Someone writing a sponsorship letter.

12 Types of Sponsorship Letters and How to Write Them

Well-positioned sponsorships can transform any nonprofit event into a must-attend, memorable occasion. They can also help you fund a specific need or explore meaningful partnership opportunities that can expand your mission.

However, many nonprofits struggle to find the right partners to support their goals. The first step in successfully recruiting more sponsors is to write a compelling sponsorship letter that explains your cause and why the recipient is the perfect fit to support you. 

In this guide, we’ll show you how to write inspirational letters with the help of effective templates you can use to get started! Here’s what we’ll cover:

Sponsorship Letter FAQs

What Are Sponsorship Letters?

A sponsorship letter is a fundraising request that offers the recipient an incentive in exchange for a cash donation, auction items or other gifts, an in-kind donation, or volunteer time. Sponsorship letters are typically sent to local businesses or corporations requesting that they contribute a corporate donation or in-kind gift to support your cause.

These direct requests are great options to extend your reach and start a long-term relationship with a sponsor.

Why Are Sponsorship Letters Important?

Sponsorship proposals are important because the donations they secure help fund events like charity walks, runs, rides, galas, and more, all while strengthening ties between nonprofits and businesses.

They also sow the seeds of a long-term relationship (not just short-term support, though that is a bonus). And, along with the obligatory tax receipt, donors will receive benefits from supporting your organization, such as promotional spots or a guest speaking opportunity.

In the end, a sponsorship letter has the potential to kick off or sustain a mutually beneficial relationship between you and your sponsor that results in shared publicity and mutual success.

What Should You Give Sponsors in Return for Their Support?

Donors have lots to gain from sponsoring charitable organizations. Business sponsors, in particular, can access the following benefits:

Positive Brand Image

Social responsibility can substantially impact a company’s reputation. In fact, CSR research shows that 54% of consumers consider a company’s CSR practices when making purchasing decisions. By demonstrating a commitment to goodwill, companies can show consumers that their purchases will have a positive impact.

Employee Engagement

Today’s employees want to work for companies that make an impact. Double the Donation’s employee engagement tools article explains that establishing CSR initiatives indicates that a business “cares about the same causes as its employees and wants to make the world a better place. As a result, employees will feel more empowered to continue working at a company that does more than just provide a product or service.”

In your letter, emphasize that employees will be excited to know their company supports worthwhile causes if they decide to sponsor you!

Advertising Opportunities

Your nonprofit can offer various marketing opportunities to corporate sponsors, providing them with visibility and brand exposure while supporting your mission. You can explicitly offer these marketing opportunities in exchange for sponsorships:

  • Their logo displayed prominently at events and on promotional materials
  • Sponsor-specific pages or sections on your nonprofit’s website
  • A booth at an event
  • Social media shout-outs
  • Their logo and promotional messages in your email newsletter

By offering these advertising opportunities, you can demonstrate the value of partnering with your nonprofit, helping corporate sponsors envision how they can enhance brand visibility while supporting a meaningful cause.

Click through to learn how to secure more support beyond your sponsorship letters with Fundly.

How Can You Identify Potential Sponsors?

Sponsorship letters should be highly personalized. Therefore, you need to know exactly who you’re addressing and why they’d make a great sponsor ahead of time. Here are key signs that a business would make an awesome sponsor:

  • They’ve previously supported you or given to causes similar to yours. Prioritize sending proposals to companies that have volunteered with you, attended previous events, or shown interest in your cause. Likewise, if they support similar causes, this is a great opportunity to show them how they can lend a helping hand.
  • They work in a similar or complementary sector. Companies that work in a similar sector or environment as you will have a clearer understanding of your cause and needs. For instance, a healthcare organization will understand how they can help provide aid to an at-risk homeless population.
  • They’re local. Local or hometown businesses can benefit from the promotional opportunities of sponsoring you. Not to mention, businesses like to support causes that better their surrounding communities.
  • They have a well-known CSR program. A business with a robust CSR program is already familiar with nonprofit organizations as a part of their employee engagement initiatives. Take advantage of this by prioritizing outreach to corporations like these.
  • They can supply a direct need. Alongside monetary donations, looking for sponsors who can contribute in-kind donations can also help you work toward your goals. For example, a bakery might provide in-kind donations of snacks or pastries while a hotel could provide a venue space.

Before you send out letters to every available business, narrow your prospects to see if they meet the above criteria. Then, send your letters out well ahead of your event or campaign start date to give each prospect plenty of time to respond with any questions.

How Should You Send Sponsorship Letters?

