Finding companies willing to sponsor kids in sports

[BalanceSeeker]

I would love some advice from those who have done this. Our girls are doing Pop Warner cheer for the first time this year and I need to find $300 in sponsor donations. If I can't find the donations, I have to pay the money out of pocket, which is not an option right now.

 

I'd especially love specific company recommendations :001_smile:

 

Thanks in advance!

[Loupelou]

I don't have any specific recommendations but I know my dh sponsored part of a team a couple of years ago. We were friends of the boy's parents and they just called any of their friends who owned small businesses. They put the company names in small print all over the back of the shirts. We donated something like $50 or $75. It might be an idea if you have any friends/church members/acquaintances who have their own company.

[Samiam]

We always make our son earn his sponsorship for his all-star teams. It has been anywhere from $250-$300 that needed to be paid, either by sponsor or us. "US" wasn't doing it, so son needed to earn his way (we would have in the end, but we didn't want him to know that).

 

I made up letters, explaining what was needed, where the money would go (uniforms, travel expenses, etc), and what the company would get in return.

 

We did practice conversations with son. What he should say when he walks in, answers to common questions, etc etc. We practiced for a couple of days.

Then, he dressed in his team shirt and hat, and we went out to local businesses. I would stay either just outside of the store (if it was small store where I could see him through the window) or stand 10 feet away from him in the store. This was his gig, and I let him do the talking. (He didn't always do "perfect", sometimes when he would tell me the conversations, I would be like "you said WHAT!??!" in my mind. I would just use those times to kind of guide him with the right thing to say, without telling him he said the wrong thing)

 

I think it was a great experience for him. Every year, he earned his way on to the All-Star team. We always made sure to give him lots of kudos for his efforts.

 

ps. DS was ages 8-10 when we did this.

[Paz]

We, and friends of ours, have gone to businesses that we support, like restraurants that we go to so often that the manager knows us, nail salons, hair salons, friends' businesses...We usually receive a letter from the coach of the team and a non-profit number so that we can provide this when we go. Some larger business are looking for tax deductions and often they appreciate donating to someone they know. We have done this for several years for dd's softball team and 1 summer for ds's travel baseball team.

[eternalknot]

Like Paz, we've always had the best luck with restaurants (both local and chain).

 

To a lesser degree we've had luck with grocery stores, oil/lube joints, smalltime publications like local newspapers or free area parenting mags, dry cleaners, photographers, realtors, events places (minigolf, waterparks, etc) ... honestly, one year I went through one of those "Free Coupon" envelopes I get in the mail every few weeks and hit up every advertiser in the packet.

 

I have the best success rate with medium sized business or services that targeted (our) families. I've also "advertised" for sponsors by requesting that our local newspaper do an article/write-up on our organization (specifically, MY team!) with the mention about community support, blah blah blah, and to come out and support our x-event [car wash, restaurant service for tips, etc] on such-and-such date. They like seeing the kids actively "earning" the money, and 3:5 times I'll get a sizeable donation from someone not even interested in sponsorship recognition.

[BalanceSeeker]

I really appreciate all your suggestions. Thanks a million!