Funding is unequivocally the most important issue that festivals and management must deal with. How to effectively target, contact, pitch, and retain sponsors and other forms of funding can be a difficult challenge to overcome for even the most seasoned professional. 

Moderator: Bruno Chatelin, Chief Operating Officer, Filmfestivals.com
Francesco di Cesare, Marketing Manager, Venice Film Festival
Andrea Galante, Director, Milano International Film Festival

 What do sponsors want most: ROI…  be sure to ask them and understand
International sponsors with a festival circuit strategy: track these from other festivals
Local sponsors:  maximum brand visibility, sector exclusivity,  product placement, tickets, excitement for the clients, retailers, sales force

Do

- Create privileges,  added service / value for your audience (pro or general) that can be sponsored and look for service providers that will sponsor
- Offer a large variety of partnerships/sponsorships / categories (official media partner, supplier, sponsor of…)
- Create an Industry lounge, business services create and sponsors that can deliver  (example buyers lounge, web café…
- Offer panels for sponsorship
- Be inspired by festival sponsoring documents from your competition a solid document PowerPoint PDF with rates… sponsoring levels
- Trust sponsorship scouting agencies, ad agencies and pay them to do the job (incentive is not enough)
- Brainstorm with your current  sponsors around their promo, your promo: Share with them on advance news and strategy

- Use sponsors to maximize festival awareness from sponsors (POS material, media campaigns) Quick/spiderman
- Create contests around the festival participation  and get affiliated media  to relay it
- Offer them something to remember and that lasts longer than your festival week : share with sponsors  newsletter your website or fest21 blog so that the sponsor website vibrates and buzzes while fest is in action
- Create a sponsor club: create synergies, work on win win situations between your sponsors and yourself
- Be fair & transparent  if you want to keep them fair to sponsors, filmmakers, audience….
- Do not create situations  where professionals feel excluded,
- Be cautious about populating your room with the wrong crowd for the films
- Be organized yet  flexible some privileges can mean a lot to the sponsors