Investing in a dedicated direct mail platform will provide the easiest, most effective channel to send out your sponsorship letters to as many supporters as possible. With a direct mail platform, you can send out your letters quickly, saving you time and money.

And of course, after you secure a donation or sponsorship you should strongly consider sending a thank-you letter. One of the best and most impactful ways to show immediate gratitude would be with an eCard platform your organization could use across its fundraising and thank-yous.

Sponsorship Letter Best Practices

Of course, each sponsorship letter will vary based on your recipient and your request. However, there are a few best practices you can use to make all of your proposals compelling and to the point:

  • Personalize letters by addressing the recipient by name. Choose the right person to address the letter to by researching or calling to ask who manages corporate donations at the organization.
  • Talk to their point of view by highlighting how their organization’s values or previous charitable experience speaks to their company’s character. For example, you might say “As a small business that gives back to XYZ community initiatives, you know the importance of supporting those in need.
  • Highlight benefits that they would find important. Are they interested in getting their brand name out there? Do they want to team up with more like-minded organizations? Let them know how your organization can help them do that.
  • Have a leader at your organization write the letter, such as your president or an executive. This adds credibility to your ask and can be even more impactful if they know the small business contact personally.’
  • Give sponsors a choice to support you in a way that works best for them. Let them know you’d be grateful for a monetary sponsorship or an in-kind donation.
  • Prepare for a follow-up by including your organization’s contact information at the bottom of your letter and suggesting the contact reach out with any additional questions.

To write better sponsorship proposals, you can use templates and examples (like the ones provided below) to help structure your request and bring your organization’s fundraising narrative to life.

Click through to learn how to secure more corporate fundraising revenue with a free Fundly campaign.

12 Sponsorship Templates

To write better sponsorship proposals, you can use templates and examples (like the ones provided below) to help structure your request and bring your organization’s fundraising narrative to life.

1. For Events 7. For Auction Items
2. For Corporate Requests 8. For Requesting Monetary Donations
3. For Churches 9. For In-Kind Donations
4. For Schools 10. For Requesting Volunteers
5. For Sports Clubs 11. For Explaining Sponsorship Levels
6. For Food 12. For Acknowledgement

1. Event Sponsorship Letter

An event sponsorship letter template.

Follow these best practices when writing event sponsorship letters:

  • Highlight the event. When asking for event sponsorship, your event needs to be the focal point. Start by detailing the kind of event it is, the theme, the date, and the location. Then, dive into what you’re looking to raise and why. Once you have your reader hooked, bring up how their event sponsorship fits in and what their gift could mean for your cause.
  • Provide ample sponsorship opportunities. You’ll include a separate document with your cover letter that details your sponsorship levels. With each increase in gift level, the incentives should equally increase. If your event needs a range of sponsorship types from monetary to gifts-in-kind, make sure you are expressing the variety of opportunities to show support.
  • Get to the point. Event sponsorship proposals should be succinct. The initial cover letter should be no longer than a page and simply provide a high-level overview of what you’re looking for. Be specific and direct. Once you have someone’s interest, you can always provide supplementary information as a next step.
  • Start with your existing supporters. Make sure you reach out to past sponsors and tweak your letter template to acknowledge their prior support. If this event is new for your organization, reach out to sponsors of your other events or look to your closest supporters to see who has ties to a business that might be a good fit for sponsorship (i.e. a top donor who owns a local restaurant).

2. Corporate Sponsorship Letter

A corporate sponsorship letter example.

Follow these best practices when writing corporate sponsorship letters:

  • Know your audience. When reaching out to a corporate sponsor, you need to know and demonstrate that you know exactly who you’re contacting, their role at the company, and how they fit into your sponsorship needs. Make sure to acknowledge past gifts and drill down on exactly what your organization needs from the sponsor.
  • Mention common goals. As you ask for corporate sponsorship, be sure to highlight how support of your efforts intersects with the business’ larger philanthropic goals. Show that you both want to help your community and that everyone wins with their sponsorship of your organization, the community included.
  • Include contact information. Your corporate sponsorship letter is your opening. Most businesses will want to discuss the sponsorship over the phone, in person, or both before agreeing. Provide a range of ways to get in touch so that potential sponsors can reach you easily.
  • Attach a sponsorship level document. Interested corporate prospects will want to know exactly what their sponsorship options are. An attached sponsorship level document shows professionalism and makes the process easier for busy corporate sponsors.

3. Church Sponsorship Letter

A church sponsorship letter template.

