How We Tapped Our Sponsors

Have you ever been to a charity event and wondered how it came to be that the sponsors were involved in the event? For us, the process of procuring sponsorship- be it for catering, prize support, swag bags, raffle items, volunteers, talents, and beyond- starts about one year before our event.   

In general, we choose the beneficiary for the following year's event, right after the current event ends, as we like to have as much time as possible to learn how we can best reach out to our audience.  In our case, our audience is the amazing community of gamers (to include designers, publishers, and community organizations) in the city of Seattle, and the Pacific Northwest region.

Once we've determined our beneficiary and audience, we are ready to start spreading the news.  Here are some of the ways we connect with our eventual sponsors:

Word of Mouth   

As a friendly local game store, (Mox Boarding House) we get the opportunity to host many types of people in our store, which also allows for rich conversations over a favorite game or beer in the cafe.   The more we share about our charity event (The Gauntlet), the more we learn about how folks from our community would like to be a part of the event.  Many of our sponsors have come from casual, yet meaningful conversations throughout the year, with our vendors, patrons, and neighboring businesses. 

Direct Marketing

Another way we connect with our sponsors is by creating an informational sheet that includes donation and sponsorship tiers, as well as a cover letter.  The cover letter describes a little about our event, and the unique ways that we engage our gamer community by "gamifying" the fundraising, and sharing the reasons why we have chosen the beneficiary that year.  

Team Donations

One benefit of having so many of our teams originate from the games industry, is that their studios, production companies and offices usually have product that they can donate to our event.   These donated items are organized and showcased to create an impressive line up of raffle or auction items.  It is a lovely way for the teams to show their generosity, as well as a great opportunity for our patrons who are enjoying the activities we've set up for them in various areas of our store, to get connected to the cause and perhaps win an item as well!

We are very lucky to have had the chance to cultivate relationships with our various vendors, patrons, community businesses, and organizations.  They help us to off-set the cost to produce our event, so we can give every penny raised to our chosen beneficiary.  

A BIG THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS FOR THE GAUNTLET: INFINITY: