2025 Sponsorship guide
Capital City Pride has become one of the most trusted voices for the LGBTQ+ community in the Des Moines region, and we invite you to participate in the ongoing work of advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion by partnering with us. It is these partnerships that ensure Des Moines remains a place for LGBTQ+ people to live and thrive. Join us as we are looking ahead to PrideFest 2025 on June 6-8!
As you look through our Sponsorship Guide, we hope you are excited to jump in and get involved with CCP! To put together a Sponsorship Agreement, please contact our Executive Director, Wes Mullins, via the link below. We look forward to meeting you, working with you, and building a better tomorrow for all the people who call Central Iowa home!
READY TO BECOME A SPONSOR?
Pridefest Sponsorships
JUNE 6-8, 2025
$50,000 NAMING-RIGHTS SPONSOR
This elite, presenting- level sponsorship grants naming rights to the entire PrideFest Weekend, which drew more than 150,000 visitors in 2024. As the largest annual LGBTQ+ event in Iowa, it provides unmatched exposure and a powerful opportunity to make a regional impact.
PrideFest is a jam-packed weekend full of amazing entertainment, a festive parade, and fun-filled activities for all ages including a Family & Youth Zone, Teen Zone, Health and Wellness Zone.
JUNE 8, 2025
$15,000 PRESENTING SPONSOR
$7,500 SUPPORTING SPONSOR
A celebration of community and culture, the annual Pride Parade is an important occasion for the Des Moines community where LGBTQ+ people, friends, family, and supporters don all the colors of the rainbow and joyfully come together to celebrate unity. The Pride Parade takes place at Noon on the Sunday of PrideFest weekend. The iconic route starts from the Iowa State Capitol and travels west on Grand Avenue into the heart of the Historic East Village.
The Pride Parade honors the origins of LGBTQ+ movement, and it is a place where everyone is invited to take a positive stance against discrimination and violence towards LGBTQ+ people while affirming equal rights. In addition, it increases visibility for all participants, builds community, and celebrates diversity.
JUNE 6-8, 2025
$17,500 PRESENTING SPONSOR – DIAMOND LEVEL
The Main Stage is the center of activity at PrideFest as well as the home of all of the headliner acts for the Festival. This premiere naming-rights sponsorship at PrideFest is an opportunity to have the Main Stage named by your organization. This naming right will appear in all references to the Main Stage in all print and digital materials for PrideFest. In addition, the banner over the Main Stage will include the naming rights.
JUNE 6-8, 2025
$10,000 PRESENTING SPONSOR – PLATINUM LEVEL
The Community Stage is the home of the Silent Disco, the Pet Parade, and many other performances and events. This premiere naming-rights sponsorship at PrideFest is an opportunity to have the Community Stage named by your organization. This naming right will appear in all references to the Community Stage in all print and digital materials and on the banner over the stage.
JUNE 6-8, 2025
$10,000 PRESENTING SPONSOR
$5,500 SUPPORTING SPONSOR
Capital City Pride promotes healthy living and socialization for the LGBTQ+ community through physical activity and sports. We dedicate a zone at PrideFest to the celebration of fitness, education, health, and wellness to further bring our community together. Past activities included a dunk tank, weight lifting challenge, bags tournament, and more. Booths are also available to learn how to get more involved in personal fitness, health and wellness, and local sports leagues.
JUNE 7, 2025
$10,000 PRESENTING SPONSOR
$5,500 SUPPORTING SPONSOR
The Capital City Pride Family and Youth Zone was created to accommodate our growing family population. The Family and Youth Zone is designated for those who would like to enjoy a family-friendly environment with a variety of activities for kids of all ages and interests.
* Exclusive sponsorship rights are available for this event. If interested, ask us about the additional costs and benefits of being the sole sponsor.
