How's everyone doing with sponsors

[tracy]

Just out of interest, how's everyone going with sponsors? We are a new university entrant, and we would like to know the amount of sponsorship money we should be aiming for to get a competitive car.

[tracy]

Just out of interest, how's everyone going with sponsors? We are a new university entrant, and we would like to know the amount of sponsorship money we should be aiming for to get a competitive car.

[Colin]

aim high, too much is never enough! http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[J. Schmidt]

I agree, but don't necessarily ask for a lot. They'll ask how much you want, you tell them how much you need. If you ask for too much some companies will get scared and not return your calls, if you tell them what you need they're more likely to offer their assistance. It also helps to do reasearch on the company and brown-nose a little, make sure you know how to pronounce the owner's name, etc. Remember, sponsorship is a year to year program. Keep this year's sponsors happy and they'll help more next year.

[Eddie Martin]

I'd say the key to sponsorship, and most things in fsae, is professionalism. People normally don't want to give money to what they see as a bunch of guys building a weird go kart. Have a professional looking sponsor package and have a fully itemised budget so they can see exactly where their money is going. Show them that you are professional organisation that knows what it is doing and where it is going. Try to find the right people in the company to talk to, i know it is easier said than done but you will save a lot of time and hassle by speaking to the right people. The head of marketing is normally a good start.

I'd say you should be aiming at $20,000 US to be comfortable, but produce a budget and see. Doing things on the cheap is half the fun of the project.

[Matilda]

Find out what the sign off limit is for Engineers of local big business. We have found it easier to get Egineers that know and like what we do to become "corporate members" of the team. This is much easier than trying to convince a company to get behind what is labeled "motorsport". Of course you get less money but its easier... In WA (Western Australia) we have found the limit to be about $5K so about 2.5US. Get 4 or 5 of those and your half way there, then one big company and you have all the cash you need...

Being professional is the only way, suit and tie rather than team shirt etc. and a good printer. But be careful not to go over board. At one stage we sent out too much stuff. Just a letter and an A4 back and front of nice pics and maybe a CD is about max. Then hand deliver, never post unless required. Face to face has been the only way we have got good money. Sponsors can't get away when its face to face.

We have found some sponsors saying we don't ask for enough. One sponsor said they wouldn't look at it until it was at $1mil over three years, and another say not until its over $100K. Something we haven't experienced until this year...

Anyway there are some thoughts. I hope it helps.

Jason