Follow these best practices when writing church sponsorship letters:

  • Connect on a personal level. Sponsoring the financial needs of a church is a very personal decision for supporters. Your sponsorship proposal should reflect that in both its language and discussion of sponsorship incentives.
  • Be specific. Make it clear in your letter that you’re asking for a sponsorship to fulfill a specific need and not to increase general funding. Provide the date or deadline, names of those who are involved, location (if relevant), and the desired outcome.
  • Tell your story. Since donating to a church is such a personal decision, it is important that you highlight your church’s story within the letter. It can be brief, but you want to use your narrative to connect with sponsor prospects on an emotional level.
  • Thank them for considering. Show your gratitude to your potential sponsors for taking time out of their day to read your letter. You want both those who choose to sponsor and those who do not to feel acknowledged and respected by your church.

4. Sponsorship Letter for Schools, PTAs, and Students

An example of a school sponsorship letter.

Follow these best practices when writing sponsorship letters for schools, PTAs, or students:

  • Focus on the students. For any school-related fundraiser, the students are going to be the driving force behind a sponsor’s reason to donate. Your letter needs to recognize that fact by demonstrating how sponsorship will benefit the students.
  • Know what you’re asking for. Don’t just send a generic sponsorship letter. Customize the letter to highlight exactly what you’re asking of your sponsor. Do you need them to supply the drinks for a school-wide field day? What about a big-ticket item for the auction? Include exactly what you need in your school sponsorship letter.
  • Tweak your template based on your audience. For school fundraising, you’re going to have four main categories of potential sponsors: parents, alumni, faculty, and community members. Segment your outreach by category so that you can tweak your language to appeal directly to each of those groups.
  • Cast a wide net. There are few causes as universally supported as education. Use that to your advantage and send sponsorship letters to a large selection of prospects. Look to local businesses, larger corporations, and even chain businesses within your town.

5. Sponsorship Letter for Sports Clubs

A sponsorship letter template for sports clubs.

Follow these best practices when writing sponsorship letters for your sports club:

  • Brag about the team. You only have one page to explain why sponsorship of your sports club is worthwhile, so take the opportunity to share your accomplishments. Highlight your wins, but make sure you also cover your big-picture benefit to the community, such as giving teenagers a healthy way to spend time after school.
  • Feature an athlete. Pick an athlete from your organization whose experience exemplifies the core values of your club and tell their story. This shouldn’t be a lengthy section, but it will give your potential sponsors an anchor that connects them to your club.
  • Explain exactly where the funds will go. When considering sponsoring your team, local businesses will want to know what their funds will accomplish. Is the money covering travel for one athlete for the season? Will the donations go to new uniforms? Be as specific as possible.
  • Use advertising as an incentive. Sports clubs are perfectly positioned to offer advertising as a sponsorship incentive. You can place the sponsor’s sign on your scoreboard or even brand your uniforms. Then, during each game, your sponsor gets promotional benefits.

6. Sponsorship Letter for Food

An example sponsorship letter for food.

Follow these best practices when writing sponsorship letters for food:

  • Reach out strategically. Remember that you won’t need one restaurant or business to donate all the food for your event. You can increase your odds of success by dividing and conquering. You can go to one organization for the food and another for the beverages — just be sure to specify what you need in your request.
  • Be complimentary. When reaching out for donated catering, it’s important to note that flattery is crucial. Be sure to include a few compliments about the food you’re requesting within your sponsorship letter. The more personalized you can make the proposal, the better.
  • Space out requests. Unlike monetary donations, your event can only have so many food sponsors and vendors. You want to avoid a situation where you’re turning away the donations because too many restaurants want to provide catering. When you’re planning out your sponsorship requests, reach out to your first choice early enough that if it doesn’t pan out, you have time to continue the search.
  • Include an estimated headcount. Potential food sponsors will want to know the headcount for two reasons. First, they need to assess if they have the capacity to cater for the number of people you’re expecting. And second, each meal they serve is an opportunity to potentially earn a new customer, which is highly valuable.

Click here to start your Fundly campaign and keep your sponsors in the loop.

7. Sponsorship Letter for Auction Items

An example of a sponsorship letter requesting auction items.

Follow these best practices when writing sponsorship letters for auction items:

  • Talk about your last auction. Tell donors about the success of your last auction and what you raised. If this is your first auction, talk about your fundraising goal. In either case, talk about what the money will go toward.
  • Include a form. Within your mailing, you should include a separate form that donors can attach to their sent-in item. The form should include a space for their name, type of item, and contact info. Ask them to mail the item directly if it’s small or to call in if the item needs to be picked up.
  • Be specific with your request. Your auction theme needs to be included within the letter, as well as any items you’re hoping for and items you will not be accepting. Highlight examples where necessary, too. Being upfront will save everyone from a headache down the line.
  • Include an event invitation. Be inclusive and polite and extend an invitation to everyone you’re asking for a gift-in-kind from. Include details about the time and date of the auction and how the potential sponsor can get involved besides donating an auction item.

