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The search for sponsors is an extensive topic for every club. From planning to contract conclusion & mutual performance of services, there are a few things to consider. With this article, we would like to provide you with a guide that makes finding sponsors for your club much easier.
At the beginning of the year, the club realises that sponsorship money is needed for annual events, renovation of the clubhouse or youth work. First, members with higher positions in the club begin to explore opportunities among their friends and acquaintances. Then, members with strong professional networks are consulted, and finally, (almost) all members are asked to conduct their own search.
The money collected will probably be enough for the club outing or simple equipment. But what to do when larger sums or planning security are involved? The answer from many clubs is similar: a three-day tent festival with all the trimmings (5 bars, voluntary donation/admission and raffle).
In this article, we explain how you can use club sponsorships and donations as a useful additional source of income.
In the following document, we provide you with a sample template for sponsorship inquiries, including a sample contract. The templates are in Word format and can be individually adapted to different sponsors.
Preparation is also extremely important when looking for sponsors. So if you are actively searching for sponsors, you should ensure that you have information about your club's goals, sponsorship opportunities and use of funds. This simply comes across as professional and conscientious. But first things first.
Below, we give you seven simple tips on how to organise your search for sponsors in a sensible way. These individual steps do not require a lot of preparation, so you can implement them right away:
Since it is a pure messaging service, the functionality is manageable, which makes WhatsApp very understandable overall. And yet you can send extremely extensive images, videos, locations, voice messages and texts.
Create a list of sponsors with regional relevance. Because here, due to regional affiliation/equality with you, many small companies are interested in sponsoring a bit of something (money or in kind). In addition to the normal contact details, you are also deliberately looking for more information about a company or person, because this is the only way you are well prepared. Save everything collected in our online storage so that the information is not lost.
Create a list of sponsors related to the sector (appropriate to the club's activities). This can not only bring you money, but above all equipment/equipment for the next generation.
Search in the club for members who have contacts with companies. Through direct contact with a decision maker, he is 3 to 4 times as successful. You will see that you have at least 10% in the club who are absolutely motivated to help find sponsors (usually the sellers).
Do detailed research on the absolute desired sponsors — what do companies demand from clubs, what do they prefer in return and what is their current financial situation? The better you prepare yourself, the higher is the probability of getting such a desired sponsor.
If there is no personal contact, send out attractively formulated sponsorship requests. We'll show you what that looks like in the next chapter. In any case, it is very important to make this request as personal as possible.
Always set out the sponsorship guidelines in writing and have them signed by both sides. First, it looks more professional and secondly, it allows you to avoid unnecessary discussion with a sponsor afterwards.
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Sympathy is important and will certainly open a few doors for you over time. Now imagine that you have let the right contacts play out and are sitting in the office/café with your absolute favorite sponsor. What is the next step?
Attention: Unfortunately, sympathy is of relatively little use to you if you are unable to answer the one very decisive question that every sponsor and business partner is guaranteed to ask you: “What does the club offer me in return?” Be prepared for this question.
Hardly any business in the world is based purely on sympathy and hardly any sponsorship comes about without consideration. Be aware of this and put together packages with which you are guaranteed to be able to convince the sponsors in a personal conversation. Such packages are individual from club to club and you must work with your committee to clarify what you can offer. Commonly used components of such packages are as follows:
Mention as a sponsor or sponsor in the club's print and online advertising. Depending on the size of the sponsorship, usually over a longer period of time (e.g. one year).
Sponsorship certificate (can also be something small haptic that companies can put in the office or reception, similar to a trophy). Example: A small symbolic building block with the club logo on it when companies have given you money to renovate the club house. The building block in different sizes so that you can differentiate depending on the amount of sponsors.
Mention of sponsor on social media. Be committed to your sponsor, because he will eventually do the same for you. Give the boys in your club the task of making a good club appearance on Instagram, Facebook, etc.
If you have your own website, it is mandatory to mention it by name.
Ready-made press releases for the sponsor, which they can use to communicate the “deal” to their partners/newspapers. Or you can go the same way and agree on a joint press release. Small regional newspapers in particular are getting on really well here. Sells the emotional story of why this sponsorship is so important. Perhaps you know someone at a newspaper who can help you with this.
Invitation to events and mention of them — a very important point. Sponsorship can be ended quickly, especially if there are no invitations. It is always one person who makes the decision to sponsor and you can really thank them with such gestures.
Invitations and free tickets to events where the club's purpose is fulfilled — soccer games by the soccer club, New Year's concert by the Musikverein, fire protection days of the volunteer fire brigade are just three of the many examples that a club has.
Options for product presentation at events or in a club house. Give the sponsor a shop window where they can place themselves or their favorite product in your club.
Very obvious, but for the sake of completeness, we would like to mention it again: gang and banner advertising. The classic among the offers, but a great argument, especially in combination with the other options.
Discounts for club members and people close to the club (e.g. fans) who can purchase sponsors' services at better conditions. This once again highlights the image of the sponsor as a club supporting company.
