Guide
How to find pageant sponsors (and what to put in your packet)
Sponsors pay for most local pageants’ scholarships and show costs. This guide covers who to ask, how to set levels, what goes in a sponsorship packet, and how to keep sponsors coming back.
By Nate Fetzer, a local pageant board member and the founder of SashBoard · Updated October 16, 2026
Who to ask
- Businesses your board and families already use: dentists, salons, boutiques, restaurants, banks and credit unions
- Businesses that want to reach families and young women: dance studios, photographers, formalwear shops, colleges
- Past titleholders’ and contestants’ families and employers
- Civic groups such as Rotary, Lions and Kiwanis, and community foundations
Ask in person when you can, and ask early: many businesses set their giving budgets for the year months ahead.
Set sponsorship levels
Three or four levels are easy to explain. Give each a name, a price and a clear list of what the sponsor gets.
- A program book ad (quarter, half or full page)
- Their name or logo on your website, social media and the screen on show night
- Tickets to the show
- A thank-you from the stage
- Sponsoring a specific award or scholarship
Price levels from what each benefit is worth to that business, not from what you need to raise.
What goes in a sponsorship packet
- Who you are: your pageant, how long it has run and what it supports
- Your audience: how many people attend, follow you and read the program book
- Where the money goes, especially scholarships
- The levels and what each includes, side by side
- Ad sizes and deadlines for program book artwork
- How to pay, and who to contact
Keep it to two or three pages, with real photos from your own events.
Program book ads
Ads are often the easiest yes. Give clear sizes and a deadline about a month before the show, offer to design a simple ad from the sponsor’s logo, and send a proof for approval before printing.
Receipts and the $75 rule
Send every sponsor a receipt with your pageant’s name and the amount. If your pageant is a 501(c)(3) and a sponsor receives something of value in return for a payment over $75 (such as tickets or an ad), the IRS requires a written statement of the amount that is tax-deductible and a good-faith estimate of what they received. Ask your accountant how this applies to you.
Thank them so they come back
- Thank sponsors from the stage and in the program book
- Tag them on social media after the show
- Send a short note after the season with photos and what their gift did
- Ask about next year while the show is fresh
Example: three sponsorship levels
Sample levels to show the idea. Set amounts that fit your area.
| Level | Amount | What the sponsor gets |
|---|---|---|
| Crown | $1,000 | A full-page program ad, logo on the website and banner, thanked from the stage, two show tickets |
| Sash | $500 | A half-page ad, logo on the website, thanked from the stage |
| Friend | $150 | A name listing in the program and on the website |
If a sponsor receives goods or services worth something, such as tickets, and gives more than $75, their receipt should show the value of what they received. See “Receipts and the $75 rule” above.
See SashBoard live, built around your pageant.
Questions
How do I ask a business to sponsor a pageant?
Bring a short packet with your levels and what each includes, explain where the money goes, and ask for a specific level. Ask early in the year and follow up within a week.
What should a pageant sponsorship packet include?
Who you are, your audience, where the money goes, your sponsorship levels and what each includes, program book ad sizes and deadlines, and how to pay.
Are pageant sponsorships tax-deductible?
Only gifts to a qualifying nonprofit can be, and only the part above the value of anything the sponsor received. Ask your accountant.