8. Sponsorship Letter for Requesting Monetary Donations

A sponsorship letter requesting monetary donations template.

Follow these best practices when writing sponsorship letters for requesting monetary donations:

  • Address the right person. Large companies might have designated corporate social responsibility (CSR) departments and managers that handle all donation requests. Smaller companies might rely on the CEO or another leader to make charitable decisions. Before you write your cover letter, make sure you know who you’re talking to.
  • Reference your past successes. Think of your cover letter as a chance to brag about your nonprofit. If you’re raising money for an annual event, use the facts and figures from last year’s event to show how effective your fundraising efforts were. If this is your first event, talk about other successful fundraising campaigns that you’ve launched.
  • Highlight mutual benefits. While many companies are philanthropic, it’s important to remember that they are businesses, and as such, they will want to know what kind of return they can expect by donating to your nonprofit. While you can outline the details of the different incentive levels in your Sponsorship Levels Document, you can broadly highlight the mutual benefits that come with a donation.
  • Offer ways to get in touch. Make sure that your potential corporate sponsor has a way to get in touch with you should they have any questions. Include all of your contact info (email address, direct phone number, mailing address) in your sponsorship proposal cover letter. Of course, with that, you have to be available! Return calls and emails promptly and answer questions as thoroughly as possible.

9. Sponsorship Letter for Requesting In-Kind Donations

An in-kind donation sponsorship letter template.

Follow these best practices when writing sponsorship letters for requesting in-kind donations:

  • Elaborate on your fundraiser. It should be clear what event or campaign you’d like recipients to sponsor. Include the date and time of the event, as well as what cause the event will support. Companies you ask will see why obtaining sponsors is critical to furthering your cause.
  • Highlight last year’s success. Illustrate your previous success so corporations can see the potential benefits of sponsoring your event. You can mention the average number of attendees, which will translate into more promotion for companies.
  • Be specific. In your letter, you should be exact about what you expect. For instance, if you want businesses to sponsor a table at your gala or the supplies for a new facility, you should address that information directly.
  • Thank sponsors in advance. Whether the company decides to sponsor your fundraiser or not, it’s good practice to thank all of your recipients in advance. It shows that you respect their time. Who knows?  The same companies that decline might change their minds next year.

10. Sponsorship Letter Requesting Volunteers

A sponsorship letter template for asking for volunteers.

Follow these best practices when writing sponsorship letters for requesting volunteers:

  • Tie the recipient to your cause. It’s important to connect with the reader right away. Speak to your recipients’ emotions with a story that explains how the funds will be used. When readers are connected to your cause, they’ll be more invested in what you have to say.
  • Explain why you need volunteers. You should not only let companies know that you need volunteers but also explain how their support will impact the outcome of the event. Let your recipients know what tasks the volunteers will complete so that companies understand what to expect.
  • Make your “ask” concrete. Just asking for volunteers is unclear, and the goal, as with any solicitation, should be to ask for exactly what you need. By providing the reader with the specifics (amount of volunteers and number of hours needed), recipients won’t have to guess.
  • Include your email and phone number. Leave your contact information in the letter so that interested sponsors can contact you to hash out the details.

11. Sponsorship Levels Document

An example of a sponsorship levels document.

When creating a sponsorship levels document, follow these best practices:

  • Be as specific as possible. It’s sometimes okay to be more general in your sponsorship proposal cover letter, but you can’t beat around the bush when it comes to your sponsorship levels document. List out a few different donation amounts ranging from a couple hundred to, potentially, tens of thousands of dollars. Then, list the benefits that come with each donation amount.
  • List out incentives for in-kind donations. Many nonprofits forget about in-kind donations when it comes to their sponsorship level documents. They only list incentives for cash donations. However, many corporate donations come in the form of goods and services. While you can’t list out every possible in-kind contribution you could receive, you can delineate examples and include the incentives that come along with donations of that type.
  • Create a hierarchy. To make it easier for your donors and your organization, it might be worthwhile to create a hierarchy of giving levels. The most common are Gold, Silver, and Bronze, but feel free to get creative with your giving hierarchy! You can make it tailored to your nonprofit as a whole or keep it on theme with your specific fundraising event.
  • Include a place for donors to indicate their giving level. Once you’ve listed out all of your giving levels, make sure that you give your donors a way to indicate how much they’d like to give. The bottom of your sponsorship levels document should include a tear-off section that collects your donor’s name, contact information, and preferred giving level.

