Drivers with sponsors, this one's for you.

I've been wanting to approach potential sponsors for some time now, and with the ECHC coming up in 6 months, now is the time. So I got to wondering...what do I ask for?

Here's what I was thinking of. Write up a letter with a tiered approach. Sort of like this:

Small sticker on the fender -> sell me stuff at their cost
Largeish sticker on car -> sell me stuff at a deep discount
Gigantic, mondo sticker on hood or rear fender -> free stuff

Maybe with a photo of the car with "your sticker here" for each tier of the proposal.

Is getting stuff for free completely unheard of? I don't want to come across as asking for too much...But obviously the more help I can get, the better.

The letter would also describe the car, my results (such as they are - hard to quantify results as a HPDE instructor), and especially the Honda Challenge. Honda Challenge, as we've seen, is rather attractive to companies that sell performance and safety stuff.

Of course I know I'll have to be better about keeping the car looking professional. No more mismatched magnetic numbers, no more odd tires. No more Britney Spears action figures zip tied to the windshield wiper.

Any suggestions from those of you experienced with this would be greatly appreciated. I think that this was covered last year, but the archives are all gone

--Karl, who knows he can't afford a truck, a trailer, Hoosiers, pimpy new shocks, a good cage, LSD, and a freshened up head this winter without sponsor assistance...

 

I think I've already discussed my deals with you, but to recap.

Alan *** auto is a Honda only maintenence shop here in Atlanta. I run large decals on each rear quarter and occasionally leave the car parked in front of their shop on weekends (at their request). They don't really do much performance stuff and are mostly just into maintenance of street cars, but they feel the sponsorship gives them cheap exposure.
What I get in return is free labor (this was HUGE when they installed the LSD and flywheel for me last year), OEM Honda parts at their cost, access to an alignment rack whenever I want, and free tire mounting/balancing. All in all, not a bad deal.

OPM does the performance stuff and cuts me a deal here and there in return for running their decals, but it's not really an "official" deal like I have with Alan ***.

Short answer... "Free" stuff is certainly not out of the question.

One piece of advice, get some GOOD, permanent number placards and decals on the car before you start this process. It's alot easier to get sponsorship when the person you're asking is looking at a "race car" instead of trying to imagine what it could potentially look like.

PS - Keep the Britany Spears action figure, it shows that you are kind of a "character."

Scott, whos not by any means a marketing genius, but manages to get help getting the bills paid for his little habit.

 

If you actually had Ms. Spears sitting in your car you could probably get enough sponsorship to run an F1 team. I would tell potential sponsors that She is involved as the figurehead of the team and see what you can get. If they ask to meet Her just say she is touring but She wanted you have these ,and give them a pair of your dates old panties. I am sure that they would be worth a transporter at least.

Good Luck and say Hi to BS for me.

Victor Penner

 

In simple terms, and don't take this the wrong way, but beggers can't be choosers. Let's say I'm the company. Depending on who I am and what sponsorship budget I have, I want maximum exposure for my investment, so for now, let's keep decal size out of it. If you must mention sticker size though, say something like; "Decal size will be no smaller than 12" in length as to be highly visible to spectators viewing from a distance".

Be specific. If you simply want money, ask for it. If you want parts, ask for them. If you want things at cost, ask for things at cost. This way there's no confusion to the reader about what you're after. Once your relationship has some time invested, you can always renegotiate.

If you target youth oriented companies, explain the enormous growth of your sport and the large amount of younger people who will see "their" racecar running up front.

Be professional. If you're running my company's logo (I'm the company again here), I don't want you acting like an *** on the street or at the track. You're an extension of the company or companies that sponsor you, and you must remember that at all times. If you're car is street driven, the guy you just cut-off can easily see the big decals on your car and call the company to complain. Not good.

Offer your race schedule and previous accomplishments. You should be able to communicate effectively and sell the $hit out of yourself and make it sound like this is an offer that they can't afford to refuse.

Communicate. Keep in regular contact with your sponsors. Send videos, pictures and updates. Call and email your contact person just to chat and don't forget their birthday. Send Christmas cards and stuff too.

You get the idea. Be enthusiastic and keep trying because you'll get a lot more "No" responces than "Yes".
By the way, if you need anything for your car, feel free to visit http://www.NipponPower.com

Good luck



[Modified by johng, 12:06 PM 11/18/2001]

 

And I forgot to mention...

Keep it realistic. Reality is that you (and I) are small time amateur racers. Getting gobs of free stuff from places like Koni, Neuspeed, and Comptech is kind of a pipe dream. Getting a local or regional shop, or maybe even a web parts provider, to pitch in and help is by no means a pipe dream.

And as I've mentioned before, why should a place like Comptech or Neuspeed pay you to run their decals? Hell, THOUSANDS of ricer wannabes actually pay money to BUY their big decals to put on their cars.
Not a good business decision to actually PAY you to do it.

 

I've found that professional proposals and a profesional look will take you far. I agree w/ roadracer, in that you need to start w/ local shops, its always easier to work w/ people who you have a relationship with already.

Lots of little things can help you, I've found that team shirts w/ the sponsor's logo onthem always helps a alot, and usually they're willing to help w/ the cost of the shirts too.

Permanent numbers are also a huge bonus, having the car look like the race car it is.

Basically the way I look at it: Lots of companies want to be involved in racing, so give them the feeling that they're going to be a part of something, part of a team. My 98 ITR used to sit at Discount Tire all the time, I'd have the manager come down to events etc etc.

good luck man

-fais

 

I've got a GRM article from a year or two ago laying around that covers this topic. It had a green and orange Miata as its subject (I think this is a grand-am car now). If I find it later I'll post the issue it was in.

 

Good information all. Yeah Scott, I wasn't even gonna bother going down the road of large companies like Koni etc. And I also plan to avoid pinging companies that are heavily involved in pro racing. Truechoice, for example, could probably give a rats *** about the Honda Challenge.

More thoughts later - gotta go test drive a Suburban