sponsorship?  
  3. Put together a report on your event. Gather as much information as possible about attendance, demographics of attendees and media exposure.  
  4. Identify potential competition for sponsorships. For instance, if someone in your area holds a similar event on the same weekend — or even the same month — you might want to switch dates.  
  5. Put someone in charge of promotions. Do you have a communications committee chair — or at least a member who heads up promotional efforts for events? If not, put someone in charge of your club’s website, newsletter and advertising.  

Of course, this is just the beginning. Fortunately, Kiwanis International provides a comprehensive resource to guide you to the sponsorships you need. With our sponsorship toolkit, you’ll learn how to: 

  • Inventory your club’s marketable assets.  
  • Price your event offerings. 
  • Seek corporate support.  
  • Develop long-term relationships with sponsors.  
  • Save time by using templates for proposal materials. 

Download our sponsorship toolkit to get your club started today! 

How to improve your club’s visibility

How to improve your club’s visibility

Oct 23, 2026 | Club building, General interest, Service projects | 0 comments

Use these ACE tools to raise your profile in the community.

By Tony Knoderer 

The more visible your club and its service are, the more clearly nonmembers see what’s possible for kids in the community. And that helps make your club the place to go for service, partnerships and more. 

Kiwanis International can help your club raise its public profile. Take a look at these three Achieving Club Excellence (ACE) tools:

  • Evaluate your impact. Start with an accurate sense of the difference you’re actually making. With this tool, your club can make an honest and thorough assessment of each service project and fundraiser. When you increase or expand your club’s impact, you also increase the number of people in your community with firsthand experience of that impact.
  • Develop partnerships. When your club networks with local businesses, organizations and others, you create multiple avenues to prominence, from sponsorships for service projects and fundraisers to connections with key people in the community. This tool provides the steps to get you started.
  • Celebrate success. Taking time to acknowledge the club’s work — and individuals’ contributions— makes everyone feel valued. And making your community part of the celebration can add to the excitement around your club. Use this tool to help determine when and how to celebrate with your community.

Don’t forget: All these resources can be found on the ACE tools webpage, which includes other common concerns clubs face — and pairs them with the tools that help club leaders address them.