12. Sponsorship Acknowledgement Letter

A sponsorship acknowledgement letter template.

Follow these best practices when writing sponsorship acknowledgement letters:

  • Be sincere. Your sponsorship acknowledgement letter should come from the heart. Your corporate donors can make a huge impact on your fundraising efforts, and they deserve to know just how much your nonprofit appreciates them! Show your gratitude by writing a unique letter for each corporate donor.
  • Tell them what the donation went toward. If you want to demonstrate the impact that your corporate donors had on your event (and you should!), let them know exactly what their donation went toward! While you may not be able to list out everything you were able to accomplish down to the last penny, you can give your donors a solid idea of how they contributed to your cause and mission.
  • Offer other engagement opportunities. While an acknowledgement letter is never the place to ask for another donation, you can use your sponsorship acknowledgement letter to offer your donors other ways to get involved. Maybe you have an open seat on your board. Or perhaps there’s an upcoming volunteer event you think they’d be interested in. Whatever the case, let them know about the other ways they can get involved!
  • Send the letter promptly. Don’t let too much time pass before you send out your sponsorship acknowledgement letter! You can send a quick note after you receive their response from your sponsorship levels document, but you should follow up with a detailed and well-written acknowledgement no later than a week after your event has concluded.

Additional Resources

Click through to learn how to secure more corporate fundraising revenue with a free Fundly campaign.

Simplify Fundraising: Online Registration & Mobile Bidding

Learn how you can fully optimize your next fundraising event

Fundraisers across nonprofit and community benefit sectors are always looking for ways to increase efficiency and gain more time to cultivate the all-important donor relationships. New fundraising technology is proving to be a powerful way to optimize, simplify and streamline fundraising tasks to raise more money and waste less time. 

Take advantage of innovations in the fundraising technology space in your next fundraising campaign. Consider implementing online registration and ticketing, as well as mobile bidding into your events-based fundraising tactics. 

Event Fundraisers with Online Registration

We’ll start with online registration and ticketing first because, typically, you will need to plan a bit further ahead for this part of your fundraiser given the role that attendance estimates play in event planning.  Shockingly, many fundraisers and nonprofits rely on manual or paper ticket sales, forcing them to resort to shuffling tickets just before your fundraising event. This also typically results in added graphic design and printing costs that can easily be eliminated by transitioning to online registration. 

Online registration and ticketing platforms allow you to quickly and easily create a custom event page online, describing your fundraiser and what it is supporting. More importantly, your online ticketing page makes ticket purchase extremely convenient for your busy parents. Rather than having to seek out tickets, they can simply navigate to your online registration and ticketing page in order to purchase their tickets. Saving time for your parents means they’re more likely to continue donating throughout your event!

Another huge benefit of online registration and ticketing is that you will collect your guests’ information prior to your event. There are two major advantages here:

First, you’ll be able to offer pre-registration for additional fundraising opportunities at the event. In the next section, we will talk about the benefits of mobile fundraising. In case you do plan on having continued fundraising at your event (donations, silent auctions, raffles, etc.), having your guests pre-register online during ticket purchase will make the process very easy for your guests. You can reduce lines and wait times and increase engagement and personalization through a single platform, meaning the information will be integrated and will only need to be entered once. This development means a seamless ticket purchase and donation process for your guests, and it means higher proceeds for you!

Second, you’ll acquire easily accessible donor data. A more obvious benefit of online registration during ticket purchase is the value of the data that you will have collected from your guests. Not only will you have their contact information, but most platforms will also allow you to collect custom data that you may find valuable. This data can include:

  • Occupation
  • Age
  • Address
  • Number of children
  • And more!

Having rich data on your attendees will allow you to build an effective communication plan after your event, lasting throughout the year. These power demographic metrics are coveted pieces of information that let you target your audiences more efficiently. With this info in hand, you can use email and social updates to thank your donors, update them on new developments with the school, and develop a stronger relationship with your donors so that they keep coming back each year.

Raise More Money with Mobile Fundraising

Just as online ticketing and registration will help you raise more money leading up to your event, mobile fundraising will help you raise more during your event!

Many seasoned nonprofit event planners know the downfalls of traditional silent auctions and raffles all too well. These disadvantages include paper bid sheets and raffle tickets, little interaction, and long checkout lines. People also are unable to explore the rest of the event experience and engage with more important cause-related elements of your fundraiser. 

