Sponsorship · Golden Hour Unboxed · 2027

Year one proved the night works.

A $10,000 contract from the City of Bellevue put the first evening on the calendar and kept it free for every guest. Almost everything guests actually experienced was given. Year two is about doing it without asking anyone to absorb the cost.

$10,000

The City of Bellevue contract — venue, permits, licensing and logistics

60+ hrs

Given time — photography, video, hosting, a commissioned spoken word piece, event-day coordination and catering labor, donated or discounted before a single sponsor gave anything

What that bought: a free evening at Bellevue Botanical Garden for between 130 and 150 people · twenty vendor and community tables · proclamations from the City of Bellevue and King County · a recorded welcome from the King County Executive · nine volunteers who worked the night from setup through teardown.

Thank you. We are still saying it.

Where your sponsorship goes

In this order.

1 · The event

2 · The people

3 · The vendors

4 · Onward

Sponsorship makes the evening whole first — the food, the sound, the program and the prize. Then the people who build it are paid for their work rather than thanked for it. Then the Vendor Equity Fund, so a Black-owned business never has to choose between a license fee and a table. Anything beyond that goes to Eastside For All, our nonprofit partner, for community programming on the Eastside.

Why it is called Golden Hour

The day at its most generous.

Golden hour is the last warm light before dusk, the day at its most generous. That is the hour the evening is named for, and the standard it is held to.

On equitable pay

The people who build Black spaces should not be the ones quietly subsidizing them.

The first Golden Hour was built by Black professionals who agreed to take far less than their work is worth so the doors could open, free, to everyone. Some worked for a fraction of their rate. Some donated their craft outright. That was a choice we made together, and we made it gladly.

But a choice to absorb a loss is still a loss, and it is not a business model. Sponsorship is how year two pays people properly and keeps the evening free at the same time.

What a sponsorship underwrites

Pick the piece that fits you.

Levels run from $500 to presenting partner. Tell us what fits and we will build it around you.

Presenting partnerYour name on the evening — from the stage, on the wall, and in every piece of collateral.

Vendor Equity FundLicenses, permits, insurance and equipment for the businesses at the tables.

Media & documentationThe photography and video, paid instead of donated.

The Founders PrizeFunded before it is announced rather than after.

Hospitality & programThe food, the live music, the photo booth, and the seating that makes a garden feel like it was waiting for you.

Community tableA vendor spot underwritten for a business that could not otherwise be in the room.

Start a conversation →

Recognition

A wall, not a podium.

Private
donor

Everyone who gives and wants to be named goes on the same wall, in the same size, in the order they arrived. We do not sort our neighbors by what they could afford. The person who covered the sound permit and the company that covered the night stand next to each other, because they did the same thing: they made it happen.

And anyone can stay off the wall entirely. Say the word and you will not appear anywhere.

Where this is going

The demand is already here.

Vendors have asked to come back, and guests have asked for a winter market — a second night indoors, with the same room and the same care. There is an appetite for an arts-led edition too. Golden Hour Unboxed was built as one evening a year. With the right partners it could be a season.

Two ways in

Find yours.

There are two ways to put money into this. Pick the one that fits you.

i — Sponsor

A business or an individual who wants to sponsor.

Sponsorship is recognized. Your name or logo goes on the wall, in the program, and from the stage, at whatever level fits you. If you are a business, email us regardless so we can set up billing and benefits. If you are an individual who wants to sponsor, email us too.

Email to sponsor →

ii — Give & get a receipt

A person who wants to give and receive a tax receipt.

Give through Eastside for All, our nonprofit partner, and receive a charitable receipt for your taxes. You still choose whether to be listed with our supporters or to keep your gift private. This is the simplest way for a person to give.

Ten percent stays with Eastside for All. That is not overhead skimmed off your donation. Eastside for All organizes for a safe, welcoming and just East King County, led by and for Black and brown community members. They receive, receipt, and safeguard your gift — so you are funding two things: this event, and them.

Give and get a receipt →

Not sure which fits? Email katoya@toyboxconsulting.net and we will help you find the right one. Nothing on this page is tax advice.