Step by Step Plan for Sponsorship

1. Who do we have in our tennis community that is involved in, manages, or owns a local business?
2. Collect all membership data, sit down with someone on the committee/in the tennis community that knows most of the players in your local community.
3. Create a confidential document outlining
   • Who owns what business
   • Who has a position of authority with a local business
   • Who owns a business and has family that play tennis
   • Who owns a business and has been connected to the tennis community in the past
   • What businesses are sympathetic to sport, exercise, and community engagement
4. What have we got to sell to these people/businesses?
   • Courts
   • Naming rights to building/clubhouse
   • Competitions – club champs, interclub, business house, junior programmes
   • Events – Love Tennis, Open Days, Charity Fundraiser events.
   • Coaching/schools programme
5. Find the right fit for each of the items you want to sell/make money on. You need to give your sponsor the right opportunities to get buy in from the tennis community.
   • Junior Comps – businesses that connect with families to earn their money (banks, building societies, real estate, local malls, shopping centres, garages, supermarkets) These are the types of business that you would be able to share information to allow engagement with your junior families.
   • Senior Comps – Businesses that want to engage with the older market (local car dealers, travel agencies (limited during Covid) hotels & resorts, restaurants)
   • Courts - businesses that sell a service (plumber, electrician, estate agents, DIY specialists)
   • Schools/Coaching programmes – businesses that connect with families to earn their money (banks, building societies, real estate, local malls, shopping centres, garages, supermarkets)

Once you have completed your research, you will have two lists, one itemising what you must sell to a sponsor, the second itemising the businesses that are connected to your local tennis community in one way or another.  Connecting with a business that has passion for tennis will get half your job done for you.  You can also make a list of potential businesses that may be approached but do not have a connection with tennis. This route is also possible, try to get an introduction.

1. Make sure that you contact the person in the business that makes the decisions, this may take a little more research, but it is worth it. If you come across a ‘gate keeper’ the chance of getting the right result becomes much slimmer.
2. Prepare intro and background to proposal.
   • Background of your club, explaining club events, programmes & membership.
   • Outline your values and objectives – a vision or mission statement is great here.
   • How you link to the local community
   • How does your sponsor's business link to your club culture and values
3. Prepare the benefits to the sponsor business.

They may look like this depending on what you have to offer.

Benefits

sponsor will be associated with:

• Fostering the game of tennis
• The best junior tennis players in the …area/region
• Developing up and coming juniors/seniors of all levels
• Providing a pathway for junior players both at the competitive level and at the participation level
• Offering Open Tournaments to both junior and adult players.
• Building participation, offering local families a healthy and safe option to exercise

Tangible Benefits

Advertising promise:

• Radio promotion in the lead up to the tournaments
• Promotion and recognition in club newsletters leading up to …event
• Facebook posts pre- and post-events, minimum 3 inserts per event, Instagram inserts during and post event. Digital budget to include an audience out with tennis. Facebook reach 3,000 x 4 paid posts per …(event/ season?)
• Sponsor letter head on all event communication and emails
• Logo displayed on club website plus all promotional club material for event and trainings, entry form and fact sheet, website, newsletter, posters
• Logo on representative uniforms, logo on club tops

Opportunity for brand recognition in social media and print media coverage, pre and post event:

• Banners
• Fliers
• Digital and hardcopy posters

Company exposure at event:

• Opportunity for company representative to briefly address the audience at the …event. Sponsor acknowledgment by compare/briefing
• Opportunity for company representative to present prize/awards
• Photos of company representative and event winners/organisers for own purposes and displayed on club website/Facebook page
• Product display at event

Investment: $

Present your proposal in person along with a hardcopy of the document. It is key to present to the person who makes the financial decision, your chances of success are far greater when you actually get to the owner/marketing manager themselves.