Securing event sponsors: How to find sponsors for a running race?

Race directors today, if asked about mountains they've had to climb to ensure a successful race, their number one pick will be securing race sponsorships.

Race directors today, if asked about mountains they've had to climb to ensure a successful race, their number one pick would be securing race sponsorships.

If it is such a big deal, then how do race directors get it done? After all, mountains are meant to be climbed but with a guide. This article will provide a detailed step-by-step guide to securing race sponsors, no matter the magnitude of your event.

Valuable tips to help you find sponsors for a running event

When asked about securing event sponsors on Reddit, a user responded on how best you can secure event sponsors for a running race, “Grab a program book from local high school sports or adult leagues. See which businesses pay to have their logo in the books and reach out directly. You'd be shocked how many businesses would throw you $50 a month to be featured on your 8x10's or poster or whatever.”

There are certain things that sponsors look for before making their decisions. A sponsor will want a favorable return of their time, investments in funds or services — ROI. It has to be a good return for them. It must also be noted that every sponsor will have their own objectives when looking at ROI, yours is to see how you can position yourself to help these objectives fall in place.

What do you have to offer?

Now comes the conversations of how you attract potential sponsors for your next event. You should consider putting yourself in a good place when you want something good.

What about sponsors in the Philippines?

In the Philippines, a significant number of events have been supported by brands from the online gaming and gambling sector. These sponsors are often drawn to events that align with their target audience — people interested in entertainment and online gaming platforms.

If your event audience overlaps with these interests, consider including such brands in your outreach. Many attendees might also seek reliable platforms to explore online casino games. For those interested, this gambling guide by ecasinos.ph provides detailed reviews of the best online casinos and their offerings, helping users make informed choices.

Here are some offers you can include in your proposals to prospective sponsors:

1. Media awareness

This is one of the key factors that will be looked into before any potential sponsor comes onboard. Sponsors need visibility and your pitch must show how to solve this. How you plan to publicize the promotional race event such as going over to organize ads on TVs, radio stations and local newspapers. Spreading the word about your sponsors, praising their notable works in the past is an ideal way to increase visibility and win the hearts of your sponsors.

2. Branding

This is the most looked into sponsorship asset and you want to offer the best in this area. How you intend to pitch and your marketing budget must be heavy on this.

However, most of the ROI won't be impacted as a result of the branding, but sponsors will expect that every little detail of the event flies their brand logos such as flyers, banners, participant swag bags, race bibs and medals, and T-shirts for visibility.

Since sponsorship is ideally mutually beneficial to both parties, it is important that to get sponsors to align with your goal, thorough work must go into it from your part to make your event successful.

Event planning must be focused on this. This way it exposes the participants to the identity of the sponsors.

Like Scott Cook says "A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is — it is what consumers tell each other it is." Hence the place of an ideal branding.

3. Survey forms

You can help track the behaviors, and activities of the race via the participants and spectators by rolling out survey forms on behalf of your sponsors.

4. Marketing

It is assumed that you have a mailing list already, a Facebook or Twitter page as marketing funnels for your racing event, hence, sharing your sponsor’s services and products with your target market via emails and social media is a great way of positioning yourself for prospective sponsors and an interesting sponsorship package. Your pitch must include this.

How to find sponsors for an event: final thoughts

Start from your immediate environment. Looking inside your network for sponsors that are within your reach is ideal first. Don't go outside your local area at first. If it happens that sponsors from your local environment are not helpful, then you can take further steps beyond your immediate network of local businesses.

Be on the lookout to pitch to sponsors that are likely to respond to your approaches. You know what you have in terms of offers, incentives, sponsorship assets and more that should determine whom your event proposals will be going to for sponsorship.

Explore sponsors with similar experiences. Who can you invite? Look up potential sponsors for your event that have invested in similar events before. With that you'd know you can compel the right sponsors tailored to your event.

When looking for event sponsorship that aligns with a company's goals, your offer must be credible to the very core. No one wants to place their investments on a controversial project.

The budget is of course very important. Therefore, how much your sponsors will pay for sponsorship will be dependent on these factors. Since sponsorship is ideally mutually beneficial to both parties, it is important that to get sponsors to align with your goal, thorough work must go into it from your part to make your event successful.