With the winter sporting season just about upon us, in Australia, it is time for most amateur sporting clubs to start knocking on doors looking for some money to survive the years sport.
Parents, friends, neighbours, business partners and acquaintances are all asked for a few dollars to try and shore up the clubs finances. Of course then there is the walk of the local shopping malls, car yards, a few hundred emails spammed out to any one you can find and so many phone calls your cell phone bill makes you cry at nights.
In the end you may, may, get 1 good sponsor and a couple of smaller ones. If your really lucky one of the club parents is in a business that is recession proof and the club can stay afloat for another year. Next year you get to do it all again. - Fun eh??
Yes I have been there and done that.
The reality is that for most business they dont see the value. I have had discussions with large local retailers who have poured good money into 1 or 2 clubs only to get nothing in return.
Why? Because the club thinks it is a good will gesture.....well ladies and gentlemen when a business gives you money they want to know they are getting some thing in return and that means sales!
If you cant track them, or more importantly if they cant track them, then next time around they won't come back.
This of course is what creates the problem, business gets burnt and decides that all sponsorship is the same. If you cant manage a sponsors expectations then just dont ask them, it's bad for them, you and everyone else.
With so many clubs simply not understanding or not wanting to deliver what business needs then it is no wonder every year it gets harder and harder to find the sponsorship dollars.
Think if this as a small wake up message for those seeking sponsorship dollars. With the world economy changing every dollar counts and it will only get harder if you cant deliver the sponsors needs.
Here at SportCard we measure the sales and that is how clubs make money. Very simply your members spend, the club gets a return.
Parents, friends, neighbours, business partners and acquaintances are all asked for a few dollars to try and shore up the clubs finances. Of course then there is the walk of the local shopping malls, car yards, a few hundred emails spammed out to any one you can find and so many phone calls your cell phone bill makes you cry at nights.
In the end you may, may, get 1 good sponsor and a couple of smaller ones. If your really lucky one of the club parents is in a business that is recession proof and the club can stay afloat for another year. Next year you get to do it all again. - Fun eh??
Yes I have been there and done that.
The reality is that for most business they dont see the value. I have had discussions with large local retailers who have poured good money into 1 or 2 clubs only to get nothing in return.
Why? Because the club thinks it is a good will gesture.....well ladies and gentlemen when a business gives you money they want to know they are getting some thing in return and that means sales!
If you cant track them, or more importantly if they cant track them, then next time around they won't come back.
This of course is what creates the problem, business gets burnt and decides that all sponsorship is the same. If you cant manage a sponsors expectations then just dont ask them, it's bad for them, you and everyone else.
With so many clubs simply not understanding or not wanting to deliver what business needs then it is no wonder every year it gets harder and harder to find the sponsorship dollars.
Think if this as a small wake up message for those seeking sponsorship dollars. With the world economy changing every dollar counts and it will only get harder if you cant deliver the sponsors needs.
Here at SportCard we measure the sales and that is how clubs make money. Very simply your members spend, the club gets a return.
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