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CHAPTER 4: Work with Sponsors

The TEDx philosophy of sponsorship involves looking at sponsors as partners who join you on a collaborative, visionary journey and get involved with a project.  Here you will learn about the TEDx rules regarding sponsorship, how to approach potential sponsors, and how to access the sponsor marketplace that TEDx offers.

1. The Rules

To help cover the cost of organizing a TEDx event, you may need to approach sponsors. The challenge is getting corporations, which usually think in bills and coins to understand the open-source, non-biased, non-paid stance of TED. 

Indeed, your job is to educate sponsors that even though their brand logo or agenda is not represented on the stage, or splashed all over your social media, they are in fact benefiting from a partnership with you. It takes companies willing to take on a paradigm shift and involves a real understanding on your part of what sponsorship means to TEDx. 

For events with less than 100 attendees, the total sponsorship must be less than 10,000 USD, but really the most amazing support you can receive is in the form of in-kind donations of time, expertise and services. 

Remember! The rules guide you! Constantly return to TED.com to review the rules. Do you have it right? 

2. Approach Potential Sponsors

TED is all about building relationships of trust and partnership whilst bringing great ideas into action. The recruitment of sponsors is a challenge for many organizers. Generally, when approaching a potential sponsor, you'll need to explain what a TEDx event is, excite them about the opportunity, and convince them it's worth their while. 

Inquire! Get to know the ethos of the companies you want to approach for sponsorship. Ask questions that get at the heart of their mission. Does it match the ethos of TED?

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