Spend a few minutes at a VACEOs event and you’ll notice something unusual: it can be hard to tell who’s a member and who’s a sponsor.
Other than the color of their lanyards, there’s usually very little distinction. CEOs, business owners, and sponsors talk naturally, share experiences, and help one another work through the challenges of leading a business. No one is working the room or waiting for the right moment to make a sales pitch. That lack of distinction is by design.
CEOs already get plenty of vendor outreach. What’s more valuable is knowing who to call when a challenge lands on your desk, whether it’s a talent issue, a cybersecurity concern, a growth opportunity, a banking question, or planning for an eventual exit. At VACEOs, those relationships start well before the business need.
Trust Before Business
Many of our sponsors have been part of the VACEOs community for years, and some for decades. They’ve attended events, shared their expertise, and built relationships with members long before a business conversation ever came up. As longtime member and former Sponsorship Chairman Tom Cricchi has often pointed out, the strongest sponsor relationships begin with trust and familiarity.
You see that philosophy in action during sponsor presentations. Throughout the year, Roundtables and Forums invite sponsors to share expertise on topics members want to understand better. That might mean new legislation affecting employee benefits, the impact of AI, cybersecurity, succession planning, banking trends, or another issue members are actively working through.
These sessions are educational by design. Sponsors share expertise on challenges members are facing, while CEOs contribute their own experiences and lessons learned. The best presentations spark discussion, bringing together different perspectives and leaving members with practical ideas, useful questions, and a deeper understanding of the issue. Sponsors build credibility by sharing what they know and participating in the conversation.
Finding the Right Expert, Faster
As our sponsor community has grown, so has the range of expertise available to members. VACEOs sponsors bring experience in finance, banking, accounting, legal services, cybersecurity, AI, leadership development, marketing, sales, HR, strategy, M&A, exit planning, and more.
The challenge is knowing who specializes in what when a new issue lands on your desk. That’s why we created the VACEOs Sponsor Resource Search Tool.
Members can search by keyword, business issue, topic, or sponsor name to find relevant expertise. A CEO exploring AI, working through employee retention, or evaluating an acquisition can quickly identify sponsors with experience in that area. The tool also helps Roundtables and Forums find presenters on topics their members want to explore, without relying on directories or word of mouth.
Most importantly, it connects members with people they may already know, someone they met at an event, talked with at a Retreat, or have seen around the VACEOs community. That changes the starting point. Instead of a cold Google search, members can turn to someone who understands the realities of running a business and the Safe Haven culture that makes VACEOs different.
How We Choose Our Sponsors
We’re intentional about our sponsorship program and limit how many organizations participate. When an opening becomes available, we look for people who understand the VACEOs culture and want to contribute to it. Many of our sponsors stay involved for years, and in some cases decades, because they value the same things our members do: learning, growth, and helping other business leaders succeed.
As a nonprofit, VACEOs relies on these partners to help fulfill its mission. Their support helps make our peer groups, learning experiences, events, and connections possible. Over time, they become trusted resources by investing in the community, sharing expertise, and building relationships. That’s what makes VACEOs sponsorship different. Sponsors actively participate in a community built around learning, trust, generosity, and growth.
Here we grow.
Curious who makes up our sponsor community? Visit our Sponsors page to meet the organizations that invest their time, expertise, and support in VACEOs. If you’re interested in learning more about sponsorship opportunities, you’ll find information about our program and what it means to be part of the VACEOs community.
