Good practices for seeking sponsorship
Who & where? AMLF, Bulgaria
What? Our strategy is to approach sponsors always personally through individual meeting, making a presentation on what we can offer.
It is very hard to find sponsors, especially in smaller areas/regions. We approach different companies, as our games even though they are played predominantly by men, attract many visitors (women, kids) and our events are targeted at the wider public.
How? It has to be the right time with the right person. Different companies set their budget in different ways for the year and you have to find out when do different company do it and who is the right person to approach. With big companies with the largest budgets, it is very hard to get their sponsorships, they have a network of partners that they always use and if you do not have a specific lobby it is very hard to get to them.
Why? It is always important to have sponsors, as the government in Bulgaria doesn’t provide support for sports organisation. We have communicated numerous times with representatives of Ministry of Sports and other public organisations, and we have never got anything from them.
Who & where? SD Bogojina, Slovenia
What? We are looking for sponsors through:
- Organizing various social events to which we invite representatives of companies and offer their products there
- Provide sponsors with free viewings of the event, matches and offer them food and drink (VIP mode)
How? Good practice:
- We have leased our playground and facility to the coaching association, where they are conducting trainings and courses
- We have offered a training ground for larger clubs in the area
- We organized a march and promoted a healthy lifestyle, and as sponsors we represented all local companies that produce food, vegetables, health insurance, pharmacy and all stakeholders related to health.
Why? There are no large companies in Pomurje and every small company supports its home local club, so every euro is important to us.
Who & where? ASSA Sport Talent, North Macedonia
What? We normally get out sponsors through municipality and their general budget for the youths or sports in their region. Getting a sponsorship from them on real projects in general goes by the official letter of interest published by the municipality.
How? Reference letters and previous successful projects with the plan for the future projects can be sent to the biggest companies in the country.
Why? It is important through different projects to create a network of partners, hence get sponsorship from international companies and representatives. Sponsorship is important as it gives us more choice, visibility and access to a wider public.
Who & where? AF Braganca, Portugal
What? We get our sponsorship from government and large sponsors from Portugal and our region.
How? Our strategy for having good sponsorship in our competitions it’s to negotiate the “naming rights” of the competitions. Each one of the competitions has the name of a regional sponsor. Logically you can adapt this to tournaments, events, or name your own club or each one of your teams.
Why? We have to act as the market requires, adopt different ways of getting sponsorship and hence, get more chances for development.
Who & where? LECS, Romania
What? We get our sponsorships mainly through partnering in different projects and through coordinating a number of EU projects.
How? The main sponsors for the sport clubs in the less developed areas are the municipalities but the budget is low compared with the needs of the football clubs and sports associations. Government invests if they see performance but to have performance you need an investment. This creates a vicious circle that could be broken with a wider approach finding sponsors from the private companies. Also, the European funds are a good solution for the sport clubs to improve their budget for the development of the organisations from the rural areas.
Why? Private companies can greatly support development of sports associations but is really hard to get their interest and to become part of their yearly plan.
What? Our strategy is to approach sponsors always personally through individual meeting, making a presentation on what we can offer.
It is very hard to find sponsors, especially in smaller areas/regions. We approach different companies, as our games even though they are played predominantly by men, attract many visitors (women, kids) and our events are targeted at the wider public.
How? It has to be the right time with the right person. Different companies set their budget in different ways for the year and you have to find out when do different company do it and who is the right person to approach. With big companies with the largest budgets, it is very hard to get their sponsorships, they have a network of partners that they always use and if you do not have a specific lobby it is very hard to get to them.
Why? It is always important to have sponsors, as the government in Bulgaria doesn’t provide support for sports organisation. We have communicated numerous times with representatives of Ministry of Sports and other public organisations, and we have never got anything from them.
Who & where? SD Bogojina, Slovenia
What? We are looking for sponsors through:
- Organizing various social events to which we invite representatives of companies and offer their products there
- Provide sponsors with free viewings of the event, matches and offer them food and drink (VIP mode)
How? Good practice:
- We have leased our playground and facility to the coaching association, where they are conducting trainings and courses
- We have offered a training ground for larger clubs in the area
- We organized a march and promoted a healthy lifestyle, and as sponsors we represented all local companies that produce food, vegetables, health insurance, pharmacy and all stakeholders related to health.
Why? There are no large companies in Pomurje and every small company supports its home local club, so every euro is important to us.
Who & where? ASSA Sport Talent, North Macedonia
What? We normally get out sponsors through municipality and their general budget for the youths or sports in their region. Getting a sponsorship from them on real projects in general goes by the official letter of interest published by the municipality.
How? Reference letters and previous successful projects with the plan for the future projects can be sent to the biggest companies in the country.
Why? It is important through different projects to create a network of partners, hence get sponsorship from international companies and representatives. Sponsorship is important as it gives us more choice, visibility and access to a wider public.
Who & where? AF Braganca, Portugal
What? We get our sponsorship from government and large sponsors from Portugal and our region.
How? Our strategy for having good sponsorship in our competitions it’s to negotiate the “naming rights” of the competitions. Each one of the competitions has the name of a regional sponsor. Logically you can adapt this to tournaments, events, or name your own club or each one of your teams.
Why? We have to act as the market requires, adopt different ways of getting sponsorship and hence, get more chances for development.
Who & where? LECS, Romania
What? We get our sponsorships mainly through partnering in different projects and through coordinating a number of EU projects.
How? The main sponsors for the sport clubs in the less developed areas are the municipalities but the budget is low compared with the needs of the football clubs and sports associations. Government invests if they see performance but to have performance you need an investment. This creates a vicious circle that could be broken with a wider approach finding sponsors from the private companies. Also, the European funds are a good solution for the sport clubs to improve their budget for the development of the organisations from the rural areas.
Why? Private companies can greatly support development of sports associations but is really hard to get their interest and to become part of their yearly plan.