SponsorUnited for Nonprofits: Sponsorship Intelligence Platform
SponsorUnited is the industry's leading AI-native sponsorship intelligence platform, giving nonprofits access to verified data on $30 billion in deals across 403,000+ brands. Use it to identify corporate partners seeking cause-related partnerships, benchmark your sponsorship packages, and evaluate proposals with real market context.
What SponsorUnited Does
Securing corporate sponsorships has always been part art, part guesswork. Nonprofits approach potential partners with limited information about what deals in their category typically look like, what comparable organizations charge for naming rights or event activations, or which corporations are actively seeking cause-related partnerships. SponsorUnited changes this equation by turning sponsorship into a data-driven discipline.
At its core, SponsorUnited is a sponsorship intelligence database built from the ground up using both human field research and AI. The company employs approximately 500 field scouts who attend live events in 150+ countries to observe and document real-world sponsorship deals, then layers proprietary AI technology on top to process, structure, and enrich that data. The result is a living database of 2.2 million sponsorship deals with $30 billion in verified deal data, covering everything from NFL naming rights to cause-related nonprofit partnerships.
For nonprofits, the core value proposition is threefold: knowing which corporations are actively seeking cause-related partnerships, understanding what pricing is fair for the assets you're selling, and being able to evaluate inbound proposals against real market benchmarks rather than intuition. SponsorUnited launched its 4.0 platform in February 2026, repositioning itself as an AI-native operating system with new tools including the Proposal Evaluator, Surface AI, and SPND pricing intelligence.
Best For
Organization Size
Mid-size to large nonprofits with dedicated development or corporate partnerships staff. Most valuable for organizations managing $500K+ in annual sponsorship revenue or pursuing major corporate relationships.
Use Cases
Prospecting corporate partners for events, galas, and programs. Evaluating inbound sponsorship proposals. Setting competitive pricing for naming rights, signage, and digital activations. Researching competitor organizations' corporate relationships.
Ideal Roles
Corporate partnerships directors, development officers, marketing directors, and event fundraising managers. Also valuable for consultants advising nonprofits on corporate engagement strategy.
Key Features for Nonprofits
AI Proposal Evaluator
Evaluate inbound sponsorship proposals against real market data
Upload any sponsorship proposal and receive an AI-powered analysis covering audience fit, asset benchmarking against comparable deals, competitive landscape context, and negotiation guidance. Instead of evaluating proposals based on gut feeling, you get an objective market perspective drawn from millions of real deals.
- Audience fit analysis for the sponsoring brand
- Asset benchmarking against comparable deals
- Negotiation guidance based on market context
SPND Pricing Intelligence
Benchmark sponsorship pricing against $13.3B in verified transactions
The Sponsorship Price of Negotiated Deals (SPND) tool draws on $13.3 billion in actual verified deal transaction data to show you what similar sponsorships actually cost. Price your assets confidently, know when you're leaving money on the table, and understand what asset bundles typically accompany a given price point.
- Pricing benchmarks by deal type, market, and asset
- Entitlement comparisons showing what's included at each price
- Verified transaction data, not estimates
Corporate Partner Discovery
Find corporations actively seeking cause-related partnerships
SponsorUnited tracks cause-related sponsorships as a distinct category, with data showing that nearly 3,500 brands have participated in nonprofit or social impact partnerships. Use the platform to identify which corporations in your region or industry are already investing in cause-related deals and would be warm prospects for your organization.
- 403,000+ tracked brands with sponsorship history
- Filter by cause-related/nonprofit category
- Identify warm prospects over cold outreach
Surface AI Market Intelligence
Real-time synthesis of sponsorship trends and market context
Surface AI acts as a real-time intelligence analyst, synthesizing proprietary data to surface market context, emerging trends, and competitive insights on demand. Instead of manually researching a potential partner's sponsorship history across dozens of sources, Surface AI compiles a comprehensive picture in seconds.
- Real-time brand sponsorship activity summaries
- Competitive landscape analysis for your sector
- Trend identification across 2.2M tracked deals
Real-World Nonprofit Use Case
Annual Gala Sponsorship Strategy
How a large nonprofit uses SponsorUnited to build its corporate partnership program
Consider a regional healthcare nonprofit planning its annual gala, which generates $800,000 in sponsorship revenue. Historically, the development team priced sponsorship tiers based on what they had charged in previous years, with no clear external benchmark. When a regional bank offered a title sponsorship at $50,000, the team accepted without knowing if this was above or below market.
