How to solicit sponsors

[Dead Man]

Hola

For those of you who have managed race teams, how have you gone about soliciting sponsorship? What do you offer in exchange for what?

Our team has a title sponsor, but is strongly considering looking for a new one. We've got some dope kit and don't want to clutter it up with a bunch of sponsor logos, so we don't have a ton of material advertising to offer.... and we're not looking for that much support anyway. Title sponsor would have the title sponsor spot on the jersey, with front, back, and side-panel name placement in bold black font. We would possibly be willing to sell jersey pocket space for black and white logos only, but .. again .. we don't want to compromise on the dopeness of our kit for money. Most of us have no trouble paying entry fees, we don't NEED any help buying bikes and parts... mostly we just want the jerseys funded, and a general fund for entry fees would be cool, for the purpose of recruiting more talent.

So seems to me like our sponsorship goals are relatively light. Realistically, we could probably get away with one really good title sponsor. So long as I didn't sell us short. But I am going to put together tiers and sub tiers of sponsorship level.... don't feel terribly confident I'm gonna get a local business to just cut me a $3000 check and say "have fun!"

But whats the best way to go about soliciting, and how to structure different sponsorship package levels? tell me what you've done

oh, and yea... we're all early-middle aged men. Tried to get a local junior club (in the hopes of raising a competitive team, even) started up a few times, but got zero interest.

Thanks gents

-B

[MattTuck]

Not sure, but you should have done this in December. Anyone with extra marketing budget would probably have been more willing to spend it in FY2016 than in January of 2017.

That said, here's what I'd do if I were looking for sponsorship. (and yes, I realize that you'd have to have thought of this stuff already to have footage/content available.)

1. Create a video showing you guys in the races, preferably winning races. Higher production value is probably helpful here. If you don't have video, you could perhaps do it with still pictures, with the effect of zooming in/panning. If possible, show pictures that involve crowds.

2. Create a social media presence for the team for training rides and travels to races, highlighting the sponsor logos, etc. I'd include facebook, twitter, instagram at a minimum. Maybe with some sort of blog.

3. Create a document showing your 2017 race schedule, size of the events and locations on a map (probably with 10 or 20 mile circles around the race locations).

Ultimately, what you're 'selling' to a prospective sponsor is exposure. If you can create a compelling case that you have good exposure in geographic and/or market segments that the business cares about, then you would have better luck (and a defensible position) finding a sponsor. Remember, that a sponsorship (even one for 3,000) is not about slapping a logo on the jersey. You are a representative of that company, and need to promote them.

Depending on the types of companies you might approach, I'd also look at doing something where you can give something out at races that will work its way back to the sponsor to show that they're getting their money's worth. For a pizza place, you might give out "XYZ Cycling Team - One sports drink free with the order of a large pizza", and do a weekly or monthly ride from that location.

[.RJ]

The exposure is nice, but I would look further than that.

Figure out what your team is going to bring to the potential sponsor, to their business, to their involvement in the community and pitch that. Volunteering, community involvement, name recognition, how are you going to engage with them throughout the year to build a partnership instead of just taking a check.

[El Chaba]

I'm going to be brutal....Sponsorship for a bunch of middle aged men?...Really? Your only hopes rest on the charity of some company who isn't looking for a return on investment or the vanity of one of your number who wants to see his company's name on your kit.

[e-RICHIE]

Originally Posted by Dead Man

Hola

For those of you who have managed race teams, how have you gone about soliciting sponsorship? What do you offer in exchange for what? <cut>

What you offer is you, the org's entity, its history, the accomplishment list, the members and where they are going in the next season or three. You have to know what these talking points are because they're the answers to the questions you're asking. Why does a sponsor want you, what will he get, what will you give. PS Don't think season by season, thing long term. Otherwise, don't seek sponsorship, just find a donation.

[45K10]

Originally Posted by El Chaba

I'm going to be brutal....Sponsorship for a bunch of middle aged men?...Really? Your only hopes rest on the charity of some company who isn't looking for a return on investment or the vanity of one of your number who wants to see his company's name on your kit.

