Sponsor Renewal

How to renew sponsors with a 90-day runway: notification, report, upsell, and fallback.

Why

Sponsor renewals are not automatic — the sponsor's budget, priorities, or champion at the company may have changed, and if you wait until the renewal date to ask 'do you want to renew', you get a rushed 'no' because the sponsor cannot build a business case in 5 days. The 90-day runway gives the sponsor time to build the renewal case internally: at day -90 you send a deliverables report (what they got), at day -60 you propose an upsell (more deliverables for more budget), at day -30 you confirm the renewal, and at day 0 the renewal is a formality. The most common renewal mistake is treating the renewal as a transaction ('pay $12k for another year') instead of a relationship ('here is the impact you had, here is what we will do next year'). Sponsors renew because of the relationship and the demonstrated impact, not because of the invoice. The deliverables report is the highest-leverage renewal tool: a sponsor who sees 'your logo got 50k impressions, your support channel resolved 14 issues, your early access caught 2 bugs before release' renews at 80%+ rates; a sponsor who just gets an invoice renews at 40%.

When

90 days before each sponsor's renewal date. Start the runway then, not at renewal - 5 days.

How

1. Track each sponsor's renewal date in the deliverable calendar — set a reminder 90 days before
2. Day -90: send the deliverables report (logo impressions, newsletter opens, support resolutions, early-access bugs caught) — this is the 'here is the impact you had' message
3. Day -60: propose an upsell if appropriate — 'we are adding a new deliverable (case study, conference talk) for Partners, would you like to upgrade from Sponsor to Partner for $X more?'
4. Day -30: send the renewal confirmation — 'reply to confirm renewal at the Sponsor tier ($1000/mo) for another year'; include a 1-page agreement if anything changed
5. Day -7: if no confirmation, send a one-liner: 'just checking — your renewal is on Jan 15, reply to confirm'
6. Day 0: if confirmed, process the renewal via GitHub Sponsors / Open Collective; if no response, send a final 'your sponsorship lapses today — we hope to welcome you back'
7. If the sponsor churns, send a 1-question exit survey: 'what would have made you renew?' — this feedback improves the program
8. Log the renewal outcome in the spreadsheet: renewed / upgraded / churned / lapsed — this tells you your renewal rate (target > 70%) and which tiers have retention problems

Example

# 90-day renewal runway (Acme, renewal Jan 15)
# Day -90 (Oct 15): Deliverables report
Subject: Your EZ4Code sponsorship — year in review
- Logo: 50k impressions on /sponsors
- Newsletter: 12 mentions, 120k subscribers, 4% CTR
- Early access: 8 releases, 2 bugs caught pre-release
- Support: 14 issues resolved, 18h avg response
Reply to discuss renewal.

# Day -60 (Nov 15): Upsell
Subject: Upgrade to Partner?
We are adding a co-marketing blog post for Partners.
Upgrade from Sponsor ($1k/mo) to Partner ($5k/mo) for the blog post + roadmap input.

# Day -30 (Dec 15): Confirmation
Subject: Confirm your EZ4Code renewal
Reply to confirm renewal at Sponsor tier ($1000/mo) for Jan 2026 - Jan 2027.

# Day 0 (Jan 15): Process or lapse
# If confirmed: GitHub Sponsors auto-renews
# If no response: send "sponsorship lapsed" + exit survey

Common Problems

⚠Sending the renewal invoice 5 days before renewal — the sponsor cannot build an internal case in 5 days, so they say 'no' to avoid the rush. Start the 90-day runway with a deliverables report.
⚠Treating renewal as a transaction (just an invoice) instead of a relationship (impact + future plans) — transactional renewals close at 40%, relationship renewals at 80%+. Lead with the deliverables report.
⚠Not asking why a churned sponsor left — you are flying blind on why renewals fail. Send a 1-question exit survey and use the feedback to fix the program.

Best Practices

✓Start the renewal 90 days out with a deliverables report — this gives the sponsor time to build the internal case and positions the renewal as a relationship, not a transaction.
✓Propose an upsell at day -60 — the sponsor is already evaluating renewal, so it is the natural moment to propose more budget for more deliverables. 15-20% of sponsors upgrade.
✓Track renewal outcomes (renewed / upgraded / churned / lapsed) by tier — this tells you which tiers have retention problems and whether the deliverable mix needs adjustment.