How to ask us for a Sponsorship

We get dozens of requests for sponsorships so we decided to write this document.

Please note before you begin your proposal that we are very selective with our limited advertising dollars. Furthermore, we are open to the idea of offering sponsorships however we are not actively recruiting. You will have to make us a very good offer.

We might make you a counter offer, but we will not make the first offer. If you want to get sponsored, you must take the initiative. You know what you have to offer. We don't.

Here are some of the things that we might be interested in, listed in increasing value.

"Speaking highly of" and/or verbally promoting our company and products. While it's a nice thought, it's impossible to prove that this is being done during a sponsorship, so it has zero monetary value. Moreover, there's an incredibly low ceiling to the number of people you can verbally interact with. Finally, isn't it fair for you to do this based only on the business relationship? We would speak highly of you if someone asked!
Having our name on your car, helmet, shirt, business cards, etc. We LOVE having our name on cars. However, we are a seller of universal installation and turbo support parts and the chances of someone tracking us down after seeing our name are nearly zero. Plus, thousands of people do this for us for free, just to be friendly and show their support. So alone, this favor while appreciated is worth probably about $10.
Getting the "sponsored by" credit when your name is being broadcast at racing events. This is great, but not very many people are likely to hear it. If you put this in your offer, make sure you mention how you plan to prove how many ears have heard our name.
Say our name on TV. If you win a race and then give us a positive mention on TV, that's worth something. We absolutely will not pay on this one unless you give us a recording of the broadcast. This might be a bit unrealistic, but for most people, so is asking for a sponsorship in the first place.
Putting our name in your web forum signature. This is great, but only if you post A LOT on A LOT of forums. One thing to note here is that once you change your sig, it changes it in your previous posts as well. We will need a contract listing the exact amount of time that we will stay in your sig, how many posts you will make and where.
In-shop advertising. If you have a shop where you work on other peoples cars, carrying our products would help your offer immensely. This might also take the form of a business relationship - depending on what specifically your business does, we might be able to arrange a discount that works both ways. However, this is not really the same thing as a sponsorship - try asking us about our wholesale program instead.
Guaranteed volume. If you put it in your offer that you will buy a minimum volume from us, we will be much more open to the offer. But again, this is not really a sponsorship so much as a volume purchase agreement - try asking us about our wholesale program instead.
So apparently, YouTube is a thing now. If you have over 100,000 subscribers, you're probably already buried with emails trying to give you money, but if you're interested, let us know what you have in mind. We could do an in-video ad or you could feature our parts in a video. But if you don't have over 100,000 subscribers... like if you have 99,999 subscribers, it's probably not worth the time and expense for us to create an agreement.
Having a hyperlink to our site on your website. If you can give us a sponsored by credit, banner, and hyperlink on a pagerank 3 or higher webpage with related content and lots of traffic, that's great. Featured prominently for an extended period of time with a contract might be worth hundreds or thousands (PR6+) of dollars to us. You can determine your pagerank using the Google toolbar.

Here is an example of a sponsorship proposal that we would review. Please feel free to copy this and modify it and submit it to us as your offer.

Firemonkey Racing Sponsorship Request (Sample - fictional team)

Introduction

Hello, I am Randy Callahan, the owner of Firemonkey Racing. Started in 1997, our focus is primarily road racing at local tracks in California. We have had four hotlap track day victories this year alone and participate in at least two races per month plus five car shows per year. Our race car is a 2005 EVO with roll cage with a full race suspension that runs an 11.6 in the 1/4.

Our Offer

Signature Link. I post on dsmtuners.com and evolutionm.net under the name of firemonkey36. I have averaged 12.6 posts per day for the last three years. A link to your website with the anchor text of your choosing will replace my current signature and will remain for the entire sponsorship term plus six months. I will maintain an average of 10 posts per day and check the forsale/WTB section of the forums weekly, recommending your company to people looking for similar products.

Your Name. Upon your furnishing to me a digital copy of your preferred logo, I will at my own expense have your logo added to our racecar on the hood and on each side. The decals will be a minimum of 12"x24". I will also put your logo on our team business cards, 1000 of which will be produced immediately on your acceptance of this offer, and given to each of the four members of our team. We will list our name on event entry forms as being sponsored by your company, insuring that your name will be read by the announcers if applicable. We will give personal thanks to you during the post-race interview if we win. We guarantee our participation in a minimum of 12 events and 3 car shows per year.

Minimum Volume. For the duration of the sponsorship, we will order a minimum of $2000 per year from your company, before discount and shipping.

Exclusivity. We already have two other sponsors, however they are smaller sponsors. You will be our primary sponsor, and we will not take on any other sponsors during the duration of this sponsorship.

Proof. Please review the mentioned forums as proof of my posting and link. I will send digital pictures of our racecar at an event wearing your stickers within one month of sponsorship approval which you may use in your company advertisement. We will send you some of our business cards as well.

Sponsorship Request

Monetary compensation. We request an initial sponsorship payment of $250.00 to pay for decals and business cards. The money will be refunded in full if we are unable to meet the terms of the sponsorship agreement.

Shop credit. We request $250 in immediate shop credit which will be used to purchase parts which we have an immediate need for. Additionally, if we win a wheel-to-wheel road race and send you a videotape of both the victory lap with your stickers on our car plus a copy of the certificate with your name listed as our sponsor, we request an additional $200 in shop credit ($500 if it is televised and we send you a videotape of the broadcast.) (limit $1000/year).

Discount. We request a 15% discount from your everyday selling prices (not applicable to EBay or special sale items) for all purchases made from you during the duration of the sponsorship.

Duration. The sponsorship will have a minimum term of 1 year with the option to renew. The terms may be renegotiated prior to renewal. If the sponsorship expires, I will retain your website link in my forum signature for an additional six months.

End of sample.

Remember, 90% of people involved in motorsports pay for it out of their own pocket. A sponsorship, unless you are a pro, is a way to slightly lessen the cost of racing, not a way to make money. Someone once said: "How do you make a small fortune in racing? Start with a large fortune." Here is a nice article with some general information about sponsorships, written about motorcycle racing: http://www.mcia.co.uk/S_Public/racingSponsorship.asp.
Here is a general article about sponsorship: http://www.askmen.com/fashion/how_to_300/339_how_to.html
Thanks for reading.