JUNE 6-8, 2025
$10,000 PRESENTING SPONSOR
$5,500 SUPPORTING SPONSOR
The Capital City Pride Teen Zone was created to offer a much-needed space for LGBTQ+ teens and allies. As more and more youth gather to celebrate, Capital City Pride is finding it necessary to create a dedicated safe space for today’s teenage population. This area aims to provide activities that cater to the interests of an older youth population while creating an environment that makes them feel accepted for exactly who they are. Teens need safe public spaces where they can come together, engage in activities related to their interests, and freely express themselves. They will be encouraged to use this space as somewhere to use their voices, hear others’ stories, socialize, and make new memories and lasting friendships!
* Exclusive sponsorship rights are available for this event. If interested, ask us about the additional costs and benefits of being the sole sponsor.
JUNE 6-8, 2025
$7,500 PRESENTING SPONSOR
$5,000 SUPPORTING SPONSOR
Starting in 2024, Capital City Pride began offering a designated ADA Station to ensure everyone has equal ability to enjoy the PrideFest activities. Services include transportation to and from parking lots, a staffed ADA parking lot, a special digital program guide for the visually impaired, free noise-cancelling headphones available for check-out, ADA viewing zones, and more. Your support makes these service possible throughout the entire weekend.
* Exclusive sponsorship rights are available for this event. If interested, ask us about the additional costs and benefits of being the sole sponsor.
JUNE 6-8, 2025
$5,000 PRESENTING SPONSOR
$3,000 SUPPORTING SPONSOR
Amid the vibrant and colorful festivities of PrideFest, there’s a special zone that’s just for our furry friends and their human companions. This dedicated pet zone is a space where the unconditional love and companionship between pets and their LGBTQ+ families are celebrated. Here, you’ll find playful pups, fabulous felines, and a menagerie of other lovable creatures, all adorned in their rainbow-hued finest. From the pet parade to pet-friendly vendors, this zone is a testament to the diverse and loving bonds that exist within our LGBTQ+ community.
* Exclusive sponsorship rights are available for this event. If interested, ask us about the additional costs and benefits of being the sole sponsor.
JUNE 7, 2025
$10,000 PRESENTING SPONSOR
$5,500 SUPPORTING SPONSOR
We love our furry friends as members of the family, and now they have a chance to show their support for a cause you love almost as much as you love them! Schedule an appointment at the groomers, put on your best leash and collar combo (a costume is a bonus!) and join Capital City Pride for the Pride Pet Parade. Prizes will be awarded to the contestant with the Most Pride, Pet and Owner Look Alike, and Best Outfit.
JUNE 6-8, 2025
$10,000 PRESENTING SPONSOR – PLATINUM LEVEL + Logo on front of volunteer shirts
$5,500 SUPPORTING SPONSOR – SILVER LEVEL
One of the most unique partnership opportunities of PrideFest, the Volunteer Sponsor is boldly presented on the front of all the PrideFest Volunteer Shirts. With nearly 500 volunteers, you will have a lot of wonderful volunteers sporting your logo as a proud sponsor of 2025 PrideFest. You also have the option to provide additional swag to everyone at Volunteer Headquarters!
JUNE 7, 2025
$15,000 PRESENTING SPONSOR
$5,000 SUPPORTING SPONSOR
Celebrate diversity, love, and acceptance at PrideFest by joining the Pride Stride 5k. With over 500 participants last year, the race supports year-round LGBTQ+ programming and events. All athletes receive a t-shirt, medal, and race bib. Starting and finishing in the Historic East Village, the route includes scenic views of downtown Des Moines. Walk, run, or strut—let’s make strides towards a more inclusive world!
JUNE 6 & 7, 2025
$15,000 PRESENTING SPONSOR (BOTH NIGHTS)
$10,000 PRESENTING SPONSOR (SINGLE NIGHT)
$5,500 SUPPORTING SPONSOR (SINGLE NIGHT)
For many years, Capital City Pride has hosted a Silent Disco on Friday evening of PrideFest. In 2024, nearly 1,000 people participated and asked that we expand to two nights. Responding to that growth, in 2025 we will have a Silent Disco on both Friday and Saturday. Participants will listen and dance to music on wireless headphones, creating the effect of dancing in silence for all those not listening on headphones to hear the music. This is an all-ages event, welcoming everyone to join the celebration!
