When it comes to generating returns with virtual events, it pays to be prepared. According to SkyQuest Technology Consulting, the virtual events market is expected to grow from $115 billion in 2021 to more than $430 billion by 2028.

The best way to prepare for your virtual or sponsored event is with an event proposal. Creating an event proposal helps you advocate for your ideas and get your plan in front of the sponsors who can help bring it to life.

Whether you plan to create a one-off virtual event, pitch a sponsored event, or plan several events throughout the year, we’ll break down how to write a virtual event proposal. We’re also sharing our free live event proposal template to help you get buy-in from potential sponsors and stakeholders.

In this article:

    What is an event proposal?

    An event proposal, or virtual event proposal, is a comprehensive plan that details each component of an organization’s event. It’s a pitch, a fact sheet, and a guide all in one. 

    From hardware and software to featured speakers and guests, virtual events and hybrid events require a number of resources. The best way to share your vision for these resources is with an event proposal. 

    Your proposal should outline all event management details: audience and attendance data about your event, a budget proposal, and key stakeholders. It should also help you align this information with key performance indicators (KPIs) and other measurable metrics.

    A carefully thought-out proposal doesn’t just help you secure funding and approval — it’s also a great starting point for setting up collaboration between departments and bringing your virtual event to life.

    What is the best format for a proposal?

    At face value, an event proposal is nothing more than a sheet of paper summarizing the strategy and logistical details of your virtual event. But when it comes to actually completing this proposal, it can get a bit more complicated.

    Don’t worry; we’re here to help. Read on to discover the best format for a proposal and the components you need to include in your planning document.

    💻 Components of a virtual event proposal

    The first components to add to your virtual events proposal are the basics of your event and your reason for holding it. From there, make sure to provide adequate details to describe your event.

    Purpose of your virtual event

    • Type of event: Virtual events could include conferences, trade shows, job training, etc. 
    • Dates: Identify the dates of your virtual event. 
    • Location: Identify where the event will be held — provide the URL and any login information attendees will need. 
    • Target audience: Think about the prospective clients you’re hoping to reach. Describe your target audience as much as possible — note potential participants’ industries and company roles. This is an important field because it directly advances your overall marketing strategy for your product, service, or role.

    Virtual event stakeholders

    • Partner organization: Your event proposal should include the name of your proposed event or, if you’re pitching a sponsorship opportunity, the name of the organization hosting your booth, talk, or event. 
    • Recommended by: Depending on how budgeting approval is managed at your organization, you may need to identify which department is pitching this event. For example, it might be sales team members pitching the event for the product your company is promoting. 

    Virtual event schedule and details

    • Details of your event: Describe the space in which your event will be held and whether it’s on-site or virtual. If you’re the one hosting the event, share details about the theme, programming, venue, and any access information. 
    • Details of your event sponsorship (if applicable): If you’re drafting an event sponsorship proposal, add any pertinent production details. For example, if you’re looking to set up a booth at a trade show, include the dimensions of your booth space, where it will be located, and other details. 

    Financial details of your virtual event

    • Event cost or sponsorship fee: Estimate your expected event cost, the cost of your sponsorship package, or the fee you’re paying your partner organization to host you. 
    • Additional cost estimates: List the fee breakdown for any builds, swag, marketing collateral, or featured speakers.
    • Total spend estimate: Sum up all your event costs. 
    • Product focus: Identify the products, services, or opportunities that the event is promoting.
    • ARPU: This metric is also known as “Average Revenue Per User,”and it’s primarily used for sales events and refers to your cost/benefit analysis of holding the event. For example, if you have 1,000 attendees, how much revenue could you reasonably expect to generate from those leads? 

