Transform Your Event ROI Reporting with Strategic Sponsor Surveys
Your event was a success. The booths were buzzing, the speakers were insightful, and the energy was electric. But a week later, the inevitable email from your top sponsor lands in your inbox: "Great event! Do you have any data on the ROI?"
For many event organizers, this question triggers a frantic scramble for vanity metrics-booth traffic, logo placements, social media mentions. But sponsors are getting smarter. They don't just want to know if their logo was seen; they want to know if it mattered. According to a report by Bizzabo, while 85% of marketers believe events are critical to their company's success, a major challenge remains proving that success with hard data.
This is where a well-crafted event sponsorship survey transforms from a simple feedback form into a powerful ROI-proving machine. It's the difference between telling your sponsors you gave them exposure and showing them you generated qualified leads and increased brand perception.
This guide provides a complete template and strategy to create a post-event sponsorship survey that delivers the concrete data your sponsors crave, helping you secure renewals year after year.
Beyond Foot Traffic: Why Your Sponsors Need Better Data
For years, the sponsorship playbook was simple: offer tiered packages with varying levels of logo visibility. The problem is, this model is like judging a high-performance engine by its paint job. It looks nice, but it says nothing about its actual impact.
Modern sponsors, especially those with sophisticated marketing teams, are looking for tangible outcomes that tie directly to their business goals:
- Brand Lift: Did the event actually improve how attendees perceive their brand?
- Lead Quality: Did the leads generated have a genuine interest and purchase intent?
- Message Resonance: Did their key marketing messages land with the right audience?
Trying to answer these questions with booth visitor counts is impossible. You need to ask the attendees directly. A targeted post-event survey sent to attendees is the most effective way to gather this intelligence for your sponsors.
The Anatomy of a High-ROI Event Sponsorship Survey
A powerful survey doesn't just ask, "Did you enjoy the event?" It's strategically designed to measure specific outcomes for your sponsors. We've broken down the essential components into a plug-and-play template.
The secret is to frame the questions from the attendee's perspective while gathering data that is valuable to the sponsor. You're not just conducting a survey; you're performing reconnaissance for your partners.
The Post-Event Sponsorship Survey Template Your Sponsors Will Love
Here are the essential post event sponsorship survey questions to include, categorized by the insights they deliver.
Section 1: Brand Awareness & Perception (Brand Lift)
This section gauges the sponsor's visibility and impact on attendee perception.
- Before our event, how familiar were you with [Sponsor's Brand]?
- (Single Choice: Very Familiar, Somewhat Familiar, Not Familiar at All)
- Which of the following companies do you remember seeing as a sponsor at our event?
- (Multiple Choice: Include the sponsor's name among a list of 4-5 other relevant companies, including one or two direct competitors). This is a key question for measuring brand recall.
- After seeing [Sponsor's Brand] at our event, how has your perception of them changed?
- (Single Choice: Much More Favorable, More Favorable, No Change, Less Favorable)
- Based on their presence at the event, which of these attributes would you associate with [Sponsor's Brand]?
- (Multiple Choice: Innovative, Trustworthy, Industry Leader, Community-Focused, etc.)
Section 2: Lead Generation & Purchase Intent
This section helps sponsors qualify the leads and interest generated from the event.
- Did you interact with the team at [Sponsor's Booth/Session]?
- (Single Choice: Yes, I had a conversation / Yes, I just grabbed swag / No)
- How likely are you to consider using [Sponsor's Product/Service] in the next 6 months?
- (Scale: 1-10, from "Not at all likely" to "Extremely likely")
- What was the most memorable piece of information you learned from [Sponsor's Brand] at the event?
- (Open Text) - This provides powerful qualitative data and sales insights.
- Would you like to receive more information from [Sponsor's Brand] about their solutions?
- (Single Choice: Yes, please connect me with them / No, thank you). This is a direct, opt-in lead generation question.
Section 3: Message Resonance & Content Feedback
If your sponsor hosted a workshop, session, or demo, these questions are critical.
- Did you attend the session titled "[Sponsor's Session Title]"?
- (Single Choice: Yes / No)
- (If Yes) How would you rate the quality and relevance of the content presented?
- (Scale: 1-5 Stars)
- What was your single biggest takeaway from the [Sponsor's Brand] session?
- (Open Text)
Stop Building Surveys. Start a Conversation.
Now, you could build this survey using a traditional, clunky form builder. You'd get a spreadsheet of data and then spend the next three days trying to make sense of it. At FormLink AI, we knew there had to be a better way. This is exactly why we built our platform.
Instead of presenting attendees with a boring, sterile form, FormLink.ai uses a conversational interface that feels more like a natural chat. This isn't just a gimmick; we've seen it dramatically increase completion rates. More completed surveys mean more data, which means more proof of ROI for your sponsors.
Here’s how it works:
- Chat-to-Create: You don't need to drag and drop anything. Simply tell our AI, "Create a post-event survey for my sponsor, [Sponsor's Brand], with questions about brand lift and purchase intent." It will generate a robust starting point in seconds.
- Engaging Experience: Attendees answer questions in a simple, one-at-a-time chat flow, making it feel less like a chore and more like a helpful conversation.
- AI-Powered Insights: This is where the magic happens. While other tools give you a CSV file and wish you luck, FormLink.ai's analytics engine automatically analyzes the responses. It identifies trends, summarizes open-ended feedback, and calculates the brand lift for you. You get a ready-made report that you can share directly with your sponsor.
From Data to Dollars: Presenting Your Findings
With the insights from your sponsorship survey, you can now build a powerful ROI report that goes far beyond basic metrics.
- Start with the Story: Begin with the qualitative feedback. Pull out the most powerful quotes from the open-text questions. A single sentence like, "The session from [Sponsor's Brand] completely changed how I think about [Industry Problem]," is more impactful than any vanity metric.
- Visualize the Brand Lift: Use simple charts to show the "before and after" perception of the sponsor's brand. Highlight the percentage of attendees who now view the brand more favorably.
- Deliver the Leads: Present the list of attendees who explicitly opted-in to be contacted, complete with their feedback on what they're interested in. This is a list of warm, qualified leads—the holy grail for any sponsor.
By shifting your focus from proving presence to proving impact, you change the entire dynamic of your sponsor relationships. You become an indispensable partner in their growth, not just another logo on a banner.
Conclusion
Stop guessing what your sponsors want and start delivering the data that proves your event's value. A strategic, well-executed post-event sponsorship survey is the single most effective tool for retaining and upselling your sponsors. It builds trust, demonstrates your commitment to their success, and provides the concrete ROI data they need to justify their investment year after year.
Ready to build a sponsorship survey that sponsors will actually thank you for?