Of the benefits we offered to sponsors for Twin Cities Veg Fest, the benefit most cited as providing value was an ad in the festival program. This strongly argues for creating a multi-page, nicely printed program.
This doesn’t have to be too expensive. If you print an 8 page program on four double-side 11×17 sheets in black and white (saddle bound in the middle with staples), this shouldn’t cost more than $0.75 per program. If you print 1,000 that’s $750. If the program ad attracts $750 worth of sponsorship, it’s already paid for itself. Even better, you might be able to work with a local printing shop to trade a sponsorship for free or greatly reduced printing costs.
Your program should contain the following information:
- Something about the festival and a welcome message for attendees
- Event schedule
- Venue map (if you have one)
- Sponsor ads
- Thank yous for individual sponsors, volunteers, and anyone else who you should thank
- Information about your organization
Check out the Twin Cities Veg Fest 2013 program for an example.
At Twin Cities Veg Fest, we’ve tried putting programs in swag bags and handing them out together to attendees, but people may not notice what’s in the bag until later. In the future, we may hand these out separately.