Looking for Paintball Sponsorship - Part II
Developing a Team Resume.
Paintballers need to understand it takes a lot of work to get sponsorships. A team needs to build a well thought out and planned resume. Typing a broken English note in an email to a potential sponsor will get you no where. The amount of time you put into building a resume will prove to be directly related to the results you get.
Long before I added the affiliate store to the Wolfpack website, I was receiving requests from people for us to sponsor them. Seems kind of odd since we are just a team also looking for sponsors. Most of the request we got looked some thing like this,
"my name is cody from team blackout, well u spenser us ,were from south grafton and the best team, we never got beat yet, we want to know if yud give us new guns and stuff plz plz ,we rplaying arer first turnament this month we can put ur name on are jerseys and tell peple to goto ur site, let me know or hitme back on msn"
Know how to approach a potential paintball sponsorship
Where do I begin? This person knows nothing about us or he wouldn't be asking another team for a paintball sponsorship. The spelling and grammar shows he has little to no respect for himself or anyone else. They haven't played a tournament yet but he claims he is "the best team". He wants new guns and stuff? How would that benefit me? Where the heck is South Grafton anyway? Ok, I realize this is an extreme case but it provides some great opportunities for learning how to approach a potential sponsor.
First thing is to understand it takes a lot of work from your whole team to create a value in your paintball team. I don't mean you go to church every weekend. I mean your team is well respected as a positive force in the paintball scene. That could be just your local scene or the national PSP series or whatever. Building relationships with local field owners adds value to your team. Having an organized structure with a tough practice schedule and sticking to it gives your team value. Helping your community as a team builds value into your team. Imagine adding a community contribution to your team's resume.
Be detailed about why you would like to represent this company. Do they have products that your team uses or feels loyal to? Do they have products you would like to have but can't afford? Or is there another connection you can find toward this company. Be specific and site examples of why you like this company.
Be detailed about your team. Provide an opportunity for the sponsor to feel a personal connection with your team. Give information about things each player enjoys. Maybe include a funny story about each person. If you have good grades or plans on attending a certain college or pursuing a profession try to communicate that without babbling on. Make the sponsor feel like he knows you.
Don't make empty claims about how good you are! Give your win loss record but don't say you're the best! Give examples of how your team learns from previous tournaments. Talk about how your practices help overcome any weaknesses. Let them know how you've improved by disciplined practices.
Let them decide how much they want to help you out. I've kind of hit on this before in my past article on Team Sponsorship - How much to ask for. Make a detailed schedule of your year of events. Detail your expenses down to planed cases of paint, entry fees, field fees and other expenses. Let them decide how much they want to get involved.
Ask what other sponsored teams do for them? What has the sponsor seen success with that these other teams have provided. Does the sponsor have new ideas that they may want to try with you. Let them get their mind working and maybe they will see you as an opportunity to try some thing new!
Taking your time to build a resume that exploit's the value of your team will improve your chances of obtaining a sponsorship. Don't write a blurb that shows you lack intelligence or respect. Get all team members to contribute to the resume and to the team's value and you will have success.
Good Luck,
Posted by Redwood on 04/12/07
Also see:
List of Sponsorships Available
Team Sponsorship Part 1
