I have worked in paintball for many years, I have seen dozens and dozens of sponsorship come through my inbox. Hundreds in fact.
In an effort to help teams find sponsorship matches, or at the very least make the task of reading sponsorship requests bearable for companies, this checklist was created.
In no way will this guarantee sponsors, but it may very well give your team the edge to stand out in the pack. . . .
Best of luck to all teams.
PART 1) MAKE A LIST
- What exactly does your team need? (be realistic)
- What sponsors would you like to have?
- What your team can offer the sponsor in return?
Stores and playing fields want to know what YOU can do for THEM. . .
. . . Sponsoring a team IS an expensive venture for any company…. make sure you walk around in their shoes. . . .
Also, think outside the box, no one said you have to only ask paintball related companies – and to be honest outside industry sponsors probably have more of a budget to sponsor sporting teams anyways.
PART 2) CREATE A TEAM PORTFOLIO
Set out a team portfolio, promotional DVD or website; include pictures, accomplishments, media articles, statistics, team beliefs and mantras. Training regimes can also be interesting.
Companies like Dye and Procaps give you guidelines of things you may want to include in your portfolio:
Example : Procaps Direct http://www.procapsdirect.com/t-howtoapplyforsponsorship.aspx
- The team name
- Location and Home Field
- Captain’s contact information
- Team history, media & tournament history
- A brief bio of each of the team members. Please include name, age, how they got into paintball & number of years playing
- Team’s schedule, including training and event calendar
- Current sponsors
- Goals
- What your team requires from DXS
- Photographs or any other information you would like us to know about your team
BE CREATIVE : Don’t simply send a plain text email with numbers labeled 1 through 10 with the bare minimum information. Creativity will be noticed and remembered, you need to stand out above all the other requests.
BE PERSONAL : Personalize the covering letter or introduction. Be sure you are sending to the correct company & person. Check spelling and names.
BE HONEST : Don’t pad your portfolio with false information, its easy to spot.
BE PROFESSIONAL : Remember you are SELLING your team. Make your portfolio a well thought out, clear and concise document. It should look professional.
Even consider investing in having a design company create/typeset your portfolio for you.
A portfolio or website thrown together in 30 seconds will warrant a potential sponsor to spend no more than 30 seconds viewing it.
PART 3) GET TO KNOW YOUR POTENTIAL SPONSORS
There is a lot of truth in “Its all in who you know” , especially in paintball.
Consider going to the local tournament, sporting tradeshow, event, store or field. Introduce yourself, and your team. Get to know your local field owner or store owner. Read up on their company and be sincerely interested in what they do. Check out their website, or other promotional materials. Find out their feelings on sponsorship and how they’ve assisted teams in the past. Its called “Networking”.
Ask yourself : Do you already use the company’s products? Do you recommend them to friends? How about your local site, do you play there every weekend? Do you know the name of the person or the department you need to send your sponsorship request to?
Also, with a little bit a searching, a lot of companies offer you information right on their websites about sponsorship & their sponsorship programs:
Such as:
1. Exactly what to include in your team portfolio, like Dye / Proto & Procaps
http://www.dyeprecision.com/teams.html
http://www.procapsdirect.com/t-howtoapplyforsponsorship.aspx
2. A Sponsorship Application:
Redz Comfort
http://www.redzcomfort.com/sponsors.asp
Paintball Central
http://www.pballcentral.com/sponsorship/default.asp
http://www.pballcentral.com/files/2006_Team_Sponsorship_Application.doc
If they’ve gone to the trouble to make the application process easy for you, make sure you follow their directions.
PART 4) CONTACT THE POTENTIAL SPONSOR
§ By phone
§ By email
If you plan on contacting said company, first make sure you know what company you are contacting . There is a surprising number of applications received that are falsely addressed.
When calling by phone, please speak professionally - speak clearly, and don’t mumble. Don’t speak in Ebonics, or ‘Shizzle’, or use ‘uh’ or ‘yo’ between every word. Even if they say it on TV-don’t swear or use lewd words with whomever you speak to and above all be polite to who ever answers the phone – they are your gateway to getting answers and speaking to anyone involved with sponsorship at that company.
Be prepared for a short lightening round of questions if you do get through. Know what they do or manufacturer and know what you want.
If you are writing an email or other correspondence PLEASE – do the following.
