10 reasons why it is important to sponsor your local football club!

With many community sports clubs acting as a community beacon for a cross-section of society, it is more important than ever for local businesses to actively engage with these organisations and support with operational costs in return for fair and reasonable exposure and mutual benefit.

For many clubs, it is hard to formulate compelling sponsorship proposals, however here below is a list of benefits that can be used when approaching organisations in your local community. Whilst these are in no particular order of importance or impact here are “10 reasons why it is important to sponsor your local football club!”

• Many of your local community, from school children to local workers, are actively involved in their local sports clubs, with football being one of the most popular participation and spectator sports in New Zealand and the world.
• Many players suffer due to rising participation and registration costs of sports and you can help ensure the participation and provision of coaching and equipment for junior, youth and senior players, male and female.
• Sponsoring businesses are helping to keep clubs afloat and in business. There are ever-rising operational costs that clubs incur that can not only be met by membership or subscription fees from players, with clubs in need of diversifying revenue streams and ensuring regular income.
• Through the nature of competitive sports, where teams have to travel, your company logo may be present and feature in other areas of the country, particularly if these are front-of-shirt sponsorships or other printed materials.
• By sponsoring an event, team, or even physical property (such as the building or dugouts etc), sponsors gain exposure to potential new customers throughout the season (often 20–30 weeks) as well as any off-season time when other activities take place at the club.
• Opportunity to have increased exposure and networking with other club sponsors and partners through the number of organisations involved in the club with mutual outcomes.
• Your company profile, reputation and public perception can be increased by association, particularly when linked to community benefits and social outcomes such as health and well-being through sport and recreation.
• Either through entity type or capability, not all clubs are able to / eligible to apply for grant funding or funds given out by various organisations such as Regional Sports Trusts. For those that are, the amount of paperwork is often overwhelming and discourages organisations from applying.
• Sponsors may also be able to benefit in situations such as being able to hire facilities such as club rooms or other sporting facilities at preferred rates.
• In a number of cases, all sponsorships and donations are tax-deductible at up to 33.33 cents for every dollar for eligible charities and organisations.

(https://www.ird.govt.nz/income-tax/income-tax-for-individuals/individual-tax-credits/tax-credits-for-donations)

“The increasing commercialisation of community sport as an integral part of the elite-sport development eco-system, has meant that for some children there is an increasing social-stigma attached to participation without the “right gear”, let alone their parents being able to pay for the costs of accessing the coaching and facilities provided by their local community clubs.” (New Zealand Amateur Sport Association)

Source: https://www.asa.org.nz/news/blog/cost-must-never-be-a-barrier-to-playing-community-sport

Is your club in need of attracting new sponsors but does not know where to begin? Are you a sponsor and wish to get involved in your local club?

Do you have any insight or tips that could help others? Feel free to share them in the comments below. Even one small idea could help immeasurably!