Raising sponsorship money

Hi all,

Been lurking on here for ages now, wanted to enter last year but couldn't get time off work, and this year I'm currently trying to sort out the all important finances!!

I notice there's been a bit of chat in the last few days about raising money for sponsorship, and specifically getting 'corporate' sponsors to cover the main costs of entering (entry fee, fuel, ferry, etc). This is something I'm considering doing, having the Disco stickered up with 'adverts' in exchange for paying towards entry costs (and then having separate sponsorship/donations from individuals in the usual way, all going to charity).

My question is, when approaching companies for sponsorship (having never done this sort of thing before), how do people go about it? Is it best to have a specific 'deal' to put forward? What sort of amount would be expected for various sizes of 'adverts' on the car? I've no idea quite what to expect, I don't want to turn any sponsorship down but likewise need something towards the costs to enter. I know there will be no hard and fast rules, but any help, suggestions, experience welcome!

Many thanks,
Nat

hello,
my advice would be to go with local companies rather than national ones, particuarily if you are either known there or are a regular customer, i have depensding on the people used the advert as a side line because for example some companies will want to sponsor you because they are kind hearted but if you are like me and are in with the indian restuarant type you will soon learn that they want big huge adverts on the side and a prepared to give money for the advert rather than the charity, dont get down hearted if you go through ten companies and receive 10 no's, email raely works so face to face is always better, dont ask for any thing, see if they will help and what they are prepared to offer.

slightly off origional topic but as found today and yesturday those dangley collection tubs what you normally see the prayer patrol carrying are a really really good way of raising money for sponsorship, although im told its illegal to rattle them i did no such thing, but in two days i have a bisquit tin of money and i havnt really been trying, so get yourself some,

hope i have been of some help which at this time of day is most unlikely lol

cheers kieran

Thanks for the quick reply Kieran, much appreciated! Pretty much as I was thinking, but some useful info! I've got one or 2 companies who I know quite well who I'll try, and I agree face to face is probably best for this sort of thing... harder to say no!! Was going to stick with local co's, because its feels a bit more 'personal' then! I'm expecting a lot of no's, but don't mind that as long as eventually there's a yes!!

Interesting what you say about using the 'advert' as a side line. I was expecting most firms to want something for their donation... I'd think most people would give a bit of cash for charity, but I thought for a larger amount an extra 'incentive' would help? After all, it costs hundreds to advertise on buses or taxi's, and its essentially the same thing!!

Out of interest, if anyone will 'disclose' (!!), how much have people got from companies, either out of the goodness of their hearts or for stickers on the cars??

Cheers,
Nat

hello,
the only company so far this year who have said they will sponsor asked me if they would have the biggest sticker on the land rover

what a couple of questions, and thers nae easy answer to them.

What I have found, and the rest of my team, is to make up a type of portfolio of what ye are doing, what its in aid of and best of all.
Get a good couple of fotos of your car, side oan and super impose the companies logo theron.

Have a couple like that and some will say that if they are sponsering you then I will.
disnae work all the time but it does work.

Oh, and when yer doing yer potfolio thingy buy a decent one.
NOT a loose leaf binder.
Get a 10 page 'welded in' sleeve folder.
Have a foto on the front of your car then on one side of the first opening is a wee story, facing it is another foto and so on.

It is so dificult to get monies as everybody and ther mamy want sponsership.


when I am asked 'well how much will it cost?
I reply that I am not a professional fund raiser and anything that you donate will be good.
Then point to a foto in yer folder and say that this company donated 'XXXX'
(make sure that you accidently point to the biggest donation)

Be prepared to 'give up' then think of why yer doing it and then ask someone else.
as I haiv said somewhere else, ask 100 and ye will get.
97 = NO
2 = yes and they dissapear from the Earth
1 = who do I make the cheque out to.

Find oot who is in charge locally of yer chosen charity and liase with them.

Hope that this helps and soz for goin oan a bitty but ther aint no easy ans.

any mer Q's, just ask.

HTH's

wills

Hi Nat, how yer doin' mate? I'd echo what Kieran says about local companies as opposed to national. The big 'uns like Virgin or CocaCola, or motor manufacturers like Land Rover are bombarded with hundreds if not thousands of sponsorship requests daily. They have special departments dealing solely with sponsorship, so for something small and insignificant like your fuel bill (maybe not for you, but it is for them) is of not interest to them whatsoever. Far more chance of getting something from the local land Rover dealer, although this is still hard work. The independent 4x4 / Land Rover dealers are particularly good to approach, plus you get to speak to the boss immediately for an instant decision.

I personally think that to break down your requests into bit size pieces is the best way. If you were to list all your outgoings and show it to the owner, they then have a choice of what they can afford an what they get for their money.

For example:-

Entry fee: £660

Ferries: £70

Fuel: £400

New radiator supplied and fitted: £225
or
New radiator - £150

etc.

Or even … Entire cost (basically everything above): £1,330

Personally I would also say don’t restrict yourself by saying … Covering the cost of ferries = the driver and co-driver doors, as the owner may well be content with adhering just their standard sticker measuring 12” x 3” anywhere on the vehicle. This said, if you were lucky enough to have somebody willing to foot the entire bill of £1,330 then they could have the bonnet, both doors and the back all for themselves! Basically, play it by ear rather than being rigid about how much advertising space they will get for their money.