- Use capitals where warranted. Please don’t write an entire email in caps, or forget to capitalize where required
- Use punctuation, and spacing. Periods, commas and paragraphs are good
- Use ‘real’ words; do not use IM/internet/text chat short forms. No one actually understands them, and if it takes the person reading it the need of an ‘Internet speak’ dictionary, can you say ‘delete’
- Same as above goes for slang.
- Spell Check is your friend. Proof read and re-read before submitting.
- Title your email clearly with your team name.
- Be aware of the file size you are sending. Anything 1MB and larger is too big.
- Consider making the email version of your team portfolio in PDF, most computer platforms can open this file type.
- Power-Point is often seen by corporations are spam or possible viruses.
- Learn to spell ‘S-P-O-N-S-O-R’ and Sponsorship. **a must**
- Re-read one last time and ask yourself if you would reply favorable to your team if you received this message in your inbox. If you wouldn’t re-write until the answer is yes!
Lay it out in black and white what you are looking for, no point on wasting your time - or that of your potential sponsor if you can’t get what you need/want. Be realistic in what you ask for. A brand new, 2 month old, 3 man Rookie team, who will train once a month, and has never competed in any tournament can’t expect to have all their entry fees paid for, or be 100% kitted out with everything from Gloves to Guns, where this is common place for a high profile, established, winning Professional team.
Most companies and fields have a sponsorship assistance program – these programs help teams purchase equipment under retail cost – these are realistic and obtainable programs for teams.
Decisions cannot be made on one email or one phone call, most companies have a committee of people who decide where sponsorship monies are allocated, be diligent but not annoying.
Be patient in waiting for a response, remember sponsorship is a serious request and most companies receive multiple requests weekly and in some cases daily.
A lot of smaller companies and fields will not sponsor teams outside of their market area and often do not sponsor new teams, If you are a new team the best way for you to earn sponsorship is to play events and become known (paying your dues).
You do not have to win events, but you do have to play hard and fair with sportsmanship.
PART 5 ) SAY THANK YOU!!
(Even to those who turn you down)
Keep a detailed record of every company and person (by name) you have sent a request to.
Send handwritten ‘Thank you’ notes to all of them. This may seem a waste of time (and money) to say ‘thank you’ to companies who said no, but think about this as a long term investment for the future of your team. That company is now more likely to remember you next year when you are looking for sponsors again.
Also, be sure to send a signed photo of the team, a jersey or some other ‘collectable’ from the team to those companies who do sponsor you. Let them enjoy your successes with you. This will also help keep you top of mind with these sponsors when you go through the process again next year.
Keep your sponsors (and potential sponsors) up to date with your progress of your team. If you are promoting their products and enjoying them, let them know. Also keep a dialogue open with them and check to make sure they are happy with the promotion you are doing for them. A good working relationship like this could be the window to increased sponsorship in the following years.
PART 6) INVEST IN YOUR TEAM,
INVEST IN YOUR SPONSORS
Don’t be afraid to spend some (of your) money
Sponsors want you to support them, so they can support you.
You may want to consider investing in companies who can help promote your team and help with your team image, such as a web designer, promoter or agent. If you are a serious contender team, this money will be well spent in terms of media and prizes your team will earn over the season.
Keep in mind, your sponsors are taking a leap of faith sponsoring teams, recognize the risk and show them your appreciation. There are many ways you can make your team money and time work to the benefit of sponsors. Some ideas may include:
§ Custom jerseys
§ Custom banners
§ Forum signatures
§ Website advertisements
§ Using sponsor logo stickers on loaders and other equipment
§ Trade services with the sponsor.
§ Do a trade stand at a local event
§ Work one Saturday a month at the field cleaning equipment or marshalling
§ Build or re-build a playing field
§ Pass out sale flyers or ads at the mall
§ Convert all your friends to loyal “brand X” product users
PART 7) DON’T GET DISCOURAGED
Remember, be aware that most of your requests will not be accepted – in fact, many not even be answered – you need keep trying and not get discouraged. . . . .
With the changes in the industry and a shift in funding, the amount of sponsorship available to any level of player is dwindling.
Keep in mind this article has been written to help prepare yourself with the tools you need to get sponsors, it does not guarantee them. Put the work into creating your positive team image on and off the field, and you will get results.
SPONSORSHIP IS NOT FREE. Real sponsorship is a serious request for any business. No company gives away anything for free.
It must be earned, appreciated and respected.
(Link backs are welcome - copying this article is not. . . please cite this page as your source)