Giving thank you gifts to your corporate sponsors for an event is a matter of simple courtesy. It’s a way of expressing appreciation, not to the company for their sponsorship, but to the people that made it happen for their efforts and assistance. Choosing those thank you corporate gifts can be tricky. You want to give a thank you gift that’s personally useful without being too personal. It should be an item that can be given to each of your sponsors, and it should carry the name of the conference or the organization that sponsored it so that it also serves as a souvenir of the event.
One of the best places to find thank you gifts for your sponsors is through a supplier that provides corporate gifts and promotional items to industry and businesses. The corporate gifts that you choose are, in a very real way, promotional gifts – they are meant to promote good feelings and support among those people who have extended themselves to help make your event a success. Companies that specialize in providing promotional items will also carry a range of corporate gifts that will be appropriate gifts to your sponsors.
While there are no hard and fast guidelines for choosing corporate gifts to show your appreciation to conference or event sponsors, there are some items and types of items that are always appreciated. If you’re looking to corporate gifts to express your appreciation to your sponsors, here are some suggestions for items that are always appreciated and always appropriate.
Digital Corporate Gifts
Welcome to the digital age. High tech toys like USB drives, miniature digital cameras and MP3 players are items that have a high perceived value, but advances in technology have brought their prices into range with other high quality corporate gifts. Unlike many items that are often touted as corporate gifts, digital gifts are truly unisex. Most can be discreetly imprinted or engraved with your company or conference name, and nearly all are portable enough and useful enough that your gift recipients will use them on a daily basis.
Desktop Corporate Gifts
Items for the desktop are always appropriate corporate gifts, but be sure to make them distinctive when you want them to serve as sponsor thank you gifts. Stylish paperweights, and executive style desk calendar/clock combinations are excellent choices to use for this purpose. They’re both stylish and useful, and serve as a permanent reminder of your gratitude for the efforts of your sponsor.
Apparel Corporate Gifts
Apparel gifts are often appropriate thank you gifts for corporate sponsors. Depending on the event, even a t-shirt featuring the event logo can be a lasting souvenir. For more important sponsors, though, you might invest in something with a higher perceived value – fleece jackets, caps and embroidered golf shirts are all good choices.
Choosing a thank you gift for your sponsors is one of those little details that won’t make or break your conference or event, but it can certainly make a difference in the way that it’s remembered by your sponsors – and that will make a difference when it’s time to approach your former sponsors for another consideration.