Gaining business sponsorship?

[Marykmac]

Hi all! I ride with a great bunch of gals and we have decided to make jerseys for our club. To lower the costs involved we are hoping to get some businesses around town to donate some cash and their logo/name. If anyone has some pointers about how to go about this and how much to ask for, that would be a huge help. Thx, marykmac

[Kiwi Stoker]

I am a former marketing manager and also worked in the bicycle industry and had heaps of people asking for sponsorship. Here's the criteria I looked for before dolling out the cash.

1) Is this sponsorship going to expose me to my target market? In other words don't go to a men's clothing store for money, it's just not going to happen.

2) What does my comapny get out of it? BTW having my logo out there is not enough really. I need to know what oppotunities I will have to market my product or brand to the target market. So think about what you CAN offer them? Is the product something you would use? Can you provide exposure via a newsletter, banners at events, group evenings when you guys come and buy stuff....

3) Can I trust the group to represent my brand? ie. I don't want bad publicity for my brand. Is the group about to behave and represent me in a positive light?

4) Does the group have access to media in anyway or has a story I can tell? Are you all cancer recovery people, do you help kids buy bikes etc. Is here something I can tell my exisiting customers about your group that is special, interesting or good for my company?

Otherwise I am just handing over cash for nothing and in this day and age of money being tight, it does mean the money DOES something to help MY business? Yes a bit self serving but if you are going to go with your cap in hand this is what they will be looking for.

[Marykmac]

Thank you so much! That was very helpful info and I will definitely put more into my pitch after reading your reply. Thx, marykmac

[Melalvai]

Those are some great pointers, thanks!