With mobile fundraising, you can bypass all of these, and provide your audience with a more accessible, easy-to-use, and engaging way to donate! Mobile fundraising options include:

  • Mobile silent auctions
  • Mobile raffles
  • Fund-a-need campaigns
  • Donation pages and text-to-give campaigns

When used effectively, these can add major gains to your yearly proceeds. Some of the major advantages of mobile bidding include:

Accessibility

Because mobile bidding is online, anyone can participate anytime, including those unable to attend your event. Those who support your cause, but may be limited by time, other commitments, or geography can still bid on your silent auction items, buy raffle tickets, or donate to your cause! Additionally, this participation can happen anytime, not only during the hours of your event. With mobile fundraising, you can begin accepting bids and donations prior to your event. This means people can start participating while they are purchasing their tickets online, which allows you to create event-related buzz over a longer period of time. 

Engagement

Mobile fundraising is also more engaging and fun. Rather than guests having to write down their bids or keep track of paper raffle tickets, they can simply bid online or via text message, and will receive instant notifications if they’ve been outbid or have won an item. This means your guests do not need to walk back and forth to your item table and can enjoy your actual event. People will love being informed in real time, and this will also result in higher participation and proceeds for your school.

Ease

Finally, mobile fundraising is simply easier.  Your volunteers can work with a fully integrated, centralized system that tracks and keeps information in real time. Volunteer managers and donor records teams alike will appreciate this efficient and accurate system. 

For event checkout, your guests will instantly be notified when they have won, and can make payment directly from their mobile devices. This easy-payment process means event checkout will be much quicker and easier for your staff – those of you who have managed the checkout table at an event will really appreciate this! It’s a win for donors and fundraisers that enhances the simplicity of the donor experience. 

The Top 15 Event Registration Software for Nonprofits

Cvent isn't the only event management solution available; see why these Cvent competitors win out!

5 Reasons Not to Use Cvent (With Amazing Alternatives!)

Try Lumaverse CRM for free today!

If event planning is an essential part of your organization, you’ve probably spent some time weighing your event management software options. More than likely, you’ve seen the name Cvent pop up in your research.

While Cvent is a widely used event management solution, it’s not necessarily the best software for your nonprofit.

Why? We’re glad you asked! In this post, we’ll present 5 reasons that Cvent may not be the ideal event management solution for you, including:

  1. Cvent offers more features than you need.
  2. Cvent isn’t intended for nonprofits.
  3. Cvent wasn’t built for Salesforce.
  4. Cvent isn’t user-friendly.
  5. Cvent doesn’t fit your budget.

We’ll also introduce you to some of our favorite Cvent competitors as potential alternatives for your organization to use.

Ready to find the event management tool you’ve been waiting for? Let’s dive in.

If you don't need all the event management features Cvent has to offer, consider investing in a Cvent competitor instead.

1. Cvent offers more features than you need.

What’s the problem with Cvent?

Cvent is a dedicated event management software designed for large-scale organizations planning a variety of events per year.

With a robust toolset to help event planning teams organize multi-day conferences, streamline complex scheduling, and coordinate logistics, there’s no denying that Cvent can be a fantastic choice for your event management needs.

That said, for organizations who aren’t planning complex events or who aren’t regularly relying on event management software, Cvent will be an overwhelming platform to navigate.

Many organizations who’ve used Cvent note that it took in-depth training, significant time, and a lot of trial and error before their teams felt confident using the software. Even then, many organizations don’t utilize half the features buried within the system! Luckily, there are easy-to-use Cvent competitors you can look for instead.

How is a Cvent competitor better?

If your nonprofit doesn’t have time to swim through a sea of event planning features you won’t use, consider utilizing a more lightweight event management solution.

Our advice? Rather than purchasing extensive event software, look for a well-rounded nonprofit CRM that can supply your team with built-in event management features.

CRM dashboard setup.

Lumaverse CRM offers lightweight event management tools similar to Cvent but more manageable for small to mid-sized nonprofits. 

You’ll have no problem finding a nonprofit CRM that can provide the tools you need to get off the ground with your events.

For example, Lumaverse CRM gives you all of the following event management functionality out of the box:

  • Custom event registration forms.
  • Sponsorship management tools.
  • Cross-event dashboard reporting.
  • Additional online donation options.

And because these event tools are built into a comprehensive CRM system, all event data is automatically stored in conjunction with the rest of your constituent data for a holistic real-time look at your guests, donors, volunteers, and any other valuable supporter information. 

