Golden Rules for clubs with > 400 members…
- Sports clubs have an engaged, passionate audience – but perhaps they could do better to allow sponsors to leverage this…. Consider the ways your club can help put an SME’s product or service in danger of being sold, create a list or register of all your clubs possible sponsorship assets, get the key people in a room and flesh this out. Its critical, and ideas will flow. Guaranteed. But you need to think about how your club can deliver on their brand, commercial and community engagement objectives and you need to get more creative than signage and logos on apparel. Use the inventory prompt ‘what have you got to sell’ to kick start the process.
- Sports clubs have plenty of volunteers, a history, and a story to tell – but struggle articulate it for sponsors …. publish this content, tell the story, and capture it in your professional pitch material. Your selling tools need to be professional, a must. I cannot stress this enough it – in my professional opinion, and I have pitched to hundreds of people representing many sports – it is the difference between winning and losing a sponsor.
- Sports clubs and Associations know their organisation makes a positive impact on their respective communities and people’s lives – but cannot define it, this too needs to be told and captured in your selling tools. This type of content is what sponsors are looking for to deliver on community engagement or corporate/social responsibility objectives. Consider strategic alliances with organisations in health/social space in your community. It will help your conversion rate.
- Clubs suspect they can provide significant ‘reach’ for prospective sponsors – but cannot demonstrate it…..this is just so key to success, if you can demonstrate quantitatively in your selling tools the reach you have you are then demonstrating ROI versus other mediums sponsors would already be spending on such as radio, print, digital etc
- Clubs know their organisation has a good brand, reputation, and governance – but fail to really showcase it in their pitch. Again, these are key components in your selling tools and seriously consider a survey of your member base to get rich data on what members think of the brand so it can be used in your pitch. Why not try getting data on what your members think of prospective sponsors!?!
- Fewer, bigger, and deeper relationships with sponsors makes sense – but they tend to have multiple lower value partners with high servicing costs. Consider making the change in your sponsorship strategy to fewer, bigger, deeper. Those already on board subscribe to your club and its impact so take steps to grow their investment and bespoke their partnership platform.
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