Money is the hardest part of running a college fest. This guide is for committee heads and sponsorship teams at Mumbai University colleges. It covers what sponsors look for, how to build packages, who to approach, how to close a deal and what to do after the fest. There is a sponsorship letter you can copy at the end.
Start three months early
Start approaching sponsors at least three months before your fest. A brand often needs approval from its own team before it can say yes, and you need time for a second round if the first names say no.
Know your numbers before you ask
A sponsor pays for the attention of a group of students. Every question they ask comes back to three things: who will see us, how many, and how will we know? Have these ready before your first email.
- Expected footfall. Use last year's real numbers. If this is your first fest, give a careful estimate and say it is an estimate.
- Who attends. Which colleges, which courses, which years. "Students aged 18 to 22 from 30 colleges across Mumbai" says more than "youth".
- Dates, length and venue. A two-day fest with a main stage is a different offer from a one-day workshop.
- Your online reach. Followers on your committee's Instagram, and how many people saw last year's posts.
- What happens on the ground. Stalls, product sampling, a stage, a quiz or game a brand can host.
Keep proof. Photos of last year's crowd, the registration count and screenshots of post reach do more than adjectives. If you take registrations on munotes, your committee page keeps a record of your past events and registrations that you can send to sponsors.
Build packages, not one big ask
Asking one company to pay for everything is a hard sell. Split what you offer into packages at different prices, so a big brand and a small local shop can both say yes.
| Package | Slots | What the sponsor gets |
|---|---|---|
| Title partner | 1 | "[Fest name] presented by [brand]", logo first on every poster, the stage backdrop and every post, a stall, mentions from the stage |
| Associate partner | 1 to 2 | Logo on posters and the backdrop, a stall, social media posts |
| Category partner (food, drinks, stationery, printing, clothing) | 1 per category | The only brand in its category at the fest, a stall or counter, logo on the venue map |
| Event partner | 1 per event | Its name on one competition, like "Battle of Bands powered by [brand]", and its team hands over the prizes |
| In-kind partner | Several | Gives prizes, printing, food or merchandise instead of cash, and gets a thank-you on posters and posts |
Price each package by what it delivers, not by what you need. Keep at least one package cheap enough for a café near your college. And write the deliverables down: a sponsor should know exactly what they are paying for.
Make a list of who to ask
- Brands that sponsored your fest before. Start here. Your seniors' sponsor contacts are the warmest leads you have.
- Brands that sponsor other Mumbai college fests. Look at other fests' posters and Instagram posts from last season. A brand that sponsored one fest is already spending money on students.
- Businesses near your college. Cafés, printing shops, gyms, coaching classes and bookshops. Their customers are your students, and the owner can often decide on the spot.
- Your alumni. Former students who run businesses or work in marketing teams.
- Brands whose customers are students. Food delivery, stationery, clothing, learning apps and banks with student accounts.
For companies, look for the marketing or brand team on the company's website or LinkedIn. A named person answers more often than a general inbox.
Write a short proposal
Keep it to one or two pages, or a short PDF deck, in this order:
- Your fest in two lines: name, college, dates, what happens.
- Last year's numbers, with proof.
- Who attends.
- Your packages, with deliverables and prices.
- Past sponsors, if you have any.
- One contact person, with a phone number.
Send the letter, then follow up
Use the letter at the end of this guide as your first email, and attach the proposal as a PDF. Change the first lines for each company, so it reads like it was written for them.
If there is no reply in a week, follow up once by email, then call. For a local business, visit in person with a printed proposal: the owner is right there.
Close it in writing
When a sponsor says yes, confirm it in writing before you print their logo. A short email or a one-page letter of agreement is enough. It should say:
- What the sponsor gives, in cash or in kind
- What you will deliver, and by when
- How and when the money will be paid
- One contact person on each side
Take sponsorship money only into your college's official account, never into a student's personal account, and ask your college's accounts office to issue the receipt. It protects your committee, the sponsor will need a proper receipt anyway, and the accounts office will handle the tax side of the payment.
Deliver, then report back
Within a week of the fest, send each sponsor a short report: photos of their branding and stall, the footfall and registration numbers, and links to the posts that mentioned them. A sponsor who gets a clear report has a reason to come back next year.
Hand it over to next year's team
Keep a simple sheet of every sponsor: company, contact person, what they gave, what you delivered and how it went. Pass it on when your term ends. On munotes, your committee page keeps your past events and the brands that backed you, so next year's team starts with a record instead of a blank page.
Running a moot court competition instead? Read how to get sponsors for a moot court competition.
A sponsorship letter you can copy
Subject: Sponsorship for [Fest name] 2026, [College name], Mumbai
Dear [Name],
I am [your name], [your role] of the [committee name] at [college name]. We are organising [fest name], our [annual cultural / technical] fest, on [dates] at [venue].
Last year, [number] students from [number] colleges attended over [number] days, and our posts reached [number] people on Instagram. This year we expect [number].
We think [brand] is a good fit because [one line on why their customers are our students]. We are offering these packages:
[Package name]: [what you get], Rs [price]
[Package name]: [what you get], Rs [price]Our full proposal is attached. Could we have a 15-minute call this week? We are happy to adjust a package to what works for you.
Thank you,
[Your name]
[Role], [committee name], [college name]
[Phone], [email]
[Link to your committee's page]
List your fest on munotes
munotes is free for committees at MU colleges. List your fest, take registrations, add your sponsor packages, and get a verified committee page you can send to sponsors. See how it works for committees.