    Objectives of your virtual event

    • Overall goals: Summarize what you hope to achieve from this event. Do you want to raise awareness for your brand? Capture more leads? Launch a product? Having a crystal-clear idea of your goals will help you communicate to sponsors and other stakeholders why this event is necessary.
    • KPIs (i.e., social media actions, open and click-through rates, deals closed, etc.): What measurements will you use to determine whether or not you held a successful event? If you’ve set measurable goals for in-person events in the past, the virtual goal-setting process isn’t necessarily different. But the metrics and tools you’ll use to determine your return on investment (ROI) will be. Instead of on-site conversions — like sales — your virtual event will measure online conversions — like email sign-ups. (Discover other event KPIs and metrics we recommend you measure!) Although not every measurement of ROI will be a dollar amount, stakeholders and sponsors need to know the event’s potential value.

    📊 Components of a sponsorship proposal

    Sponsorship proposals need to contain all your objectives, along with a few sponsor-specific components.

    Create a sponsorship package “tiered chart” takeaway to show the different levels of available support and the benefits of each level.

    The sponsorship opportunities you offer can include:

    In-person benefits

    • Booth space
    • Branded sessions or demos
    • Branded social media sets or charging stations
    • Branded before- or after-hours activities like coffee, yoga, or a happy hour

    Online benefits

    • Guest speaking
    • Guest blog or social media posts
    • Inclusion in digital marketing components (e.g., sponsor logo on display ad)
    • Inclusion on mobile app

    Potential sponsors also want to know who you’re going to help them reach and how well you’re able to reach them. Let your sponsors know what they can expect from your company, specifically.

    Audience and engagement data

    • The number of attendees you’ve had in the past and how many you’re expecting for this event
    • Demographic and firmographic data about your attendees
    • Any marketing initiatives you’re using to promote the event
    • Engagement data from past events
    • Testimonials and feedback from past events
    • Examples of former sponsorship success

    Organizers of virtual events are experiencing positive shifts that they wouldn’t have been able to experience with in-person events. In fact, 80% of virtual event producers experience a wider audience reach than with physical events.

    Now that you know the components of your live event proposal, let’s move on to how you should put them together.

    How do you write a proposal for an event?

    You know the info you need to include in your event proposal, but how will you communicate it to stakeholders? Consider these six elements before you commit your proposal to paper.

    1. Gather your research

    If you’re holding an event for a new product, service, or industry-specific element, you need to do your research. Your target audience for the new topic may be different from other audiences you’ve had in the past, so you need to make sure you know who you’re investing in. 

    Your research will also determine the type of live event and sponsorship opportunities you offer. As you compile your research, keep an eye out for event recommendations from other teams (like your sales team) — this can help you prioritize the types of events you offer.

    Seek out testimonials, factsheets, and case studies from other similar events. Other organizations’ past events can give you an idea of how your business might benefit from similar strategies or executions.

    2. Understand your company goals and define your audience

    Before planning out your events, consider holding a series of dedicated strategy meetings. These meetings are a chance for all relevant teams to align on event goals, target audiences or potential clients, client needs, and marketing messaging.

    3. Draw up your calendar

    A large tradeshow or conference might take more than six months to plan, while a smaller meet-up might only take a month or two. Meet with all your stakeholders to schedule out your time and manage bandwidth expectations for everyone involved. Put all event schedule details in one shared calendar for all stakeholders.

    Generally, sponsored virtual events are much easier to plan than live, in-person sponsored events. These are typically speaker events and occasionally virtual trade show booths, so teams can designate fewer point-people for each event and schedule more of them in a year.

    4. Work out a budget

    Once you have your presentation and location details, start working out your event’s pricing and budget. Determine how much of your organization’s overall event budget you’ll allocate to this event compared to others you’ll hold during the year. 

    Consider all aspects of your event, including hardware and software, guest speakers’ time, cost of swag, and more. You can also consider charging admission or working with sponsors to offset the cost of your expenses. 

    5. Be clear and detailed in your proposal

    You’ve got your strategy, your calendar, a general outline of your budget, and input from all relevant teams. It’s time to bring all the necessary parts together to create your event proposal pitch.

    Even though the event proposal template provided in this guide is one sheet, don’t let that deter you from using a second page, if needed. You want to include as much information and detail as possible, but you also don’t want to overwhelm your stakeholders with less-than-pertinent information. 

