sponsorship

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SPONSORSHIP 1. How to get a sponsorship 2. Negotiation time 3. How to keep a sponsor and get the most out of them. 1. How to get a sponsor It’s best to target local companies as they have a vested interest/rely on your membership, whereas national companies get income from across the country, e.g. don’t approach Tesco. Ask/email/call/send letters to every company you can think of that would either benefit your membership directly, or has a student focus. You will not get a reply from the majority of them, but depending how far you cast your net a few will reply. The more companies you approach, the more chance in getting a reply. Think outside of the box too! Not all sponsorships need to be monetary. Sometimes you need to think long term, and by getting a sponsor who will give you free gifts/services e.g. free entry now, this will still benefit your membership and if all goes well, next year they may give you some money too. They may ask you to complete an application or ask for some background. The best way of getting a sponsor is to make them feel connected to you, appeal to their emotional side and allow them to see how they can help/impact you. Also tell them how you plan on using any money they give you. 2. Negotiation Time In most cases sponsors will never give you the exact amount you request. Just like you they will want to get the most out of you for as little as possible. As a rule of thumb take your member count from last year and multiply by 10 (e.g. 50 members x 10 = 500). This is the minimum you should ask for. You can ask for more if you have a genuine need to pay for something. Once you have decided how much you want to ask for, expect them to haggle but try not to go any lower than half (250). From this exercise you can see that the more you apply for, even though you may not expect to get all of it, the more you should expect to come out with. However the amount you ask for must be justified or they’ll just shoot it down. In terms of what you can offer them is dependant on your student group, but generic things could include sharing their social media posts, adding them to your union page/website, adding them to your emails, encouraging members to use their services etc. All of which your sponsor will pay for, but all of which costs you nothing. Kent Union offers a generic sponsorship contract template which is really good so make sure you use it. But don’t just plug your name into it and give it to them to sign. This is a legally binding document so make sure you read through it and take out anything you don’t want and add in anything you do. Once you sign you must do what it says or the sponsor doesn't have to pay you.

Once you’re happy, submit the contract to your Coordinator and they’ll get an invoice sent to the sponsor for payment. 3. How to keep a sponsor and get the most out of them Now you’ve got a sponsor, great! Now you just need to keep them year on year. Keep them sweet! Make sure you do everything that it says in your contract and don’t just do the bare minimum. A sponsorship is a relationship so nurture it. Help them when they need help and they’ll help you too. If they have a query or if they are not seeing the return they hoped from your group, think of ways to increase your groups engagement and keep them on side. Keep in contact! Let them know what you’re doing/events/news etc so they feel involved and they get to see where their money is going. If your first year with them goes well, apply again and maybe negotiate for a little more! Good Luck Sponsorship Seekers! :D