Sponsorship

Sponsors can buy reach. They can't buy us.

Here's how sponsorship actually works at Halo — starting with where the money goes, because that's the part that proves everything else.

Where the money goes

0% platform fee — here's what makes that true today.

Every paid event on Halo runs on Stripe Connect Standard with direct charges. The organizer is the merchant of record — Stripe deposits ticket revenue straight into their own account, not ours. We're never in possession of that money, not even for a second. Right now, that architecture is what keeps our platform fee at 0%: there's no pool of funds sitting with us to take a cut from.

Ticket money goes straight to the organizer's own Stripe account — never Halo's.

Refunds, chargebacks, and payouts happen between the organizer and Stripe. We're not in that conversation because we're not in that money.

If that ever changes, it won't be a quiet adjustment — any new fee would be announced publicly, with notice, before it touches a single event or organizer.

The one rule that matters

Sponsors buy reach. They never buy a say.

Sponsorship pays for visibility: a placement, an audience, a moment. It does not pay for influence over what we cover, list, or say — and that line doesn't move for anyone, including whoever writes the biggest check.

What sponsorship can buy

  • Placement — a banner, a featured slot in a city guide, top billing in a newsletter send
  • Reach — access to our audience in a city, a region, or around a moment like Pride month
  • Clearly labeled association — your name next to an event or guide you're sponsoring, always marked as sponsored, never disguised as organic content
  • Standard reporting — impressions, clicks, the same numbers any advertiser gets

What sponsorship can never buy

  • A say in which events get listed or removed
  • Editorial coverage, tone, or framing of any organizer, city, or community
  • Curation or ranking — sponsored placement never masquerades as an organic recommendation
  • Influence over moderation, safety calls, or who gets access to the platform
  • Veto power over anything we publish about you, your brand, or your event

Where we draw the line

Some money we don't take.

Halo exists because queer life deserves real infrastructure, not a logo change every June. We hold sponsors to the same bar we hold ourselves to — which means turning away money from:

Anti-LGBTQ+ policy and funding

Organizations or companies that fund, lobby for, or publicly back anti-LGBTQ+ legislation — anti-trans healthcare bans, "don't say gay" style laws, restrictions on marriage or adoption, or the criminalization of queer people — anywhere in the world, not only where they do business.

Conversion therapy, under any name

Any entity that practices, funds, refers patients to, or provides a platform for conversion or "reparative" therapy. No exceptions, no rebrands.

Anti-trans exclusions specifically

Given the current wave of legislative attacks on trans people, we exclude anyone funding or amplifying anti-trans campaigns — even organizations that present as broadly LGB-friendly. We don't sell partial acceptance.

Pinkwashing without practice

Brands that want Pride-month visibility with no record behind it — no non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ staff, no support for queer employees or communities beyond the sponsorship check, or a pattern of funding anti-LGBTQ+ causes elsewhere. If the rainbow logo disappears every July 1st, we're not interested in June either.

Active discrimination, unresolved

Employers, venues, or organizations with open or unresolved complaints, findings, or settlements related to LGBTQ+ discrimination.

Anything we wouldn't list

The same standard that keeps an event or organizer off Halo — hate speech, harassment, exclusionary practice — keeps their money off Halo too.

We check public record, not press releases, before we say yes. And if we get it wrong, tell us — we'll end a sponsorship faster than we signed it.

Want to sponsor Halo?

Tell us what you're building and who you're trying to reach. We'll tell you honestly whether it's a fit.

contact@halolgbt.com