Sponsorship Retaining Letters

[Beth Sweet]

I am looking for an example of a letter that teams send out to past years sponsors to try to encourage them to donate again. I was told that Team 60 has produced documentation to this effect however I cannot find it anywhere. Can someone either email me or upload a whitepaper of the letter that your team uses to ask past sponsors to sponsor again?

[KathieK]

Beth, I have one that I used last year on RAGE that I will e-mail to you.
Basically I stated what the team had accomplished last year. I stressed the value of their sponsorship and in this case, the value of their partnership with their employees working with our students. I stated the levels of sponsorship they could choose if they wanted to ("Platinum Level: $25,000, Gold Level: $5,000 etc.), and stated what they gave last year as a reminder. Then asked if they would consider renewing their sponsorship.

[Beth Sweet]

Thanks Kathie, I appreciate it!

[Freddy Schurr]

Originally Posted by KathieK

Beth, I have one that I used last year on RAGE that I will e-mail to you.
Basically I stated what the team had accomplished last year. I stressed the value of their sponsorship and in this case, the value of their partnership with their employees working with our students. I stated the levels of sponsorship they could choose if they wanted to ("Platinum Level: $25,000, Gold Level: $5,000 etc.), and stated what they gave last year as a reminder. Then asked if they would consider renewing their sponsorship.

Kathiek, could I get a copy of that too

[Jessica Boucher]

Although a letter helps in retaining a sponsor, I firmly believe that there is much more necessary to seal the deal. I'll write more about this later (I'm a bit busy at the moment).

[Jack Jones]

Originally Posted by Jessica Boucher

Although a letter helps in retaining a sponsor, I firmly believe that there is much more necessary to seal the deal. I'll write more about this later (I'm a bit busy at the moment).

Let me take a shot at where you're going to say. Would it involve keeping your sponsor informed during the competition season? Maybe inviting them to come have a look-see? Would it warn against taking them for granted except for when that 9, Dec. payment is looming?

[Beth Sweet]

Originally Posted by Jack Jones

Let me take a shot at where you're going to say. Would it involve keeping your sponsor informed during the competition season? Maybe inviting them to come have a look-see? Would it warn against taking them for granted except for when that 9, Dec. payment is looming?

While all of those are very good points, we have done those things and are really just looking for an example of a formal letter to send out. Thank you to Kathie and Kim O'Toole for sending me examples of their letters!

[Jessica Boucher]

Originally Posted by Jack Jones

Let me take a shot at where you're going to say. Would it involve keeping your sponsor informed during the competition season? Maybe inviting them to come have a look-see? Would it warn against taking them for granted except for when that 9, Dec. payment is looming?

Not necessarily. It's more of a Total Corporate Management system - showing equal interest in their company so that they will show interest in you and stick around. Not just inviting them and keeping them informed during competition season, but doing things like:

• Taking the extra step to keep yourself informed on the company so that you not only have something to talk about with the company contact other than the robot, but it shows that you are honestly interested in their success, since it directly relates to your success.
• Keeping the sponsor informed and invited not only during the season, but during the offseason. Encourage coming up with solutions for the sponsor to become more involved, such as having the students take a tour of the facility. Treat your sponsor more like a partner instead of a checkbook.

I go into this in more detail in the presentation that I gave at the Southern NE Conference on Saturday. Unfortunately, I am not at my computer to post a more detailed version of my slides because I am taking care of a friend who just went through surgery.

What I'm saying is, I feel that a letter is one of the steps, but not always enough to seal the deal. At this point, it is understandable that a letter may be the only thing that can be done with said time constraints. Best of luck, Beth!