Optimize your club's sponsorship work with our comprehensive checklist. We cover everything from preparation and valuation to contact and long-term care of your agreements.
Sponsorship work in a sports club is often driven by volunteers with a big heart for the sport but limited time. To ensure stable finances and growth, it is crucial that the work with sponsors is put into a system. A structured approach not only makes it easier to attract new partners; it also makes it far more manageable for the people tasked with the job.
This checklist is designed to provide you with a concrete tool you can use in your daily work – whether you are a small local association or a larger elite club. By following these steps, you ensure that nothing falls through the cracks and that your sponsors feel valued from the first contact.
Before you call the first potential sponsor, the foundation must be in place. Professional sponsorship work starts internally.
What does a sponsor get out of supporting your specific club? It is rarely just about a logo on a jersey. Consider the following:
Your "sponsorship pitch" should be visually appealing and easy to read. Create a presentation or a PDF that briefly tells the story of the club, your goals, and the various package solutions. Remember to use images that show joy, activity, and community.
Create an overview of your products. This can be anything from perimeter boards and match sponsorships to digital ads on social media or a logo on the club's website. Make sure to have packages in different price ranges (e.g., Bronze, Silver, Gold), so both the local carpenter and the larger corporation can participate.
Once the toolbox is ready, it's time to get moving. Sponsorship sales require proactive work and good planning.
Start by looking at your existing network. Who do the members' parents work for? Which local businesses have a natural interest in supporting the local area? Create a list with names, contact persons, and the reason why they specifically are relevant.
The first call should not be a sales call, but a "curiosity call". The goal is to get permission to present the club's visions. A good rule of thumb is to listen more than you speak. Find out what the company's needs are – do they want customer loyalty, exposure, or do they simply want to demonstrate corporate social responsibility (CSR)?
Many sponsorship deals are lost because the club forgets to follow up. If a potential sponsor has said "that sounds interesting, let me think about it", then agree on a specific date for when you will follow up. Mark it in your calendar or in a CRM system.
Once the deal is secured, the most important work begins: delivering what you promised.
Always use a written contract. It doesn't need to be complex legal language, but it must clearly state:
As soon as the ink is dry, the sponsor should feel that something is happening. Get the logo on the website, create a "Welcome" post on Facebook, and order perimeter boards or clothing prints immediately. The sooner the sponsor sees their brand in the association, the more satisfied they will be.
It is far cheaper to keep an existing sponsor than to find a new one. Sponsor management is about relationships.
Send an update mid-season. This could be a newsletter specifically for sponsors, where you tell them about sporting successes, new initiatives, or invite them to an event. If the sponsor has paid for digital exposure, send them statistics on how many people have seen their posts.
Before the agreement expires (ideally 3-4 months before), have a meeting with the sponsor. Evaluate the past year. Are they happy? Did they get what they hoped for out of it? Use this meeting to adjust the partnership so it still makes sense for both parties. This is also the perfect time to suggest an upgrade to their package if the collaboration has been a success.
To make it easy for your sponsorship working group, you can print or share this short reminder list at every board meeting:
In many sports clubs, sponsorship work happens in bursts – often just before the start of the season when the treasury is empty. But the most successful clubs treat sponsorship work as a year-round task. By following a fixed checklist, you remove uncertainty and make it possible for more adults in the club to help out, because there is a clear recipe for how to do it.
Remember that a sponsor is not just a cash machine; it is a partner investing in your community. When you treat their investment with professionalism and structure, you create the foundation for a collaboration that can last for many decades.
Sportmanager brings sponsors, agreements, tickets and finances together in one place. Create your club and try it with your own sponsors.