BTW - remember to leave space enough for your charity’s stickers. Rule No. 6 states –

Vinyl lettering/stickers/logos on both sides of your vehicle clearly proudly declaring which charity your team is raising funds for. Forfeit - CAN'T START EVENT!

Rather important I would say!

Last but not least, Bill’s idea of a good quality portfolio-type folder professionally produced is a great idea. In other words prepare it yourself but include quality photos, not fuzzy shots with a little speck of a 4x4 somewhere in the distance. Font size also needs to be on the larger side with not too much on each page. A mass of writing is useless as you want to be able to point to a line of text and it can be clearly read at a glance. Not too many pages either (six or eight max. I reckon) or it becomes off-putting as soon as you open it.

There you are, it’s a doddle! Go get ‘em Nat.

Quote :

Get a good couple of fotos of your car, side oan and super impose the companies logo theron.

Think I owe you a beer or 2 Bill

Have already got one company agreed to cover entry fee and ferry so thought I'd do what you suggested and covered a picture of my Landy with superimposed vinyls advertising my charity, the rally and also some company names logos.....including a local sign making company.

Walked in to the local sign making company and asked if he could give me an indication of what all the vinyls would cost and explained that I needed an approximate cost to enable me to approach companies for sponsorship. He told me for the amount I wanted it would probably be in the region of £200.

Said thanks very much and then dropped in....you wouldn't fancy sponsoring the cost of these vinyls, to which he replied......course I will and shook my hand!!!!!! (it did help that his logo had been superimposed on the picture of the vehicle)

Now only need my fuel bill to be covered and i'm laughing. Got a couple of local companies almost ready to commit so I think I'll do all of what Bill suggests and make up a portfolio to try and get them to commit.

Cheers Bill.....the advice above worked

Quote :

Said thanks very much and then dropped in....you wouldn't fancy sponsoring the cost of these vinyls, to which he replied......course I will and shook my hand!!!!!! cheers cheers (it did help that his logo had been superimposed on the picture of the vehicle)

wow you lucky so and so, last year i asked the local vinal man if he would sponsor them for cheap i even put my best smile on and he took £20 off the overall price

luckly this year the air ambulance have set me up with a compnay

cheers kieran

That's what I was expecting too Kieran...a bit of a deal, but he said he was happy to cover them all so I certainly wasn't going to argue!!!!!...Then again from what I've seen on other posts....I'm better looking than you!!!!!!

Ken Dodd, Shane MacGowan and Gordon Brown are all better looking than Kieran, so that's not saying a lot!

Absolutely - no family resemblance at all. Well done Mr Bling could you slip an extra couple of vinyls in for me ?

Keith Johnson wrote:

Absolutely - no family resemblance at all. Well done Mr Bling could you slip an extra couple of vinyls in for me ?

I'll just slip in that he actually agreed to supply the vinyls for 2 vehicles and see wot he says......Don't think he'll wear it though so looks like you're on your own, either that wait 'til Kieran gets his and peel them off one night and attach to yours!

Cool David, glad that it worked.

wills

Hi folks,

Sorry for the delayed reply, but thanks again for the info... all very useful!

I like the 'portfolio' idea, Wills, I can see why that would work. I was thinking of a 'factsheet' type idea with the key points, but I guess that just shows that bit more 'committment', as it were. I wasn't going to bother with large national companies, but have 'eyed up' a few local places (inc my employer!!). Just got to try and get some logo's superimposed onto a photo of the Disco... had a play in Paint as thats all ive got... looks rather average... may have to call my brother as he's got some fancy software stuff I think!!

I'm really after getting mainly the entry fee and poss. ferry cost covered... fuel,food, car maintenance/prep, etc I don't mind paying myself, that way a bit more can go to charity! Just need a bit of financial support to start us off!!

And don't worry Tom, I'll definately be saving a space for a charity logo/stickers!! (and a little space for a national flag, although maybe not as much space as my good friends in Team TV4x4 last year!! )

Bling, well done with the getting the decals for nothing, good work!! Just had a look at Custom Vinyl's website, they've got a decal for you: "It may be bling but it's still better off road than yours!"

Thanks once again for the help, I shall keep you all posted... watch this space as they say!!

Cheers,
Nat

nat_hale wrote:

Just got to try and get some logo's superimposed onto a photo of the Disco... had a play in Paint as thats all ive got... looks rather average... may have to call my brother as he's got some fancy software stuff I think!!

I used Powerpoint to do mine....I inserted a picture of the vehicle onto a powerpoint slide and enlarged it until it fitted the full width of the slide. I then inserted text boxes, changed the size and colour of the font, and dragged the text boxes to where I would want decals. Did the same with logo's that I had, either that I went on to the company's website and copy and pasted their logo from the website to the powerpoint slide. All you've got to do then is shrink it to the size you want and drag it to the part of the vehicle you want it on. Worked well for me and really easy....if you've got Powerpoint that is!!! All you do then is print the slide and you have an A4 size picture of the landy with all the decals.

Quote :

Bling, well done with the getting the decals for nothing, good work!! Just had a look at Custom Vinyl's website, they've got a decal for you: "It may be bling but it's still better off road than yours!"

Think I might need to 'ave a look at that one!!

Cheers
D