What’s in it for me?
We know it’s tempting to just jump on the phone and start dialing potential sponsors. We’ll get there in due time, but first thing’s first. To be blunt, why should a potential sponsor invest their hard-earned money in your venue? To answer that, we suggest you start by doodling down aspects that you would want to know before investing in anything, such as:
- Target audience: What kind of clientele frequently visits your venue?
- Occupancy: How many visitors does your venue have every month?
- USP: What’s your unique selling proposition, what makes your venue stand out?
- Long-term plans: What’s in store for your venue during the coming 3 years?
Offer and packaging
Moving on. It’s time to outline some concrete offers and package them neatly, let your brand show. Remember to differentiate them and establish a variation of offers regarding price and format, all to appeal to as many potential sponsors as possible. Here are a few examples:
- Small: Entrance sponsor + recurring contract time 1 times/month + 7500 credits to book for.
- Medium: Net sponsor + recurring contract time 5 times/month.
- Large: Court sponsor* + reservation of whole venue once a year + recurring contract time 5 times/month.
*Decal on the court, flag at court entrance, name in booking system.
Shortlist potential sponsors
The next step is to shortlist potential sponsors. A word of advice is to start with companies in close proximity to your venue, their threshold is probably lower and the relevance higher. What else? Try to find companies who share the same values as you, that way it will be easier to find synergies in your partnership and eventually expand it. Happy hunting.
Make it happen
You’ve done your homework, packaged your offer, and scoured the market. Now it’s time to spread the news. Reach out to your proposed shortlist, perhaps by email with your neat packaging, followed by a phone call. And hey, while you're at it, invite them over for a meeting to let them know you “mean business”.
Informed and happy
Successful negotiations? Happy days! Now it’s time to nurture the relationship. Keep the sponsor informed about your process, upcoming events and your overall journey. Perhaps most important of all: Keep those contracts in order and make sure you live up to what’s been agreed upon.