    When it comes to ROI, communicate as thoroughly as possible. Being able to provide hard numbers about your expected lead counts and event spend will help you justify your event and set workload expectations for all your key stakeholders.

    6. Keep your event proposal saved and available to everyone

    Once your event is approved, the proposal can serve as a foundation for other important documents — like your creative brief or an event kick-off slideshow.

    You can even make an event proposal template so your team can reference it for future events and create standardized, cohesive plans in the months or year ahead. It can also be a handy tool to compare your goals and expectations after the event has passed.

    Free event proposal template

    Here’s a sample event proposal for pitching your next branded event or sponsored event. Download our free event template document to share with your team or build a slide deck proposal you can present.

    🪪 Basic info

    • Company name: (if applicable)
    • Partner event organization: (if applicable)
    • All relevant contact information:
    • Event name:
    • Type of event:
    • Date:
    • Location: (venue)
    • Target audience: 
    • Who we are: (a brief intro to your company)
    • Meet our team: (list out who will be working on the event; include their roles and responsibilities)
    • Why choose us: (include any impressive stats and data that show success of past events)

    ☂️ Event overview

    • Details of event or sponsorship:
    • Event or sponsorship fees:
    • Additional cost estimates:
    • How we’ll help you: (list services, start dates, and due dates)

    🥅 Event goals

    • Product highlights:
    • ARPU for product:
    • Overall goals: 
    • KPIs (i.e., press, social, leads, sales, etc.)

    💵 Budgeting

    • Event spend: (itemized list with hourly or flat rates, estimated times/quantities, and individual prices)
    • Payment schedule: (list of dates and how much is due at those times)
    • Remaining budget:
    • Additional notes:

    Event proposal template FAQs

    What are the 4 Cs in proposal writing?

    Writing an event proposal is a lot like writing a grant proposal — in both cases, you’re trying to convince stakeholders that they should financially support your project or endeavor. According to Rutgers University, the four Cs in proposal writing (grant writing) are:

    • Clear: Make sure your proposal can be easily understood by cross-company stakeholders and multi-disciplinary sponsors. 
    • Concise: Limit the information you share to the most necessary. Sell your event, but keep your proposal as brief as possible.
    • Comprehensive: Along with including all necessary details, you should anticipate stakeholder questions and answer them within your event proposal. 
    • Compelling: What would stakeholders miss out on if you didn’t hold your event? Highlight the most relevant and powerful data to support your proposal.

    What makes a proposal catchy?

    There’s no “one way” to make your in-person, hybrid, or virtual event proposal catchy. But if you can clearly communicate why your event is significant — namely, by illustrating ROI — you’ll likely gain traction with stakeholders. 

    The key to communicating “significance” is determining your stakeholders’ or company’s goals and then explaining how your event contributes to those objectives. 

    How do you pitch an event idea?

    The best way to pitch an event idea is by completing an event proposal template. Scroll up to download and use ours!

    How to make an effective event proposal presentation

    Regardless of how impressive your event proposal is, you need to also present it well to get the stakeholder buy-in you’re looking for. Here are our six tips for giving an event proposal presentation:

    1. Memorize your presentation — glancing at it is okay, but try not to read it word-for-word from your document.
    2. Create a meeting agenda to optimize your stakeholders’ time.
    3. Start with stakeholders’ pain points: explain why your event is important.
    4. Stop and ask questions to facilitate clarity: make sure to “check in” with your proposal audience often.
    5. Tell stories, don’t just list data points: connect the information so there’s a narrative and not just disjointed facts.
    6. Include a call to action and tell stakeholders when you’ll follow up.

    Put your event proposal into action

    Whether you’re holding an event for your company or for a business partner, the first step toward success is creating an in-person, hybrid, or virtual event proposal. We can help make the process easy for you with our event proposal template and free event proposal template download.

    And when you’re ready to put your proposal into action, click the link below to discover our virtual events platform. Its intuitive tools and powerful live streaming capabilities can help make you bring your event proposal to life.

    Become a virtual event pro with Vimeo

    Published April 29 2022, updated April 25, 2023.