Best of all, you can use Lumaverse’s reporting tools to measure your event success and determine which areas could be improved upon. If you find that you want to enhance your events by bringing on additional event management software, you can always integrate a dedicated events platform later on.

In a nutshell – If your organization isn’t ready to implement a robust event management platform, consider finding a comprehensive nonprofit CRM with ready-to-use event management tools.

Unlike some Cvent competitors, Cvent wasn't designed for one industry, so it lacks some nonprofit functionality.

2. Cvent isn’t intended for nonprofits.

What’s the problem with Cvent?

What’s the problem with Cvent?
One of Cvent’s main selling points is that any organization, business, or venue can use the software to manage their event needs.
While that might sound like a good thing, the fact that Cvent is so broad can also be highly disadvantageous if you’re looking to use it for fundraising events.
Think about it—is a corporation’s annual conference going to have the same goals, audience, and layout as your walkathon, fundraising gala, or auction? Definitely not! That’s why to plan truly phenomenal fundraising events, you’ll need to use a solution built with those types of events in mind.

How is a Cvent competitor better?

To truly knock your unique nonprofit events out of the park every time, it’s good to know exactly what types of fundraising events you’ll be planning and search for software that can give you the specific tools you need to make them happen.

For example, your cornerstone fundraising events might fall into one of the following categories:

  • Peer-to-peer fundraising events. Designed to inspire donations from your supporters as well as their friends and families, peer-to-peer events are typically large community-based fundraisers that celebrate your cause.
  • Charity auctions. Get out your paddles and catch the auctioneer’s eye! Silent, live, or online auctions can be enhanced with innovative technology such as mobile bidding software.
  • Walkathons, races, or other active events. Who says that friendly competition wasn’t a good thing? Learn more about why 5Ks, marathons, and similar events are surefire successes by reading our essential walkathon guide!
  • School fundraising events. Whether you’re hosting an alumni dinner or planning a parents’ party, school fundraising events are a totally different event management experience. Make sure you’re prepared with the right tools!
  • Text to give. Make it easy for donors to contribute any amount to your cause– all from their mobile devices! Text to give is growing in popularity as it engages younger, on-the-go donors.

With the event management features you need, you’ll be well on your way to hosting an event that engages donors and brings in donations.

In a nutshell – Cvent wasn’t designed for nonprofits, which means you may miss out on some event fundraising functionality. Instead of using Cvent and looking for workarounds or add-ons, start with an event software that was built to support the specific kinds of events you’re planning.

Because Cvent wasn't built for Salesforce, it won't function as well as some Cvent competitors that are native to Salesforce.

3. Cvent wasn’t built for Salesforce.

What’s the problem with Cvent?

If your organization uses Salesforce to manage your constituent data, you’ll need an event management platform that can sync up seamlessly with your CRM.

Unfortunately, Cvent is just not that platform. Cvent was not designed for Salesforce, so you’ll have to integrate the two platforms to get them to work together.

While integrations can be useful, they can also require significant time, troubleshooting, and money.

To learn more about the specifics of how the Cvent Salesforce integration falls short, read this article.

How is a Cvent competitor better?

The best alternative to integrating a third-party event management app with your Salesforce system is installing a native Salesforce app instead.

Native apps are built exclusively for Salesforce and operate as a part of your greater Salesforce system. What does that mean?

  • There’s no integration. Native apps work within Salesforce, so you don’t have to do any manual integration to connect the two platforms. And since the platforms work hand-in-hand, your event management tools should be operating smoothly any time Salesforce is.
  • Your data lives in one platform. Instead of spending all your time moving event data from Cvent to Salesforce, all of your constituent information and event details will be visible in real-time in your CRM.
  • You’ll have greater Salesforce support. Cvent’s support team should have no problem answering questions about Cvent as an individual platform, but when you add Salesforce to the mix, things can get murky. Since native apps only work in Salesforce, you can rest assured that your vendor will help you at every stage of the event management game.

If you’re looking for event planning platforms to extend your Salesforce CRM, make sure to keep these vital features in mind too!

In a nutshell – Planning Salesforce events is a unique process. To handle your Salesforce event management most effectively, you should find an app built for Salesforce instead of an external integration like Cvent.

Users have found that many Cvent competitors are more usable and accessible than Cvent.

4. Cvent isn’t user-friendly.

What’s the problem with Cvent?

Whether you’re using an end-to-end event management solution or capitalizing on lightweight event planning features built into your fundraising platform, your nonprofit won’t be able to get much out of your software if you don’t know how to use it!

Because Cvent is so comprehensive, many users have found that the platform has a steep learning curve.

