Dear FSAE members,

I return to the ever valuable source of information, the forums once again for your even more valuable opinion and knowledge.

I have seen many cars in photographs that are sponsored by major auto manufacturers such as AUDI, chrysler, etc, and I wanted to know how teams were able to acquire such sponsors.

In this area, I have 3 main concerns:

a) how did you guys market your team in order to gain there attention?

b) what do automanufacturers see in your team or the FSAE program that makes them want to sponsor your team?

c) what gains do these manufactuers have, and what are the financial contributions these companies make in terms of magnitude.

I am assuming that most teams bank on the fact that providing support for FSAE teams support education and the opportunity for corporations to develop engineers and talent for potential recruiting in the future, as well as a chance for their corporations to manage brand value and image. But I am still unsure about the general understanding teams and manufacturers have amongst eachother for such a partnership to exist.

We have contacted major auto manufacturers in our country such as Hyundai and Kia, but unfortunately both have declined our request for support, so we press on to find others ways to package our sponsorship request procedure. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

KAIST FSAE PM
Aaron Park

Thanks so much.

As a guy on "the other side" I thought I would chime in. The company I currently work for, a tier 1 automotive supplier that sponsors a fairly large number of FSAE teams, uses FSAE primarily for recruiting. Well over half the engineers they've hired in the past year have FSAE experience.

Probably the biggest thing you can do to get your foot in the door with any company is to be professional. For example, a well thought out proposal with a clean layout carries a lot more weight than a 3-4 paragraph e-mail full of spelling errors. If you send something in the mail, make sure you make it as slick and glossy as possible.

Also, a lot of companies send reps to competition. If you see them walking around don't be afraid to strike up a conversation with them. You would be surprised to find out what a 5 minute conversation can do sometimes.

Audi Germany held a competition for their sponsorship in 2007, which TU Munich (not us) won.

Audi also sponsors Helsinki, but they are backed by Audi's Finnland division.

VW/Audi also sponsors the German event.

Both Mercedes and BMW sponsor the German event only. They don't support any teams directly.

I don't know of any involvement of Porsche at all.

Getting their attention is no different from getting any other sponsor's attention. With some sponsors, it's harder with others it's easier. If you really want to acquire a sponsor, show them your car, once you're done with it and talk to them about the level of engineering you put into it. They are more likely to turn in if they actually see what you are doing.

cheers, the info once again is greatly helpful

KAIST PM
Aaron Park

As for us Aussies down here, ALL teams have Holden, Ford, Mitsubishi and Toyota on their cars as they sponsor the event itself. Teams get no monetary gain from these sponsors, but if it wasn't for them FSAE-A wouldn't exist. I don't think any teams have major backing from another manufacturer, however some have Tier 1 suppliers onboard I think.

The tips above about professionally presented proposals and the like are all good to keep in mind. We seeked sponsorship last year using a 8-10 page sponsorship brochure and many many meetings with potential sponsors. The brochure spent probably 2 months or so in development, printed on glossy paper and all professional, and it really paid off.

Big thing to leverage is probably recruiting. Find companies that actively come to your school to recruit.. talk to their recruiting folks and see if they can put you in contact with the right people. Ford, Goodyear, Honda, etc have all pulled from FSAE.

Telling someone like Ford or Honda or whatever that they're gonna get extra exposure by having their sticker on your FSAE car.. probably isn't the best card to play.

Don't forget to go after all the little fish as well. Local shops, distributors, racing clubs, places to eat... Doesn't hurt to go up and ask them what you can do for them, in exchange for cash or product. Or just say that they're really helping out a student group that desperately needs money.

anyone kind enough to post their sponsorship request packet?

When I first took on the job of team leader last year and started working on our sponsorship prospectus, I spent a bit of time googling other teams to see what they do, a lot of teams have them on their websites (we do). It's a good way to get ideas. Also professional motorsports teams will have something quite similar, which can be a useful thing to look at, although remember a professional motorsports team will focus a lot more heavily on exposure, where an FSAE team usually offers a relatively small amount of exposure per dollar, and you're far more likely to succeed by promoting the educational aspect and the specific exposure/access to engineering graduates - and not just any graduates, most likely the best group of graduates.

A couple of other tips - go out of your way to show what you can offer a particular company, and give it a good amount of thought. Some companies have statements on their websites about what company values they have/promote, see how you fit in to these. The other big thing is getting a foot in the door. If you know someone that knows someone that works at the company, chances are that he knows someone that knows someone that makes decisions on this sort of thing, and having a work colleague talk to them about it initially is much more likely to get a foot in the door than if you call reception or send an email.