aefibird Posted November 3, 2003 Posted November 3, 2003 aefibird -- did you have a presentation when you went to local companies? who did you ask to speak to? I put together some info about the club, pretty similar to what you've done. It also helped that we'd just had a lad come back with first place from the FSKA world championships in Las Vegas - that helped to show prospective sponsors that we were a serious club and that they would see a 'return for their money'; kind of like what Reklats said. I went (in my capacity as club secretary/promotor/PA to sensei (who has a terrible memory for anything that doesnt happen in the dojo)/general blood mopping-up person!) around to local business asking for either a one off donation or if they'd be interested in long-term sponsorship. However, before that, I sent out a letter explaining about the club, then went to visit the businesses a week or so later. The fact that I'd previously written before going in person seemed to generate more cash - we got a few one-off donations from companies that way. I usually just asked to speak to a senior manager or the head of PR if it was a biggish company. Usually, though, I tended to target the smaller businesses of the local community. As for having a sponsor name on your gi, my club decided against that, because most competitions that we enter didn't allow it, so we went for having our main sponsors name on t-shirts, sweatshirts, bags, warm-up jackets, etc. "Was it really worth it? Only time and death may ever tell..." The Beautiful South - The Rose of My CologneSheffield Steelers!
stl_karateka Posted November 3, 2003 Author Posted November 3, 2003 aefibird - Thanks again -- great info! I think I am going to take the Gi thing out of the original package and only use it if it'll sway a sponsor --- doubt that will be the difference between a yes and no though! The letter you sent out a week in advance...is that different than your sponsorship package? I haven't thought of that... I have a mix of local and major corp --- I'm going to start with about 20 and see what kind of feedback I am getting and go from there. Also, did you have a minimum donation listed? I wonder if that would be necessary KarateForums.com Sempai
aefibird Posted November 4, 2003 Posted November 4, 2003 aefibird - Thanks again -- great info! I think I am going to take the Gi thing out of the original package and only use it if it'll sway a sponsor --- doubt that will be the difference between a yes and no though! The letter you sent out a week in advance...is that different than your sponsorship package? I haven't thought of that... I have a mix of local and major corp --- I'm going to start with about 20 and see what kind of feedback I am getting and go from there. Also, did you have a minimum donation listed? I wonder if that would be necessary The letter that I sent out before had some of the info of the sponsorship packaage, although not as much. It basically outlined who we were and the fact that we were looking for sponsors. Because my club is in quite a poor area of the country, we didn't really have a minimum donation listed - all donations gratefully recieved!! However, we did set up a specific bank account for sponsor money and made sure that all sponsors got a receipt for their donations. We also produce a bit of a newsletter every so often and send it out to those who have sponsored us in the past, just to let them have a bit of feedback, and also to 'jog their cheque-books'! "Was it really worth it? Only time and death may ever tell..." The Beautiful South - The Rose of My CologneSheffield Steelers!
stl_karateka Posted November 4, 2003 Author Posted November 4, 2003 Thanks -- you've been very helpful! I think I am going to send out an intro letter letting them know to expect a package from us and leave my contact information. I have some major corps that are going to be hard to breakthru so I'll just send them the package --- the local companies will get the intro letter and a follow-up package. KarateForums.com Sempai
aefibird Posted November 7, 2003 Posted November 7, 2003 Thanks -- you've been very helpful! I think I am going to send out an intro letter letting them know to expect a package from us and leave my contact information. I have some major corps that are going to be hard to breakthru so I'll just send them the package --- the local companies will get the intro letter and a follow-up package. Well, good luck - hope you get lots of sponsorship! Let us know how you get on... "Was it really worth it? Only time and death may ever tell..." The Beautiful South - The Rose of My CologneSheffield Steelers!
stl_karateka Posted November 7, 2003 Author Posted November 7, 2003 I sure will! I have a list of 50 sponsors I am going to start with -- some local, some bigger companies. I should be ready to send out the first package in a couple weeks --- I'll only send out 10 (5 local, 5 big) - and see what kind of response I am getting...I may have to change my approach before I go wasting a bunch of postage! I'll keep you posted --- and anyone else that has been through this process...please share your stories and keep the advice coming! KarateForums.com Sempai
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