Co-Develop Programming on the Issues Your Organization Works On
SSF sponsors don't buy ads. They build the conversations they want to be part of, alongside the experts and audiences that matter.
Who sponsors SSF.
Universities, foundations, nonprofits, public agencies, professional associations, and policy-engaged companies that want to convene credible conversations on security, sustainability, energy, climate adaptation, public health, resilience, and civil society.
Why Organizations Sponsor SSF
SSF sponsorship offers two things that most webinar platforms cannot.
Reach the audiences you cannot easily assemble yourself. SSF's 27,000-subscriber audience leans heavily toward federal and state policy professionals, university researchers, foundation program officers, and corporate sustainability and resilience leads. For most sponsors, this audience is harder to assemble through their own channels than through ours.
Programming you help shape, not a slot you fill. SSF sponsors are partners in topic selection, framing, and panelist recruitment. We work together on the conversation you want to be part of and on building the panel that makes it credible. This is unusual: most sponsored webinars sell logos and panel slots in pre-existing programming. SSF builds the programming around what the sponsor is working on.
How Sponsors Work With SSF
Sponsorship is a collaboration, not a transaction. The typical engagement looks like this:
- Develop. The sponsor brings the topic. SSF and the sponsor jointly develop the framing, the questions that drive the panel, and the panel itself. Sponsors often have direct relationships with experts SSF doesn't, and SSF brings its own roster from 15 years of programming. The result is a panel neither side could have assembled alone.
- Produce and promote. SSF produces the webinar, runs co-branded promotion to our 27,000 subscribers, hosts the live event, and adds the recording to our permanent archive.
- Follow up. Sponsors receive audience analytics, attendee data, and survey results. Each webinar gets a dedicated branded landing page on the SSF site that hosts the recording, the webinar summary, and the sponsor identity, a resource sponsors can link to in their own communications. The recording continues to draw viewership in the months following each event.
Editorial independence is the foundation of SSF's credibility with our audience and our speakers. SSF retains full editorial control of webinar content; sponsors shape framing and suggest panelists, and SSF makes the final call.
The Audience
SSF subscribers are professionals in government, academia, corporate sustainability and security, nonprofit advocacy, and consulting practice. The audience composition has been stable across 15 years of programming. The example below shows registration from a recent webinar; breadth and seniority are consistent across topics.
27,000+
Subscribers across government, corporate, academic, and nonprofit sectors
500 to 2,000
Registrants per webinar, with strong on-demand viewership after each event
40%
Average live attendance; the rest and more watch the recording, with viewership rising further with post-event promotion
300+
Webinars produced since 2009, building a deep archive that continues to draw new viewers
Representative Webinar Registration
The Missing Link in Wildfire Mitigation (January 2026), the third webinar in the ASU Lightworks Wildfire arc within SSF's Climate Adaptation and Natural Hazards track, drew 630 registrations from 41 countries and 49 US states. Registrants included staff from:
- Federal agencies: FEMA, USDA Forest Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Energy, National Park Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Congressional Research Service, the U.S. Senate
- State and local governments: Washington Department of Natural Resources, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, Maryland Department of the Environment, Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management, Arizona Department of Transportation, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, plus 50 other state and local agencies
- Universities and research institutions: Arizona State University, George Washington University, University of Washington, Northern Arizona University, SUNY ESF, University of Idaho, plus 30 other institutions
- Energy and utilities: Tucson Electric Power, Shell, Salt River Project, CPS Energy, Sandia National Labs, EBMUD, Energy Trust of Oregon, Madison Energy Infrastructure, Sonoma Water, plus 20 other companies
- Consulting firms: TRC Companies, CDM Smith, Parametrix, plus 80 other firms
Energy and utility participation on wildfire programming reflects the industry's stake in fire risk and grid reliability. Energy and Security track webinars draw deeper representation from utility and grid sector organizations.
See recent and upcoming programming in each track: Energy and Security · Climate Adaptation and Natural Hazards · Security and Society
Two Ways to Work With SSF
SSF works with sponsors in two formats. The right one depends on whether you're advancing a single event or sustaining a presence on a subject over an arc of related webinars.
