Power Plays: 10 Steps to Effectively Acknowledge Sports Club Partners and Sponsors
As the year winds down, amateur sports clubs must not overlook the pivotal post-season engagement with their club partners and sponsors.
It’s more than gratitude and saying thank you — it’s about fostering lasting relationships beneficial for everyone.
Sponsors play a crucial role in the journey of amateur sport and acknowledging their support is not only the right thing to do, but a key step many miss when it comes to the future retention of these key stakeholders.
Here are my 10 steps for how to acknowledge your sports club partners and sponsors.
Step 1: Compile and review a full list of sponsors
Ensure you have the full list of club partners and sponsors. List important information such as dollar value, length of agreement and key contact details. Make sure you don’t forget anyone!
Step 2: Review the terms of your agreements
Complete your analysis of the deliverables of the agreements and ensure that both parties have fulfilled obligations under the terms of the sponsorship.
Step 3: Determine the method and format of delivery
Each sponsor may have a preference for how these acknowledgments are delivered. Some may not wish to be publicly acknowledged so you should determine a bespoke method for each sponsor e.g. by letter or email etc.
Step 4: Share personalised thank you notes
Ensure you go beyond a generic thank you to all sponsors. Take the time to personalise the delivery and acknowledge the specific outcomes and impact that they have had on the club.
Step 5: Acknowledge and showcase key highlights
Share key highlights of the sponsorship directly with the sponsor. Share imagery, impact stories, feedback and any other examples that show the sponsor supporting your club. These can then be used as potential marketing materials across club and sponsor channels.
Step 6: Provide high traffic public recognition
For those that are likely to receive public recognition, ensure you do this on high-traffic media. This should be where the most amount of people will be able to see it and understand the difference that the sponsor has made.
Step 7: Utilise full suite of media channels
Sponsors will love being acknowledged across multiple media streams including the club website, social media pages and even printed media in the local newspapers. Tailor the format depending on the platform to maximise reach.
Step 8: Ask for further feedback and suggestions
Ask for an honest appraisal of how the relationship has played out. Your sponsors may have new suggestions on how to evolve your relationship and will be able to provide contextual feedback on areas of development.
Step 9: Offer future value and opportunities
Take this opportunity to initiate a discussion on other areas that could be supported in the future. The sponsor relationship should evolve over time and can grow to incorporate other areas of the club.
Step 10: Generate connections to other sports clubs
Provide additional value to your sponsors by connecting them to other sports organisations that will benefit from their support. You will strengthen your relationship by becoming a connector and opening new opportunities.
Want to see more of these posts? Check out my other articles on LinkedIn or on Medium using the links below. Thanks for reading!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenleedillon/
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