Door to Door Business Fundraising Help

[Chris is me]

So tomorrow I'm planning on going door to door to downtown businesses and soliciting donations and sponsorship for Shaker Robotics. Here's the thing, though - I have NO idea how to do it.

I've got a few dozen donation solicitation letters and forms that could be useful, and I've got a solid robotics team with some good selling points for sponsors. For example, "my team's 2010 robot and two of our team members are featured in a video playing in DMVs across the state of New York - your logo could be on that robot!" However, I'm not sure how to get my foot in the door and how to talk to the right person in the business to get a pitch going.

Does anyone have any tips? How would you go about doing this?

[Phoenix Spud]

1) In general I have found (Note: my "data" is purely my experience doing this in the USA.) that insurance agents are good with giving money but lawyers aren't.

2) Know what you are asking for. See below:

If it is the local pizza shop, are you asking for money or food for the team?

How much money do you want? (Better to be low enough they will have it on hand, but not too low or you don't look professional.)

Do you want money or giftcards?

I hope that helps!

[maltz1881]

I wouldn't do it on a Saturday. Usually the people you want to speak with (for big money anyways) are not in the office on Saturdays. If you are going to say a grocery store, they are usually pretty busy on Saturdays and might not like it if you interupted them. It just depends on the type of business you plan on going to.

[Chris is me]

I meant more in the sponsorship of local businesses - not cash handouts.

[nighterfighter]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

I meant more in the sponsorship of local businesses - not cash handouts.

Agree with the above poster, only try to go during the weekday.

I found it effective to say, (to the receptionist) "Hi, I am from (high school name)'s robotics team, and was wondering if I could talk to someone about a potential sponsorship."

Most likely you WON'T talk to them the same day. But you might be able to set up an appointment for next week.

Make sure you have a letter you can leave with them, with some basic info about YOUR team, and LIGHTLY (I mean VERY lightly, maybe half a sentence) describe FIRST, and skim over your previous awards/recognitions, local newspaper things, etc. Make sure you leave a phone number, name, and email address!

I found that to be the most effective when I was getting some sponsors. (Raised about ~1100 dollars, and ~170 in pizza)

If you would like, I can post the sponsorship letter I brought with me.

[spencer28n]

Originally Posted by nighterfighter

Agree with the above poster, only try to go during the weekday.

I found it effective to say, (to the receptionist) "Hi, I am from (high school name)'s robotics team, and was wondering if I could talk to someone about a potential sponsorship."

Most likely you WON'T talk to them the same day. But you might be able to set up an appointment for next week.

Make sure you have a letter you can leave with them, with some basic info about YOUR team, and LIGHTLY (I mean VERY lightly, maybe half a sentence) describe FIRST, and skim over your previous awards/recognitions, local newspaper things, etc. Make sure you leave a phone number, name, and email address!

+1

You should focus on building relationships with the business owners in your neighborhood instead of cash handouts. Maybe try to attend or participate in one of the local community business meetings if they have them. Also try to get someone else to come with you. And of course wear a team shirt and look sharp.

Hope that helps.
-spencer

[Karibou]

Originally Posted by nighterfighter

Make sure you have a letter you can leave with them, with some basic info about YOUR team, and LIGHTLY (I mean VERY lightly, maybe half a sentence) describe FIRST, and skim over your previous awards/recognitions, local newspaper things, etc. Make sure you leave a phone number, name, and email address!

Make sure that you get the name of the person who you need to be talking to as well. Most businesses won't call back. If they don't call back within two or three weeks, give the store a polite phone call asking if they've considered sponsoring the team. If they say no, the answer is no. If possible, go back to the business instead of calling them. They're more likely to say no over the phone than in person.

Ask for the manager of the store/business. If you get to talk to them, great. They may not be the person you're looking to talk to (if it's a small business, you may be looking for the owner instead, but you have no way of knowing that), but it's a start.