Sponsorship and Activation Manager
Position Overview
The Sponsorship and Activation Manager drives revenue growth by securing sponsorship partnerships and executing activations that increase brand visibility and engagement. This role identifies prospective sponsors, negotiates agreements, and manages sponsorship deliverables across events and marketing campaigns. The position also oversees special events from planning through execution and post-event recap, supporting continuous improvement for recurring events.
Essential Duties And Responsibilities
- Plan, coordinate, and execute venue-hosted special events from concept through post-event evaluation, ensuring exceptional guest experiences and successful event delivery.
- Develop and implement sponsorship strategies that attract new partners, strengthen community relationships, and align with organizational goals.
- Build and maintain strong relationships with sponsors, agencies, vendors, community partners, and internal stakeholders to support successful partnership activations.
- Collaborate with operations, food and beverage, sales, marketing, events, and creative teams to ensure seamless planning, logistics, promotion, and execution.
- Create and manage event and sponsorship budgets, timelines, contracts, project plans, assets, and deliverables while ensuring work is completed on time and within budget.
- Generate new revenue opportunities through creative sponsorship packages, signage opportunities, strategic partnerships, and community engagement initiatives.
- Negotiate and manage sponsorship contracts and agreements to ensure clear expectations, accurate fulfillment, and strong partner satisfaction.
- Track attendance, sponsorship ROI, guest feedback, financial results, and deliverables, providing insights and recommendations for continuous improvement.
- Represent the organization at industry events and networking opportunities to enhance visibility, build relationships, and expand the sponsorship pipeline.
Qualifications
- Education And/Or Experience: Bachelor’s degree in marketing, Communications, Business, Sports Management, or a related field preferred; 1–3 years of experience in sponsorship, partnerships, event marketing, or brand activation—venue or live events experience is a plus.
- Skills And Abilities: Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines in a fast-paced environment. Excellent written and verbal communication skills; comfortable interacting with internal teams and external partners. Detail-oriented with a focus on accuracy, especially when executing sponsor deliverables and event activations. Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (especially PowerPoint and Excel); familiarity with Adobe Creative Suite or Canva is a plus. Ability to work flexible hours, including evenings, weekends, and holidays as required by event schedules.
Compensation
Competitive salary, commensurate with experience, and a generous benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance, paid vacation, and 401k plan.
WORKING CONDITIONS
- Location: On Site (Lansing Center Complex)
- Physical Demands: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS
Note: The essential responsibilities of this position are described below the above headings. They may be subject to change at any time due to reasonable accommodation or other reasons. Also, this document in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee occupying this position.