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#Getting Sponsorship

Sponsors make for awesome CodeDay events. While many people see sponsors as a way to get extra money for an event, they'll help you in so many more ways. For example, sponsors can help provide:

  • Credibility (What's CodeDay? Oh, COOLCORPORATION is involved? Awesome, sounds cool!)
  • Visibility (Helping you with PR, pushing out to their employees and social media)
  • Money
  • Swag & prizes
  • Mentors

The only question is, why would a company want to sponsor CodeDay? Sponsoring CodeDay benefits companies in many ways:

  • Promote their product (eg, make apps for XYZPHONE! Drink XYZDRINK! )
  • Recruit passionate, motivated employees (eg, what's cooler than coding for 24 hours? Working for us!)
  • Supporting the community (many adults are parents/want to have kids, and want their kids to be in a great environment)

###Create a target list

When first looking for sponsorships, put together a list of companies you want to approach. These companies could be local tech companies or startups, engineering firms, resturaunts, and more.

You could also look at these events to see who's sponsoring in your city:

  • Startup Weekend/Hackathons
  • Robotics tournaments
  • Business/Tech conferences

###Familiarize yourself with the sponsorship levels

Go to the sponsorship levels page and familiarize yourself with the levels. For each one of the companies, think about:

  • How can they benefit from sponsoring CodeDay?
  • Which sponsorship level is ideal for them? Why?

###Contact the companies

If anyone you know has a connection to one of those companies, have them introduce you to them. Otherwise, call them or send an email. Your first email should be informational, asking them if they'd like to get involved. Tell them:

  • Introduce yourself! Who are you?
  • Tell them what you're doing. You're looking to run a 24-hour programming marathon called CodeDay, which creates the next generation of technologists by getting students to work on tech projects.
  • Ask them if they're interested in getting involved. If they say yes, you've gotten a commitment from them, and it's easier for you to make the next portion of the sale.

After they respond with a "yes", reply with the following:

  • Thank them for getting involved.
  • Reassure that they've made a good choice! You can mention how CodeDay changes the lives of students nationwide! For example, a student from CodeDay Seattle published SideBar, an app that attracted >100,000 downloads! Other alumni started venture-backed companies, and more!
  • Make the ask. Look at the sponsorship levels and think about which one they'd benefit most from. Ask them to sponsor at that level. Send them the other levels as a reference point.
  • Tell them why they benefit. Why did you recommend that sponsorship level? How will their company benefit from it? What are some other ways they can participate, or benefit?

When they commit to sponsoring at a certain level, send an email with them and one of the StudentRND team we can process their payment.

If they're looking for a custom package, you're free to build something custom. Just make sure that it's fair to the other sponsors. The sponsorship levels are a reference point

###Creating value for sponsors

Once you've lined up a sponsor, make sure that you help them make their sponsorship a success! Keep communicating with them every other week until the event -- and make sure you help them leverage their sponsorship effectively! That means:

  • Educating them about CodeDay culture, and how to promote their brand effectively
  • Talking with them about tabling/swag plans, employee presence, etc.
  • What to present at CodeDay (present something actionable and inspiring -- not something that's interesting but not relevant to CodeDay)

After you secure several sponsors, you're well on your way to making CodeDay a success!