The Impact of Sponsorship Links: 2025 Report
See how 120 real-world business sponsors choose nonprofit partners, what they get from those relationships, and how it impacts local visibility and brand recognition.
Summary: Sponsors on Community Impact, Values, and Visibility in 2025
Our 2025 survey looks at why businesses sponsor local nonprofits and finds that community impact and shared values usually matter more than short-term marketing ROI.
Most sponsors give small amounts, often between $50 and $300 per sponsorship and usually under $500 per organization.
Sponsorships make up only a small share of revenue, but businesses still renew when the relationship feels right and the nonprofit reflects their community.
Visibility is a motivator, but many sponsors underrate it. They mention visibility as a reason to sponsor, yet only a few see it as a major driver of local awareness. That gap matters because AI search tools and LLM summaries increasingly rely on trusted local signals, including mentions from nonprofits and community organizations.
The report shows where intentions, budgets, and results do not align, and offers ways for businesses to use local sponsorships more deliberately as both meaningful community investments and practical ways to build brand recognition and digital trust.
Key findings
- 94% rate community impact as “highly motivating.”
- 88% rated shared values as “extremely” or “very” motivating
- 58% have sponsored the same organization for over a year.
- 42% say online visibility influences sponsorships (but few see it as a major driver).
- 40% say sponsorships drive 1% or less of revenue; 7% report 20%+
Why you need this report
If you sponsor local nonprofits or are planning to, this report shows how other businesses make those choices. You’ll see what motivates them, how much they spend, and why some partnerships last while others fade.
As search changes and digital trust gets harder to earn, you’ll see where sponsorships fit.
Choose better partners, set smarter budgets, and get more long-term value from every dollar you put into your community.
About this report
Founded in 2016 by Garrett French, ZipSprout connects businesses with grassroots organizations to build meaningful community partnerships.
This research, led by Ellen Sartin, explores what motivates local sponsorships and how businesses measure their impact.
Community love
What the communities we help say about ZipSprout
ZipSprout helped us get money from quality sponsored Ads hosted on our website. We are a nonprofit, so every dollar counts towards hosting a FREE Semi-Annual Festival! Love working with the ZipSprout fulfillment team. Always great to hear from them. A wonderful small team of dedicated professionals!
We attracted appropriate sponsors for each particular program. They placed their logos on one of our program pages for one year. When the community saw these pages for special events, they could click on the sponsor site. ZipSprout coordinated the sponsorship connections and payment of fees with greate attention to detail.
Working with ZipSprout has been great. They helped match local businesses and schools together in the form of a sponsorship. We’re both in the business of sponsorships, ZipSprout does a great job of trying to match those and its a huge time saver.
ZipSprout reached out to us via our contact form to provide us with exposure and connect us to great sponsors. They’ve been very pleasant to work with, and the process of being matched was very simple and easy.
Working with ZipSprout has helped us increase our local visibility and connect with community outreach that aligns with our mission. In addition, it has also given us a chance to support local initiatives and build backlinks that may contribute to long-term SEO benefits.
We are hopeful that over time, this kind of exposure will lead to stronger recognition and commitments. We are excited to further our presence through the opportunities that ZipSprout exhibits.
The ZipSprout team has been such a joy to work with. They’ve supported Women in Tech SEO as a WTSPartner and exhibiting at our WTSFest conferences – always showing up with genuine enthusiasm and a real commitment to our mission. They’ve supported further outside our partnership through initiatives like their survey donations that help better our industry and support keeping our WTS community sustainable. Every interaction we’ve had with them has been kind, genuine, and full of enthusiasm for what we’re building together. We’re so grateful for their support and the way they show up for our members.