JUNE 7, 2024
$3,000 PRESENTING SPONSOR
$1,500 SUPPORTING SPONSOR
On the Saturday morning of PrideFest, Capital City Pride presents Drag Storytime. The event is just what it sounds like—drag queens reading stories to children giving them glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models. Featuring local drag performers and authors, this family-friendly event includes storytime, crafts, and snacks. The program is produced in partnership with our eventspace hosts Raygun & Storyhouse Book Pub.
JUNE 7, 2025
$3,000 PRESENTING SPONSOR
$1,500 SUPPORTING SPONSOR
A highlight of the Family and Youth Zone is the enormous Rainbow Maze! Great for kids of all ages, this challenge is a perfect family-friendly activity, and it takes place in the heart of our Family and Youth Zone at PrideFest, which attracts thousands of families from across the State.
May 2025
$5,000 PRESENTING SPONSOR
$3,000 SUPPORTING SPONSOR
Each year a portion of the Capital City Pride Board steps out of their comfort zone and into a fun night of drag to help raise funds for PrideFest. Local professional drag queens coach our board members as they prepare and perform in drag for the first time. Sponsors of this event are also welcome to nominate their own first-time drag queen (or drag king!) from their team to join the lineup for this fundraising drag spectacular!
JUNE 6-8, 2025
SPONSORSHIP LEVEL VARIES
2025 Sponsorship Guide
Program Sponsorships
$50,000 PRESENTING SPONSOR (WHOLE SERIES)
$25,000 SUPPORTING SPONSOR (WHOLE SERIES)
$7,500 PRESENTING SPONSOR (INDIVIDUAL SPEAKER)
$3,000 SUPPORTING SPONSOR (INDIVIDUAL SPEAKER)
The Speaker Series is the cornerstone of Capital City Pride’s year-round educational programming. Each month, a National LGBTQ+ Leader who has succeeded in some area of life (professional, personal, and more) is brought to Des Moines to share about how being LGBTQ+ was part of their journey. The Speaker Series gives audience members possiblity models, clarity for those looking for direction, and insightful paths to something bigger than the challenges of today. Speakers help to educate the entire community on various elements of LGBTQ+ life, and our 2024-2025 speakers bring tremendous diversity of thought and experience across many disiplines.
JIM OBERGEFELL
SEPT. 5, 2024
The 2024-2025 season opens with an eye-opening conversation with Jim Obergefell, plaintiff in the landmark Supreme Court Marriage Equality case. Jim will draw from his unique experience at the heart of the Supreme Court marriage equality ruling to move and empower us to stand by our beliefs— and prove that love always wins. A self-described accidental activist, Jim found himself in the role of caregiver for his partner of more than 20 years, John, as he neared the end of his life due to ALS.
BLAIR IMANI
OCT. 10, 2024
Blair Imani is the creator of the viral web series, Smarter In Seconds, LA Times best-selling author of Read This to Get Smarter, and co-owner of the beauty brand Fempower Beauty. She is also the author of Making Our Way Home (2020) and Modern HERstory (2018). The New York Times praises Blair Imani’s unique ability to create “progressive lessons with vibrant visuals and a perky, quirky delivery.” Her scholarship spans intersectionality, gender studies, race and racism, sociology, and United States history.
V SPEHAR
JAN. 9, 2025
V Spehar (they/them) is a Rochester-based LGBTQIA+ podcaster, online personality, and citizen journalist. Spehar launched Under the Desk News on TikTok in April 2020 and rapidly amassed over 3 million followers. Their one-minute segments (literally delivered from under a desk) have attracted a bipartisan audience. Their reporting has taken them to the press room of the 2023 State of the Union to hosting NBC’s livestream of the Thanksgiving Day Parade to speaking at UNESCO summits.
