After your deck grabs the attention of a marketing director and he asks for more information, you’ll have to create a document with the proposed deliverables. The proposal should list allthe things you can offer and value them. It is the foundation from which you negotiate your actual commitment. Strong proposals include the following:
Your proposal should outline when and how you will endorse the brand, what products you are going to promote, and what your duties will be as the company’s brand ambassador. It should also include the nomenclature of your team and what your team will be called by announcers, online, and in press releases.
Compensation and incentives
Financial terms should be clear and specific. Base the cost on value, not your operating costs.
Most sponsors will want to be the only brand in their product category. Offer them exclusivity in your proposal, but be sure to include a statement that you intend to secure sponsors in non-competing categories. You may have to negotiate which categories are off limits.
Outline personal appearances in detail. List exactly how many events you can go to, who will accompany you, and how travel expenses will be paid.
If the sponsor is going to promote you in their publicity, media, and ad campaigns, then you’ll have to grant them a license to use your name and likeness. Offer them a license in your proposal, but make sure you can pre approve any copy.
Your proposal should include how sponsors will be represented on your physical assets—the car, semi or hauler, the awning, uniforms, helmet, crew apparel, etc. State the size of the logo for each asset, where the logo will be placed, and who pays for them. Since you’ll hopefully have more than one sponsor, show how other sponsors will be represented.
Outline how you will sell, sample, or demonstrate the sponsor’s products and activate with spectators. Before offering to sample or distribute products, check with the race series or track first to make sure they don’t have exclusive sponsors or concessionaires.
Estimate how much of the sponsorship funds you’ll use to buy publicity in magazines, in programs, on television, or on the Internet. Experienced teams don’t just race with the money they raise; they use a portion to make their sponsors happy.
Brands will want to be part of your website and social media. State how you will include them. Be specific so there are no misunderstandings. Since you can’t promote sponsors all the time without looking corporate or commercial. Set limits in your proposal.
List all the people on your team, their roles, contact info, and who to call first if they need anything.
List how many tickets, parking passes, and VIP hospitality passes the potential sponsor will receive for each event.
If you are going to collect leads, list in the proposal how you are going to do it and how you are going to share the data with your sponsors.State whether the information is your intellectual property that you grant them temporary access to, or if it becomes their property for unlimited future use.
Estimate the value of your assets in the proposal, but make sure the valuations are credible. Putting inflated values on assets puts your entire proposal at risk. You want the executives who read it to accept your valuations and trust the information you give them.
List your current sponsors with contact information so new sponsors can call them for a reference. Mention long-term relationships because it shows satisfaction and commitment. If you know that your current sponsors are going to create ads or commercials featuring you, then include details in your proposal.
If you set up your race program as a business, include the legal name of the business entity and a tax ID number inthe contact section.
While decks are generic to fish for prospective sponsors, proposals are specific for each company. Aim your proposal at the centerof your sponsor’s target market and show how your tangible and intangible assets will help them market to new customers and sell more products. I’ll go over the most common tangible and intangible assets in the next two blogs.