While every product will likely require some amount of training (or, at the very least, testing), there’s nothing worse than getting stuck with a solution that’s more trouble than it’s worth. Unfortunately, for many users, that’s the case with Cvent.

How is a Cvent competitor better?

Your nonprofit should find an event management solution that offers all of the tools you need with an interface you feel confident using.

Finding management software specialized for your organization will ensure the features are comprehensive and streamlined for your needs. For instance, a recreation department might choose a software solution that can handle specific event planning and advanced registration features for regularly scheduled programs.

To make sure you’re prepared, work with your staff, your vendor, and (if needed) your nonprofit consultant to come up with answers to the following key questions:

    • What’s your implementation timeline? Depending on how extensive your event management software is, it may take some time to fully implement the platform, especially if you’re integrating your product with other systems (such as Salesforce, fundraising software, or donor management software).
    • Will you need to (and be able to) customize the platform? Custom configurations can take your event management software to the next level, but they also take time and software expertise. Ensure your team has the know-how to conduct any customization you need (or work with a consultant who can walk you through the process).
    • Does your vendor offer training? Your vendor may offer some level of training, so do your research to find out if it’s enough to onboard your entire team. Training typically costs extra, so make sure you have room in your budget to accommodate any training from your vendor or a third-party consulting firm.

    To get an idea of what implementation and use will look like, you should always reach out to your vendor asking for a demo before committing to your event management software. Use that time to ask questions and communicate any concerns you have regarding the user-friendliness of the software.

A demo can also help you get a better feel for your event management solution’s features. While reading about the available features online is a great starting place, a demo can help you see what the software will look like in action. For instance, if you’re planning a summer camp, you can walk through the registration process and other features that your registrants will see as they sign up and attend. This gives you a better idea of the user-friendliness from every perspective.

In a nutshell – Cvent is a useful platform once you know your way around it, but learning the software’s nuances may be more challenging than you’d think. Many corporations that use Cvent have an events team dedicated to implementing and managing their Cvent app. Without those resources, smaller organizations may find they have more features than they can handle, resulting in an app that’s hard for attendees to navigate. Therefore, make sure you anticipate a learning curve and implementation process for any event planning solution you choose!

Many Cvent competitors are more budget-friendly since Cvent is expensive software.

5. Cvent doesn’t fit your budget.

What’s the problem with Cvent?

It goes without saying that any type of fundraising software will be an investment for your organization. Ideally, the long-term payoff will outweigh the initial costs, but you need to be wise going into the software buying process to make sure that happens.

While you’ll need to contact Cvent directly to find out exact pricing for your nonprofit’s event needs, it’s safe to say that this event management platform can be a costly one. 

Suppose your organization depends on events as part of your fundraising or donor engagement strategies. In that case, you might find that a comprehensive event management solution like Cvent is the best path for maximizing revenue long-term.

How is a Cvent competitor better?

It goes without saying that any type of fundraising software will be an investment for your organization. Ideally, the long-term payoff will outweigh the initial costs, but you need to be wise going into the software buying process to make sure that happens.

While you’ll need to contact Cvent directly to find out exact pricing for your nonprofit’s event needs, it’s safe to say that this event management platform can be a costly one.

Suppose your organization depends on events as part of your fundraising or donor engagement strategies. In that case, you might find that a comprehensive event management solution like Cvent is the best path for maximizing revenue long-term.

  • Upgrade or expansion costs.
  • Integration costs.
  • Setup or implementation fees.
  • Fees for developers or consultants.

On the other hand, if you’re paying per event or per registrant, pricing can get complicated fast, and you may end up spending much more money than you originally intended.

In a nutshell – Cvent is a pricier event management platform. While the costs can be worth it for enterprise-level organizations, you should do your research to find software that offers the features you need within your budget.


Your event management software can be the foundation for your team’s most successful events yet. Be sure to choose an effective, all-in-one software solution such as Lumaverse for your team’s needs. Now, get to planning with these exceptional event resources:

  • The Essential Fundraising Event Checklist. We’ll take you through every step of the event planning process to make sure every part of your fundraiser is taken care of. Follow our essential checklist to plan your most profitable event ever!
  • Fonteva’s Top Eventbrite Competitors. Looking for more lightweight event management software? Check out these top Eventbrite alternatives from Fonteva!
  • Salesforce Event Management Guide. If you’re planning an event using your Salesforce CRM, this guide can be your new best friend. Read up on all things related to Salesforce events in this in-depth guide from Fonteva.

Request a free trial of Fundly CRM today!