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Applications for Developing Your Sponsorship Strategy are now closed.
New financial partnerships for film festivals and venues
- Do you want to attract new sponsors and partnerships?
- Do you want to better understand the value that your organisation can offer to potential sponsors?
- Would you like expert support as you develop your pitch?
- Would you like to get inspired with a Q&A from one of the world’s leading experts in international film festival partnerships?
This new BFI FAN short course provides practical steps to help festivals and exhibitors to build a sponsorship strategy that can effectively build new financial partnerships.
Speakers include Jennifer Frees (Chief Business and Marketing Officer, Toronto International Film Festival), Catharine Des Forges (Director, Independent Cinema Office), Corrigan Lowe (Partnerships Manager, Sheffield DocFest), Rachel Caplan (Co-Founder & Festival Director, Montrose LandxSea Festival), and Duncan Carson (Projects and Business Manager, Independent Cinema Office).
This is a UK-wide opportunity open to BFI FAN members from all regional/national Film Hubs. Find your local film hub here.
Course details
This course is designed to equip attendees with the tools to begin a journey of attracting new sources of funding from the commercial sector. Attendees will leave the course with a draft sponsorship deck, which will be tailored to their organisation’s scale and capacity. Participants will also have the opportunity to form connections with other BFI FAN members who share the same goals for securing new funding.
The course will be taught by industry professionals through case studies, practical workshops and peer discussion.
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Tuesday, 4 November | 12:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Online via ZoomIn this session, we will be looking at understanding the most important element of fundraising – your organisation. This session features a Q&A with Jennifer Frees, Chief Business and Marketing Officer at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), who will discuss the key principles that you need to understand in order to develop a successful sponsorship and partnership strategy.
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Thursday, 6 November | 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Online via ZoomThis session will primarily focus on developing your own sponsorship deck. We will share templates and resources, and attendees will collaboratively set goals. Afterwards, you will receive the necessary tools to complete a draft of your deck before the next session. Additionally, the session will include case studies from industry experts to inspire your sponsorship strategy.
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Wednesday, 3 December | 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
In-person in LondonParticipants will share their progress, learnings, and challenges from putting together their sponsorship decks. Each delegate will have the opportunity to present their progress and receive feedback from the rest of the cohort, as well as industry experts. There will be break-out sessions with more bespoke discussions, so that learnings can be shared amongst delegates with similar challenges and goals.
Cost
The fee for attending Developing Your Sponsorship Strategy is £75 for each delegate. This includes all the course materials you’ll need, as well as lunch, tea and coffee for the in-person training day.
Bursary support
If you would like to apply for additional support to attend (whether towards the cost of the training, your travel, accommodation, childcare or other), you may be eligible for a bursary through your local film hub.
Who is the course for?
- Applicants’ organisations must have been in operation for two years (in the case of film festivals, this should include having delivered two festival editions).
- Applicants should be in a role where they either:
- have responsibility (or share responsibility) for pitching to sponsors and implementing an existing sponsorship/partnership strategy
OR - are the person within the organisation with responsibility (or shared responsibility) to develop a new sponsorship/partnership strategy that they intend to implement in the next 12 months.
- have responsibility (or share responsibility) for pitching to sponsors and implementing an existing sponsorship/partnership strategy
- Applications will be assessed based on where the training is likely to deliver the greatest benefit to the organisation and in advancing the strategic priorities of the BFI Film Audience Network, while also ensuring a good geographical spread of participants across the UK.
- Applicants must work or volunteer for an organisation that is a BFI Film Audience Network member. If you’re not yet a member, you can find your local film hub on the BFI website and apply for free to become one.
Speakers
Speakers include Jennifer Frees (Chief Business and Marketing Officer, Toronto International Film Festival), Catharine Des Forges (Director, ICO), Corrigan Lowe (Partnerships Manager, Sheffield DocFest), Rachel Caplan (Co-Founder & Festival Director, Montrose LandxSea Festival), and Duncan Carson (Projects and Business Manager, ICO).
Jennifer Frees
Chief Business and Marketing Officer, Toronto International Film Festival
Catharine Des Forges
Director, Independent Cinema Office
Further speakers will be announced soon.
Accessibility
Accessibility provision will depend on the access needs of the successful applicants. Within the application form, you will find questions on individual access requests, which will be submitted to the team at the ICO. If you wish to discuss any access needs further or in advance of your application, please get in touch with us at [email protected].
Frequently Asked Questions
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The fee for attending Developing Your Sponsorship Strategy is £75 for each delegate. This includes all the course materials you’ll need, as well as lunch, tea and coffee for the in-person training day.
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You do not need a sponsorship pitch deck to take part in this course. The programme is designed to provide you with all the tools you will need to create your own from scratch. It will also be beneficial for any organisation that is currently in the process of developing or improving their sponsorship deck.
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If you have any further questions about the course, then please get in touch with us via email at [email protected].
Apply
Applications for Developing Your Sponsorship Strategy are now closed.
Please check the specific requirements for this course outlined both in the Who is this course for? section of this page and in the application form.
Applicants must work or volunteer for an organisation that is a BFI Film Audience Network member. If you’re not yet a member, you can find your local film hub on the BFI website and apply for free to become one.
The application form is a Google Form. If you need a Microsoft word document to work on your answers, are having technical difficulties or have an accessibility requirement related to the way that you make your application, please email us at [email protected] to let us know.
Applicants will be contacted by Wednesday, 15 October to let you know if you have been offered a place or if you have been added to a waiting list. Successful applicants will need to accept their place by paying the course fee of £75 within a week of being offered a place.