With SponsorUnited, the team can now research what similar healthcare galas in comparable markets receive for title sponsorships. They can see that the bank in question has active cause-related partnerships totaling $4.2 million across the region, suggesting significant capacity. The SPND tool shows that comparable title sponsorships in their category range from $65,000 to $90,000, including digital recognition, event-day branding, and a speaking opportunity. Armed with this data, the team returns to the negotiation with a counter backed by real market evidence rather than guesswork.
The team also uses SponsorUnited to identify five additional corporations that have no existing relationship with the nonprofit but have active cause-related portfolios in the healthcare and community wellness space. These warm prospects receive personalized outreach referencing their known partnership interests, resulting in higher response rates than cold prospecting.
Pricing
Custom Pricing
Negotiated per organization after a product demo
SponsorUnited does not publish pricing publicly. The platform is enterprise-oriented and pricing is tailored based on organization type, team size, data access level, and specific feature needs. A demo is required before pricing discussions begin.
- No free plan available
- All plans require a demo and sales conversation
- Price varies by data access tier, team size, and feature set
- Nonprofits are a listed customer segment, so inquire about mission-driven pricing
Note: Prices may be outdated or inaccurate.
Nonprofit Access and Pricing
SponsorUnited does not publicly advertise a dedicated nonprofit discount program, but nonprofits are explicitly listed as a supported customer segment on their platform documentation. Organizations pursuing cause-related corporate partnerships are a core use case the platform is designed to serve.
When requesting a demo, mention your organization's nonprofit status and your specific use case around cause-related partnership development. The platform has dedicated content and resources specifically for nonprofits building mission-driven sponsorships, which reflects genuine investment in this customer segment. It is worth asking directly about mission-driven organization pricing during the sales process.
Learning Curve
SponsorUnited is designed for sponsorship professionals, not general administrators. The platform's value is highest for users who already understand the sponsorship landscape, deal structures, and negotiation dynamics. The AI tools simplify research considerably, but interpreting the data requires familiarity with concepts like entitlement packages, naming rights, and activation benchmarks.
Most development professionals with experience in corporate partnerships will find the platform intuitive after a structured onboarding. SponsorUnited provides onboarding support and has dedicated educational resources through its Sponsorship 101 content library. Teams newer to corporate partnership development may benefit from working with a consultant alongside the platform to maximize its value.
- Structured onboarding provided after contract signing
- Sponsorship 101 educational content library included
- AI tools reduce manual research time significantly
Integration and Compatibility
SponsorUnited is a web-based platform with built-in CRM functionality for tracking deals, setting alerts, and managing the sponsorship pipeline within the platform itself. It is designed to serve as a standalone operating system for corporate partnerships rather than a plugin that extends existing CRM tools.
Third-party integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, or other nonprofit CRMs are not publicly documented. Teams that need SponsorUnited intelligence to flow into their existing CRM should discuss integration options during the sales process, as enterprise customers may have access to data export or API capabilities. The platform is designed to allow users to overlay their own internal data on top of SponsorUnited's dataset.
What's Built In
- Internal CRM for pipeline tracking
- Alerts for brand activity and deal updates
- Internal data overlay capabilities
- Activation creative library for inspiration
Ask About During Demo
- Salesforce or HubSpot integration options
- Data export capabilities for existing CRM
- API access for enterprise-tier customers
- Multi-seat access and team collaboration features
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Largest sponsorship-specific dataset in the industry (403,000+ brands, 2.2M deals)
- AI Proposal Evaluator gives objective negotiation leverage backed by market data
- SPND pricing intelligence reveals what comparable deals actually cost
- Cause-related/nonprofit partnerships tracked as a distinct category with trend data
- Human + AI data collection methodology captures real-world deals others miss
- Used by 33% of the world's most active sponsorship brands, indicating market validation
Cons
- No publicly listed pricing and likely expensive for smaller nonprofits
- No free plan or publicly confirmed nonprofit discount tier
- Primarily designed for sports and entertainment; cause-related data, while present, is not the core focus
- Third-party CRM integrations not publicly documented
- Demo required before any trial access or pricing details
- Very few independent user reviews available to validate real-world usability
Alternatives to Consider
SponsorFlo
AI sponsorship proposal and CRM platform
SponsorFlo focuses on proposal creation and partnership lifecycle management rather than market intelligence. If you need to generate branded proposals quickly and manage existing partner relationships, SponsorFlo may be more appropriate for smaller nonprofit teams.
View SponsorFloWinmo
Sales intelligence with verified decision-maker contacts
Winmo excels at providing verified contact information and decision-maker data for prospecting corporate partners. If your primary need is identifying who to contact at target companies rather than benchmarking deal data, Winmo's contact verification approach may suit your team's workflow.