This point is strongly related to point 10, but it is not the same. For example, give the sponsor the opportunity to present their products in your club or offer the sponsor to network with other clubs with the same clubs purpose.
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Club matters are teamwork — and so is the search for sponsors! In order to develop the club's full power in the search, all members should be involved from the start. Really from the start? No, of course not — the committee, which we have already addressed earlier, meets first and determines both the framework conditions as well as the strategies and services. Unfortunately, a certain top-down approach is necessary to carry out a truly structured search for sponsors. Anything else quickly leads to chaos.
Once the committee has made decisions, these are communicated to all members. Very important: The goal of the search must be emotionally emphasized so that most members are actually involved.
Comprehensive management of membership fees and more
Vereinsplaner is a very comprehensive tool and we would like to present a feature to you here: Create individual memberships, record the associated membership fees and assign them to the members. From this, you can then generate membership fees and send them directly to the affected members. Save yourself so much time and money. More information about Membership fee management.
The committee should commit itself to providing members with templates — for social media postings, telephone calls, face-to-face discussions and written inquiries (although these are only issued by the “simple” member in exceptional cases).
In addition, members are presented with a pre-prepared list of sponsors, which everyone can participate in expanding. But the main purpose is different — namely that members sign up to take responsibility for attracting specific sponsors. This allows you to make full use of existing contacts.
Also, use a communication tool so that you can always answer members' questions immediately. Ideally, you should develop a guide in advance that anticipates many questions. Once you have created these documents, you can reuse them year after year.
Last but not least: The committee must motivate the members and also keep checking the current status of various sponsors. Anyone who assumes that the members' search for sponsors — despite perfect documentation — will be taken for granted is often wrong. Nevertheless, motivation can be significantly increased through perfect preparation.
Larger sponsors in particular like to have a say in the club when they allow higher sums of money to flow into the club's coffers. As a committee, it is your job to find a happy medium — because too much influence from a sponsor can lead to frustration among many members. A good tip: Always ensure compliance with the statutes and try to give sufficient space to the interests of both sponsors and those of your members.
And of course, it is very important that you as a club not only agree economically with your main sponsor, but also share many common interests on a personal level. You will also notice this when working together successfully, when you pull together and push for the same goals.
In the regional economy, as in club life, there is a lot of discussion going on. A satisfied sponsor will be happy to continue their commitment and thus perhaps ensure that you get more sponsors almost automatically. A dissatisfied sponsor, on the other hand, can cause a lot of damage — because no one likes to pay a “voluntary” amount and doesn't feel appreciated enough afterwards.
Especially with the first sponsors, you shouldn't negotiate too hard with your counteroffer — it's better to offer a bit more in return if that's what you want. After the sponsor has agreed, their needs should be met — finding the first one is always the hardest part.
Very important: Some clubs make the mistake of almost welcoming new sponsors with their own brass band concert — and then simply not following up for a long time. You should come up with regular signs of appreciation for your sponsors in order to really keep them close to you. A card with Christmas or birthday wishes is enough. Honors, when a sponsor has been around for many years, can also be a nice gesture of appreciation.
Your goal should definitely not be to start from scratch every year, but to build long-lasting partnerships with regional companies. In any case, we wish you every success in your search for sponsors and may the support of companies help you to optimally live out your association's purpose.
Together with nine experts from practice, we have written a 98-page ePaper on current topics relating to clubs. The ePaper contains 5 chapters and 15 topics on important areas relating to the organization, members, funding, sponsors, taxes and more. You can download the handbook as a free download from the club handbook website.
Here you can find answers to frequently asked questions about club sponsorship.
Of course, this is not 100% certain, but the greatest success in your search for sponsors is when you have someone in mind as a potential sponsor but don't ask them directly. This means that you get in touch with this person in a very relaxed way and only casually mention everything that works well — motivated members, successful youth, committed board and great events. You do the whole thing over a period of 1 to 2 years and then the following can happen: The company sponsors by itself, the next time it finds out that there is an opportunity, or you simply ask directly and also have a good chance of receiving sponsorship with a realistic sum.
As a club, you are responsible for offering companies appropriate value for their sponsorship. The main advantage for companies is additional reach, plus points for the company image and discounts or free tickets for club events. The tax deductibility of sponsorship is certainly also an argument for companies.
We will provide you with a sample template for sponsorship inquiries, including a sample contract at this link available. The templates are in Word format and can be individually adapted to different sponsors.
The one-time effort is certainly somewhat larger — a committee should be formed to define the necessary processes and structures for this. Once this construct has been established, the effort is also limited. In practice, you will also approach the same companies over and over again and acquire only a few additional sponsors.
First of all: For larger sums (e.g. club house renovation), the search for sponsors should definitely be included in a time-consuming process right from the start, as this can be larger than expected. A big argument for sponsors with larger sums is certainly that they are advertised centrally, for example at the media opening. The image is also very important for companies — you can also play this card at any time (the optimal quality of equipment and training for young people is important for company XY).
