Sponsor Trove vs. HubSpot
A sponsorship CRM that doesn't need a RevOps team.
HubSpot is a powerful platform, and it's at its best when someone owns it: building properties and pipelines, maintaining workflows, cleaning up data and training the team. Most sponsorship teams are a few people whose job is to sell, not to administer a CRM. Sponsor Trove comes ready for selling sponsorships, so there's nothing to configure and nobody needed to keep it running.
When the CRM becomes a job of its own
Built to be configured
HubSpot's flexibility comes from custom properties, pipelines, workflows and permissions. Making it fit sponsorships, with packages, events and a goal for each event, is a configuration project, and it needs attention every time your program changes.
Someone has to own it
Teams that get the most from HubSpot usually have a RevOps lead, a dedicated admin or an outside partner keeping it in shape. Without one, it drifts: unused fields, reports nobody trusts, and a pipeline that's out of date.
More platform than you'll use
Marketing, sales, service, content and operations tools, with paid tiers priced per seat. A small partnerships team ends up navigating, and paying for, far more than selling sponsorships requires.
What you get with Sponsor Trove
Ready on day one, no admin required
Stages, packages, amounts, owners and a revenue goal for each event are set up when you sign up. Anyone on the team can adjust stages and fields in a couple of clicks, without custom objects, properties, workflows or a consultant.
- Drag deals between stages
- Goal progress for each event
- Custom fields when you need them
Your prospectus becomes your best lead source
Share your deck as a Sponsor Trove link. Prospects enter their name and email to view it, you see who read it and when they came back, and each new reader is added to your pipeline as a deal, matched to their company.
- Named views and return visits
- One link for everyone, or one per prospect
- Your logo and colors on the viewer
Prospects can ask your deck questions
While they read, prospects can ask questions and get instant answers drawn from your document. Every question lands on the deal, and anything your deck doesn't cover is flagged for you to follow up on.
- Answers come only from your deck
- Unanswered questions flagged for you
- A clear signal of who's serious
Follow-ups without building a workflow
When a sponsor says "come back after our budget review," add a follow-up to the deal with a quick date. Due ones turn amber, overdue ones turn red, and a Follow-ups due view shows everything owed today.
- Tomorrow, 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, or any date
- As many as a deal needs
- Completed follow-ups kept as history
Gmail sync in two clicks
Each teammate connects Gmail from Settings, and emails with sponsors land on their deals automatically. There's no inbox integration to configure or admin to manage, and the AI reads the thread.
- Read-only, and only emails with your pipeline
- Matched by contact and company email domain
- Flags sponsors waiting on your reply
AI that knows sponsorship deals
Every deal gets a short summary with what to ask on the next call, drawing on deck visits, questions and notes, and deals that have gone quiet are flagged. Ask "What should I focus on today?" to get your list.
- Summaries refresh as deals change
- Answers link straight to the deal
- Drafts follow-up emails for you
What it costs to get started
HubSpot Sales Hub Professional: $90–100 per seat, per month
- Plus a required one-time $1,500 onboarding fee
- Priced per seat, so the bill grows with every teammate
- Workflows and sequences to configure and maintain
Sponsor Trove: Free during beta
- Set it up yourself in minutes, with no onboarding fee
- Complimentary migration of your HubSpot deals
- Direct support from the people who build Sponsor Trove, included
- Invite your whole team
HubSpot list prices from hubspot.com/pricing/sales. Check HubSpot's site for current pricing.