Sponsorships

We all know running a youth sports organization costs a lot of money. Many organizations cover their costs with player fees, however, with rising costs and the desire to keep player fees affordable organizations need to look for other funding sources. Sponsorships are the most effective way to raise a lot of money, but they take a lot of work.

Effectively asking for sponsorships takes planning. First, you need to figure out what you are raising money for. People want to give money for a purpose. You can't just say, "we need more money and are asking for some." You need to have a purpose for what you are raising for. Are you raising money to allow more kids to play, you need updates for fields, you need new uniforms, whatever it is, have a purpose.

Next, you need to figure out what things you can give away in return for a sponsorship. When thinking of items start with things that cost the organization nothing or very little. Items like advertising on the organization's website, banners hung at the field or gym or logos on warm-ups are great things.

Once you have your list of items you can put together sponsorship packages. These packages should be for different amounts of money. The largest, and most expensive, should have the most amount of advertising and items included in it. The smallest, or most inexpensive, should have the least.

Once you have your packages send the to parents to start there. Ask parents to help find sponsors. The more people that know and help the better. If you don't ask you will never know if someone is willing to sponsor.

Now, to secure the really big, long term sponsorships, you will need to dedicate time to building relationships. Get to know different entities. Some entities will not, or can not, donate to kids sports organizations. Some only donate to schools. Look to entities that have a common goal with your organization. Those are the entities that you want to build your relationship with. Talk with those entities and get to know them. Another big thing is to learn when the budget years are for these entities. Talk with them before they start budgeting and work out a number that they can add in to their budget. This will allow you to get the most and will allow these entities to plan, which they will appreciate.

Sponsorships are something that take a lot of work to do well. But if you do it right, they can pay off in a big way. Have fun with them, get creative and see what they can do for your organization.