Single Webinar Sponsor
$5,000 to $10,000 typically
For organizations advancing a specific campaign, research release, policy development, or thought-leadership moment. The most common entry point for new sponsors and the right format when the goal is one focused event. Pricing varies with topic complexity, panel scope, and production requirements.
- Topic, framing, and panel developed in partnership with you
- One or more panel seats for sponsor experts, depending on topic and intent
- Logo on registration page, recording, and promotional emails, plus co-branded promotion to the SSF subscriber list and additional promotion as agreed
- Dedicated branded landing page on the SSF site, hosting the recording, webinar summary, and sponsor identity
- Audience analytics, including attendee composition by sector and organization type, plus post-event survey results
- Recording hosted in the SSF archive, continuing visibility past the live event
Topic Sponsor
$15,000 to $25,000+ typically, scaled to arc length and scope
For organizations sustaining a presence on a subject they work on. A Topic Sponsor takes on a defined subject area within one of SSF's three programming tracks (Energy and Security, Climate Adaptation and Natural Hazards, or Security and Society) and sponsors a connected arc of webinars on that topic, typically three to six webinars planned together. The sponsor brings the topic. SSF and the sponsor frame the arc together.
- Joint development of the topic arc within one of SSF's three programming tracks
- Sponsor panelists on every webinar in the arc
- Consistent sponsor branding across all webinars in the arc
- Dedicated branded landing pages for each webinar, plus a topic-level page tying the arc together
- Audience analytics for each webinar plus an aggregated report across the full arc
- Co-branded promotion for each webinar, plus additional promotion as agreed
- Cross-promotion across the arc to build cumulative reach
- Recognition as Topic Sponsor in the promotion of the arc's webinars
We work with each sponsor to scope an engagement that fits their objectives. Pricing is discussed in the initial conversation.
How Sponsors Have Worked With SSF
Arizona State University, Lightworks Initiative
ASU Lightworks is the Topic Sponsor for Wildfires within SSF's Climate Adaptation and Natural Hazards track. ASU brought the topic. SSF and ASU framed the arc together. The wildfire program currently includes three completed webinars, one in production, and two more in development, with ASU team members appearing on panels alongside government land management agencies, finance and technology companies, and peer institutions.
Over time, Topic Sponsorship builds something a single webinar cannot: a recognized sponsor presence on a subject, and a growing network of relationships with the agencies, companies, and peer institutions that show up across the arc.
"Lightworks works on energy and decarbonization, and the questions that touch them, workforce, technology, public policy, community action. SSF has been our platform for putting those subjects in front of policy and practitioner audiences since 2014, across roughly 50 webinars. We bring substantive perspective and the experts we know; SSF brings its own deep network for panel recruiting, editorial judgment on how to frame each conversation, audience reach, and the full production. The results have been collaborations and panelist relationships we wouldn't have built through our own outreach."
Bill Brandt, Director of Strategic Initiatives, ASU Lightworks
Island Press
Island Press is the nonprofit publisher of books on environment, sustainability, and public policy. Across more than fifteen webinars over a decade, SSF worked with Island Press to bring its authors into direct conversation with the policy and practitioner audiences their books were written for. The partnership extended Island Press's reach beyond the audiences that book publicity typically touches.
"SSF was invaluable in connecting our authors with the policy audience. We collaborated on over 15 webinars across a decade of partnering. It was an opportunity to make significant impact to the current work and add to the discussions in a substantive way. SSF brings the right people to the table every time."
Julie Marshall, Vice President and Director, Marketing and Sales, Island Press
Organizations That Have Worked With SSF
Bring Us Your Topic
Bring a topic if you have one, or come ready to think one through. Most sponsorship conversations start by understanding what your organization is working on and what kind of programming would advance it.
Edward Saltzberg
Executive Director, Security and Sustainability Forum
esaltzberg@ssfworld.com
(703) 992-3848
Schedule a 30-minute call