Bingo!

Most of the sponsors I ever pulled in were companies I worked for or someone on the team worked for. The one time we got big money from an outside company it was a medical company trying to find an "in" with one of the doctors on the team.

Generally it made me feel sort of sleazy asking for sponsors to support my upper middle class, middle age "racing team" but hey the kits looked good

[Dead Man]

Originally Posted by 45K10

but hey the kits looked good

thats what its all about man

[Tandem Rider]

You are now in one of the most unrewarding spots in cycling.

Who is going to want/need exposure at bike races and "events" by a small group of xx aged men in y and z categories.

Assuming 5's, 4's, and 3's, an easier approach is who in your area are the enthusiasts who would get a kick out of seeing their name(s) on your kits and the banners at the race(s) your team puts on. Just being part of the race scene without racing. That is a realistic pool of potential sponsors.

Best of Luck.

[Dead Man]

Originally Posted by El Chaba

I'm going to be brutal....Sponsorship for a bunch of middle aged men?...Really? Your only hopes rest on the charity of some company who isn't looking for a return on investment or the vanity of one of your number who wants to see his company's name on your kit.

I disagree with much of this, though. If you have a locally operating business whose target market is upper middle-class men, sponsoring a cycling team can be huge. Especially if it's a business that deals in large contracts, where one lead from a race can easily pay for the sponsorship. Real estate, specialty dr. office, car dealership, construction company, law firm.... you know, 95% of the sponsors you actually see out there on the race course.

It's true our particular team doesn't have much to offer at the moment... but the whole reason we're seeking new sponsorship is to recruit. And preferably U23s/younger stronger new riders. So there's some merit to this quest.

I mean, we already have dope kit and everything we need, if we just want to stay the same.

[e-RICHIE]

Originally Posted by Dead Man

It's true our particular team doesn't have much to offer at the moment... but the whole reason we're seeking new sponsorship is to recruit. And preferably U23s/younger stronger new riders. So there's some merit to this quest.

I mean, we already have dope kit and everything we need, if we just want to stay the same.

You just answered the question. Now, wrap it up and sell it.

[AngryScientist]

for the situation you describe, i think you just need to work the connections you already have.

you're a general contractor, no?

maybe there is an electrical distributor you work with? local lumber yard? maybe even the chevy dealership you get the service done on your work pick-up? think people you already know who might be interested in exposure to other dudes who think (and spend) like you?

i donno, just throwing some thoughts out there.

[R3awak3n]

Originally Posted by Tandem Rider

You are now in one of the most unrewarding spots in cycling.

Who is going to want/need exposure at bike races and "events" by a small group of xx aged men in y and z categories.

Assuming 5's, 4's, and 3's, an easier approach is who in your area are the enthusiasts who would get a kick out of seeing their name(s) on your kits and the banners at the race(s) your team puts on. Just being part of the race scene without racing. That is a realistic pool of potential sponsors.

Best of Luck.

spot on

[shovelhd]

My club gets low five figures worth of sponsorship dollars yearly. Recruiting sponsors is a year-round affair. Sponsors don't give us money for racing (not just middle aged men, all ages, genders, and lots of national level Juniors). They give us money for what we give back to the cycling community and the local community. We run four USAC races, a weekly training series, a kids race series, CX coaching, bicycle advocacy, legislative support, a day long bicycle festival, and lots of other stuff. In other words, it's a non-profit business.

Unless you have an angel investor who is passionate about the sport, you're going to find that getting sponsors for a race team that just wants "free stuff" is going to be very hard to get.

Good luck.

[nooneline]

1. Personal relationships.
2. This article.

[kgreene10]

We are a bunch of middle aged and geriatric guys in Austin and only a handful of our 150+ member club race. But we get some decent support, mostly through team members and all through personal connections. We have some guys who are fantastic at making this happen. So, it's certainly possible! And if it doesn't work out for you, you can always join us here and get a partiallly subsidized kit!