SponsorFlo + Your Existing CRM
Budget-conscious alternative for smaller nonprofits
For organizations not yet at the scale to justify SponsorUnited's pricing, combining a lighter-weight sponsorship tool with your existing CRM and public research methods (press releases, LinkedIn) can cover the basics of corporate partnership development without enterprise pricing.
Getting Started
Request a Demo and Discuss Your Use Case
Visit SponsorUnited.com and request a demo. Before the call, prepare a clear description of your sponsorship goals: annual revenue, number of corporate partners, event structure, and what you want to learn from the platform. Mention your nonprofit status and ask specifically about mission-driven organization pricing and any nonprofit-specific onboarding resources.
Identify Your Highest-Value Use Cases
Determine which SponsorUnited capabilities align with your most pressing needs. If you have upcoming sponsorship negotiations, prioritize the SPND pricing tool and Proposal Evaluator. If you're building a new corporate outreach list, focus on the brand discovery and cause-related partner identification features. Starting with a clear focus prevents platform overwhelm.
Build Your Target Brand List
Use SponsorUnited's discovery tools to build a prioritized list of corporate prospects based on their existing cause-related partnership activity, geographic proximity, and industry alignment with your mission. Focus on brands with demonstrated social impact investment rather than cold outreach to organizations with no prior nonprofit partnership history.
Integrate Intelligence into Proposal and Negotiation Workflows
Build SponsorUnited research into your standard workflow for each new corporate prospect and inbound proposal. Reference pricing benchmarks when setting your sponsorship tiers, use activation data for inspiration when designing sponsorship packages, and run inbound proposals through the Proposal Evaluator before responding to ensure you're negotiating with market context.
Need Help with Corporate Partnership Strategy?
Evaluating whether SponsorUnited is right for your organization, or building a data-driven corporate sponsorship program, is a significant investment. Our team helps nonprofits assess tools, structure sponsorship packages, and develop partnership strategies that align with your mission and revenue goals.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is SponsorUnited?
SponsorUnited is an AI-native sponsorship intelligence platform founded in 2018 and headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. It provides verified data on $30 billion in sponsorship deals across 403,000+ brands and 2.2 million deals, helping organizations discover corporate partners, benchmark pricing, evaluate proposals, and research the competitive sponsorship landscape. As of February 2026, it operates as SponsorUnited 4.0 with AI tools including the Proposal Evaluator, Surface AI, and SPND pricing intelligence.
Is SponsorUnited useful for nonprofits?
SponsorUnited is most valuable for larger nonprofits with significant corporate sponsorship programs, such as major hospital systems, universities with athletics programs, or large-event nonprofits managing six-figure annual sponsorship revenue. The platform tracks cause-related sponsorships as a distinct category and can help identify corporations actively seeking social impact partnerships. Small nonprofits with limited sponsorship revenue are unlikely to find the cost-to-value proposition favorable.
Does SponsorUnited offer nonprofit pricing?
SponsorUnited does not publicly list nonprofit-specific pricing tiers. All pricing is custom and negotiated through a sales conversation after a demo. Nonprofits are listed as a supported customer segment, so it is worth inquiring about mission-driven organization pricing during the demo process.
What is the SPND pricing tool?
SPND (Sponsorship Price of Negotiated Deals) is an AI-powered pricing intelligence tool launched in November 2024. It draws on $13.3 billion in actual verified deal transaction data to provide pricing benchmarks by deal type, market, asset, and entitlement type. This helps nonprofits understand whether a corporate partner's proposal is priced fairly compared to similar arrangements and gives them data-backed leverage in negotiations.
What is the SponsorUnited Proposal Evaluator?
The Proposal Evaluator is an AI tool introduced in SponsorUnited 4.0 that analyzes inbound sponsorship proposals. You upload a proposal and receive an AI-powered breakdown covering audience fit, competitive landscape analysis, asset benchmarking against comparable deals, and negotiation guidance based on real market data. This removes the guesswork from evaluating whether a corporate partner's offer is reasonable.
How does SponsorUnited collect its data?
SponsorUnited combines a global network of approximately 500 field scouts who attend events in 150+ countries with proprietary digital technology that scrapes social media, news, and public content. This human-plus-AI methodology gives it data that goes beyond what can be gathered through digital means alone, capturing physical signage, activation details, and real-world deal context that wouldn't appear in any digital feed.
What categories of sponsorships does SponsorUnited track?
SponsorUnited tracks sports (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS, college athletics, and more), entertainment (music artists and tours), arts and cultural institutions, cause-related and nonprofit partnerships, events and festivals, NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) deals, media partnerships, and influencer and content creator sponsorships across 150+ countries. Cause-related nonprofit partnerships are tracked as a dedicated category with historical trend data.