TEE FRANKLIN
FEB. 13, 2025
Tee Franklin is the first Black woman to write Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy for DC Comics, and she is also the first Black woman writer with multiple series by Image Comics. Tee is a Black, Queer mom of adult children, who is also a disabled, autistic wheelchair-user just bursting with personality! Franklin works to change the harmful narratives about disabled people. Her life shows that you can create art without offending disabled people.
JIM FIELDING
MAR. 20, 2025
Jim Fielding is a respected retail and media industry veteran whose expertise combines storytelling, product innovation, merchandising, and consumer experiences. Currently a partner at Archer Gray, he has led consumer products groups for some of the world’s largest companies including Disney, Dreamworks, Claire’s, and Twentieth Century Fox, where he built diverse and visionary teams that excelled in competitive global markets.
MERCURY STARDUST
APR. 24, 2025
Mercury Stardust (she/they) is a Professional Home Maintenance Technician, performer, and award-winning activist. Known widely as the Trans Handy Ma’am, their unique brand of compassionate education in the home repair space has earned her internet fame. With over 2.5 million followers on TikTok and over 750,000 followers on Instagram, Mercury spreads DIY knowledge with love.
FLAMY GRANT
MAY 8, 2025
Flamy is a shame-slaying, hip-swaying, singing-songwriting drag queen from North Carolina. Her 2022 debut record, Bible Belt Baby, was nominated for Best Pop Album at the San Diego Music Awards and was named one of the Top Ten Queer Country Albums of 2023 by Rainbow Rodeo Magazine. With her #1 hit “Good Day,” She has been featured in Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, People, Billboard, and more.
April 2025
$7,500 PRESENTING SPONSOR
$3,000 SUPPORTING SPONSOR
An Intergenerational Conversation Panel is hosted that brings together members of the LGBTQ+ community who represent Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z for a panel discussion about history, trends, controversial topics, and everyday happenings. Through the panel discussion, we begin to realize that although we are all members of LGBTQ+ community our place in time, our generation, weighs heavily on our thoughts, ideas, and opinions.
* Exclusive sponsorship rights are available for this event. If interested, ask us about the additional costs and benefits of being the sole sponsor.
SUMMER – FALL
$7,500 PRESENTING SPONSOR
$3,000 SUPPORTING SPONSOR
The Capital City Pride Storyteller event features 5 to 6 community members who write, memorize and share a 10-minute story about being LGBTQ+ or having an LGBTQ+ person in their life. Some stories are charming, some touching, some funny—all from people creating families, creating lives, and creating a city and community culture. The event is designed to be brief and heartfelt, and to include the idea that in sharing our stories, we feel more willing to invest in our neighbors with our time, our resources, and our hearts.
Every other month at local partner venues
$3,000 PRESENTING SPONSOR
$1,500 SUPPORTING SPONSOR
Capital City Pride Book Club provides a safe space for all members of the LGBTQ+ community and allies to read and discuss LGBTQ+ literature; stories that are not only for us but that are often by us as a community. It is through these stories that we can better understand our rich history. It is through our diverse opinions, individual insights, and interactions with one another that we, as a group, can gain a better understanding of our present and future community.
* Exclusive sponsorship rights are available for this event. If interested, ask us about the additional costs and benefits of being the sole sponsor.
$5,000 PRESENTING SPONSOR
$3,000 SUPPORTING SPONSOR
Queens in the Kitchen is a live cooking instruction on-demand video that combines interesting recipes and lots of laughter as our guest chef and resident drag queen demonstrates how to prepare and cook a delicious dish. The Capital City Pride website and social media platforms provide the show’s theme, recipe, and grocery list allowing viewers to pick up their supplies before the demo so that they can follow along at home. The show is made available on the Capital City Pride YouTube page, website, and social media pages.
* Exclusive sponsorship rights are available for this event. If interested, ask us about the additional costs and benefits of being the sole sponsor.
MAY 2025
$7,500 PRESENTING SPONSOR
$3,000 SUPPORTING SPONSOR
Sponsor the inaugural Pride Ride, a new flagship Health and Wellness event for Des Moines’s robust and devoted biking community. The Pride Ride will be a fun biking event with multiple ride lengths to accomodate a spectrum of riders from the casual to the avid. The event will conclude with a social gathering a at local brewery and eatery.
