Local Businesses supporting Local Sport - How to pitch to new sponsors for your local club

Sponsorship is important for any local club, as it often provides the finances for it to operate to full effectiveness. The more sponsors you can get on board, the more money your club generates which can be utilised to invest into new resources and make your club more appealing to anyone looking for somewhere to be involved with.

All local communities possess many businesses both big and small that are always looking for more ways to get their brand known. Today, we will talk about how to pitch to potential new sponsors for your club in order to get them over the line and gain your club a new partner for next season and beyond!

The first step into gaining new potential sponsorships is calling as many businesses as possible in your local area and expressing your interest in having them on board. When calling potential new sponsors, ensure that you have prepared a quality elevator pitch, which is a persuasive speech which lasts for around a minute. Tell them who you are, about your club and what makes it unique to others, and how they will benefit from sponsoring your club in both the short and long term.

As the conversation continues, ask to speak to them in person at a later date. Remember to approach each sponsor as if they’re your first. We've all had to start somewhere and a lack of persistence can potentially land you right back to square one if you don't take this sort of stuff seriously enough.

Instead of calling, arguably a better way to go about it, especially if your club has never had contact with this company before, is by sending a cold email which thoroughly explains your entire pitch. Email Marketing is a very effective way of gaining new partners if done correctly, and there are many tutorials on the internet that show you how to do it.

When meeting in person, be sure to use facts and figures to show why your club is the ideal one to sponsor. Be sure to report the success of current sponsors you have on board, and why they continue to stay with your club. Also, make sure to enquire how the sponsor and your club can work together through the likes of partnerships, social media and events in order to ensure that both parties are getting bang for their buck.

Most clubs offer many different sponsorship packages, which gives potential sponsors more options to choose from. Make sure that your packages offer many different benefits to the investor including brand promotion (logo on club merch, social media), free tickets to games and club events, etc. The higher the cost of the package, the more benefits they should receive. This gives all businesses a chance to invest into a package based on their financial situation, and what they require from the partnership formed between them and the club.

These tips above will hopefully set you and your club in the right direction towards gaining new sponsorships, and brand exposure for your club and the sponsors for many years to come!

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