FINDING A SPONSOR

Understand your needs

Before approaching a potential sponsor, it is important to understand what information you should convey to boost your chances of success. Aspects of your CSP, such as:

• Your CSP's history and story
• Future projects and development
• Imperial brand
• Your membership

can all positively influence your pitch to a sponsor.

The first step before approaching sponsors is to identify why your club deserves sponsorship. What can you offer the company by way of your reputation and success in engaging certain demographics of students. The best way to do this is to summarise the history of your club including your financial status and any future projects & developments. Even if a company can’t sponsor your club at this point in time, or your activities don’t currently meet their strategic objectives, they may be interested in future projects which better align with their plans.

Imperial is a prestigious and globally-renowned institution, so use this to your advantage. Attract potential sponsors by showcasing Imperial's high calibre of students and graduates. Providing the most up-to-date league table data and including other relevant information and metrics, such as academic performance, student satisfaction scores, citation scores, etc. can also help secure a sponsorship, especially from top UK employers.

It is critically important to know your specific CSP's membership, as well the college's as a whole. Knowing your membership can lead you to consider certain sponsors outside of your activity. For instance, you might be a martial arts club and find that 70% of your members are engineers. This way, you can target companies that are looking to engage with this demographic. Equally, you may find that your club attracts a certain ethnic group e.g. BAME students (Black, Asian, Minority & Ethnic). This is particularly well-suited for companies offering graduate programmes or schemes aimed at certain demographics. Ultimately, both the club and your members will benefit from the sponsorship and have direct access to these opportunities. 

Find your sponsor

To find the right sponsor, you must:

• Know your club
• Know what you can offer (i.e. publicity, events)
• Know what you would like from the sponsor (i.e. financial support, professional support)
• Know your values and needs
• Know your sponsor's values and needs

A good place to start is by identifying a large number of potential sponsors. Create a Venn Diagram for each sponsor to determine whether they're values and needs align with yours. Additionally, identify what the benefits of sponsorship should be, both for the supplier and to your Club, Society or Project. This will also allow you to draft a strong sponsorship proposal later on. 

The benefits to the Club, Society or Project would be the solution to a funding or product requirement as well as increased publicity by being associated with the sponsor.

Sponsorship can be offered for a number of activities. Some of the time they will be one-off deals: a charity show, publication, sporting event, leaflets or posters. Sponsorship may also be sought for longer-term projects and gifts-in-kind.

Initially, think about who has sponsored your group in the past; speak to older and former members and review your online transaction pages from previous years. Also consider your equipment suppliers, and contacts that you and your committee may have within suppliers and companies.

Once you have a shortlist of companies you think you should approach, you need to refine your search and then establish contact with the potential sponsors. Ask them for their Annual Report, advice on what projects they may or may not support and establish a contact within the organisation or gain contact details for their marketing department. If you already have a contact within the company then go via them or ask for an endorsement.

In summary, the typical routes to sponsorship are:

• Alumni
• Internships & work experience
• Family & friends
• Networking e.g. careers events
• Former sponsors
• Equipment suppliers
   

Negotiating

Successful proposals sent to Sponsors will include:

• Activity title
• Proposal summary
• Sponsorship options – offer tiers and the possibility for a tailored sponsorship
• Key strengths – re-emphasise the benefits of the activity
• Any relevant material such as photos of your Club, Society or Project, quotes from members or articles from Felix
• Benefits

Ensure you make it clear to the sponsor what benefits they will gain from sponsoring your event. Some examples of benefits to the sponsor include:

• Displaying the company logo on the header or footer of all official Club, Society or Project emails,
• Arranging talks by the company to gain exposure to members of your Club, Society or Project,
• Printing logos on banners, flyers or programmes at events,
• Advertisement space on your Club, Society or Project website,
• A targeted email to your members or an item in your newsletter.

Sponsorship amount.

• Do not under-cost. Ask for more than you need.
• Include all costs and allocate overhead costs if possible.
• Do not pull a number out of thin air.
• Don’t forget to add VAT to any costs - all sponsorships attract 20% VAT.
• Describe what you intend to do with the money.
• Break down expenditure to help identify all costs.
• Cost each item using best estimates and obtain quotes.
• Decide whether this is a reasonable total.

Think whether your proposal offers value for money. It is worth considering the value of services or goods properly.

Key points to remember

• Be clear on your member demographic
• Find out corporation needs
• Promise deliverables
• Give options
• Approach the right person
• Phone call & follow up with email
• Keep a record of all communication

Sample proposal

[company name] is requested to fund [Club, Society or Project name] work by contributing £[amount] towards [activity] and will receive [benefits].

Introduction (to the organisation and the activity to be funded)

Outline of any previous support received.

The proposal should clearly identify:

• What you want
• Why you want it
• What you want it for
• When you want it
• How they can help
• How they will benefit (what will they gain)
• How much will it cost (a breakdown of the budget)

Remember to address letters or emails to a specific individual – otherwise it will almost certainly end up being binned.

When getting in touch with a Sponsor, your initial reply may be a simple yes or no; or you may also not hear anything at all. In this case, you should chase up your proposal with a phone call to confirm the proposal has arrived, ask when it may be considered, and ask if any further information is required. However, be careful not to harass them.

Be sure to keep track of your progress by keeping a record of all information sent out to each individual company. Some companies will reply saying no in a variety of ways, e.g. they are not able to support at this time as they do not have the budget or it does not fit with their criteria. Other companies may show an interest and get back with specific questions or say they will be considering your application at the next meeting.

Don’t expect to hear back from most of the companies you contact.

When you receive a positive reply, respond with a brief thank you. If they have turned you down,  think about approaching the company on another occasion, perhaps during the next academic year or for a different type of event.

Remember some companies may prefer to sponsor a more academically meaningful event rather than a ball or party. Be prepared to alter your proposal to get the sponsorship but keep in mind that the contract should always benefit your Club, Society or Project.