JUNE 27, 2025
$7,500 PRESENTING SPONSOR
$3,000 SUPPORTING SPONSOR
Get ready to have a ball with Capital City Pride! We’re taking over Principal Park for a fabulous evening out.
Picture it: rainbow flags waving in the breeze, the Des Moines Gay Men’s Chorus belting out the national anthem and pre-game tailgating in the parking lot sponsored by you!
June 2025
$5,000 PRESENTING SPONSOR
$3,000 SUPPORTING SPONSOR
Each year, Capital City Pride and the Pride Sports League of Central Iowa collaborate to host “Let Love Serve,” a Des Moines Pride Volleyball Tournament held on a Friday night during Pride Month at The Sands Volleyball Club. Sponsorsupport covers event costs, allowing team entry fees to be donated to a local LGBTQ+ nonprofit. This event promotes wellness while giving back to the community.
June 1, 2024
$5,000 PRESENTING SPONSOR
$2,000 SUPPORTING SPONSOR
The Pride Pageant is a long-running Capital City Pride tradition. Contestants vie for one of four crowns: Mr. Pride, Ms. Pride, Mx. Pride, and Teen. The Mx. Crown is for non-binary participating pageant contestants. The Teen competition features an age-appropriate competition and award.
* Exclusive sponsorship rights are available for this event. If interested, ask us about the additional costs and benefits of being the sole sponsor.
March 2025
$5,000 PRESENTING SPONSOR
$3,000 SUPPORTING SPONSOR
Get ready to laugh uncontrollably at “The Gag Show!” Join us for a night of side-splitting humor featuring a stellar lineup of LGBTQ+ comedians. With witty observations and hilarious stories, this event promises to leave you grinning and quoting jokes for weeks. Don’t miss an unforgettable evening of pure comedic entertainment!
* Exclusive sponsorship rights are available for this event. If interested, ask us about the additional costs and benefits of being the sole sponsor.
Fall 2025
$5,000 PRESENTING SPONSOR
$3,000 SUPPORTING SPONSOR
Capital City Pride’s Family Feud is a fun take on America’s favorite game show “The Family Feud.” Teams, such as drag houses, compete against one another to identify the most common answers to the surveyed questions. Capital City Pride commissioned a Family Feud studio set, so audiences are bound to have a great time watching the fun unfold with all the buttons, buzzers, and more of the TV show!
* Exclusive sponsorship rights are available for this event. If interested, ask us about the additional costs and benefits of being the sole sponsor.
November 9, 2024
$5,000 PRESENTING SPONSOR
$3,000 SUPPORTING SPONSOR
For a variety of reasons, many LGBTQ+ people do not have memories of attending their high school prom as their fullest self. This Adult Prom is a chance to proudly be who you are, love who you love, and enjoy a memorable evening of great music, dancing, food, and more. The Gayla Adult Prom is a collaborative event produced by Capital City Pride, Downtown Disciples, Bash DSM, and our event sponsors.
June 1, 2025
$7,500 PRESENTING SPONSOR
$3,000 SUPPORTING SPONSOR
Drag brunch is one of the hottest-themed events to hit the LGBTQ+ community. From an underground scene to a pop culture phenomenon, drag shows have had many faces, with drag brunches being their most recent reincarnation. Capital City Pride presents their own rendition to celebrate Pride.
* Exclusive sponsorship rights are available for this event. If interested, ask us about the additional costs and benefits of being the sole sponsor.
WINTER 2025
$5,000 PRESENTING SPONSOR
$2,000 SUPPORTING SPONSOR
The Broadway Singalong is a LGBTQ+ classic. Historically, LGBTQ+ Broadway performers in NYC would meet at a local piano bar after the Sunday Matinee. Since there were no Sunday evening performances, the performers and the community could come together, sing, laugh, and have an evening of fun. Capital City Pride aims to capture the essence of this time told tradition of singing and celebrating life together.
Summer-FALL 2025
$3,000 PRESENTING SPONSOR
$1,500 SUPPORTING SPONSOR
The Rainbow Scavenger Hunt is a family- friendly event hosted by Capital City Pride. With search areas for kids of all ages, this event welcomes everyone in the community to come out for a fun hunt where you everyone wins a gift bag and a few lucky searchers win additional prizes.
* Exclusive sponsorship rights are available for this event. If interested, ask us about the additional costs and benefits of being the sole sponsor.
Summer 2025
$10,000 PRESENTING SPONSOR
$5,000 SUPPORTING SPONSOR
Rainbow Safari is a family-focused evening hosted at Blank Park Zoo. The Rainbow Safari is an opportunity for the LGBTQ+ community to come together in an inclusive space and enjoy an evening of animal gazing and feeding, carousel and train riding, eating and drinking, and general merriment.
June
$5,000 PRESENTING SPONSOR
$3,000 SUPPORTING SPONSOR
Capital City Pride partners with the Science Center of Iowa to offer a special after-hours Pride Month event for people of all ages. This family-friendly event features access to all the exhibits as well as some special activities led by the Science Center just for our group.
* Exclusive sponsorship rights are available for this event. If interested, ask us about the additional costs and benefits of being the sole sponsor.
DECEMBER
$5,000 PRESENTING SPONSOR
$3,000 SUPPORTING SPONSOR
Capital City Pride partners with the Science Center of Iowa to offer a family-friendly holiday film screening in December. This event features a kid-friendly holiday movie along with open access to all of the first-floor Science Center exhibits, including the sock ice skating rink.
March 8, 2025
$15,000 PRESENTING SPONSOR + 2 VIP TABLES
1 AVAILABLE
$10,000 GOLD SPONSOR + 1 VIP TABLE + 1 TABLE
3 AVAILABLE
$7,500 SILVER SPONSOR + 1 VIP TABLE
5 AVAILABLE
$5,000 BRONZE SPONSOR + 1 TABLE
5 AVAILABLE
$2,500 VIP TABLE
20 AVAILABLE
$2,000 TABLE
30 AVAILABLE
The Pride Gala & Awards Ceremony aims to support our mission of bringing together the members of the LGBTQ+ community, their friends, allies, and supporters. The Pride Gala & Awards Ceremony
is Capital City Pride’s annual fundraiser and is essential to our ability to organize the free activities and events we put on throughout the year such as the Speaker Series, monthly book club, Storytellers Project, PrideFest Weekend, the Pride Parade, and so much more! The Pride Gala also recognizes individuals and companies within the Des Moines community through the Pride Person(s) of Year, Pride Ally of the Year, and Pride Company of the Year. The Pride Gala is an evening of entertainment and fun for all!
SUPPORTER LEVELS
The “500 Loud & Proud” was CCP’s first individual and small buisess supporter program. This is an opportunity to show how loud & proud you are to support the LGBTQ+ community, both year-round and during PrideFest. Donate in one lump sum or set up a recurring donation of $42.
INVESTMENT $500
BENEFITS
- One 6′′ x 4′′ window cling and two 3′′ x 4.5′′ stickers to place anywhere
- 50% off a Pride Guide Ad (5×8′′ regularly $1,000, 5×4′′ regularly $500)
- Listed on CCP Supporter Page in the Pride Guide
- Listed on the Capital City Pride Website with 2025 Sponsors
An opportunity to be listed as a donor showing your support for Capital City Pride as an individual or small business. “Friends of CCP” are our premiere year-round supporters. You can donate in one lump sump or set up a monthly donor amount of $84.
INVESTMENT $1,000
BENEFITS
- One 6′′ x 4′′ window cling and Two 3′′ x 4.5′′ stickers to place anywhere
- 50% off a Pride Guide Ad (5×8′′ regularly $1,000, 5×4′′ regularly $500)
- Listed on CCP Supporter Page in the Pride Guide
- Listed on the Capital City Pride Website with 2025 Sponsors
- Free parade entry