Breaking Through Sponsorship Challenges in Youth Sports Organizations
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Break through these common youth sports sponsorships challenges for organizations and unlock better access to sponsorship opportunities with TeamSnap.
Youth sports organizations play a key role in developing the talent, skills, and mental health of our young athletes. However, one crucial challenge often hinders these organizations: funds.
Gathering funds, especially via sponsorships, can be daunting for many organizations. They struggle to face the complexities of attracting and retaining sponsors. Youth sports sponsorships challenges come in many forms.
This usually overwhelms sports organizations, particularly when they lack the experience and resources to market themselves effectively or reach out to larger sponsors. But let’s shed some light on overcoming the sponsorship challenges faced by youth sports organizations. We’ll explore strategies for reaching bigger sponsors as we aim to empower your organization in unlocking important funding.
Where to Start: Reaching Out to the Community in Sports Initiatives
Youth sports organizations simply don’t know where to begin looking for sponsorships. A helpful way to get started is by looking inward.
First, think about what your organization represents. Are you committed to promoting healthy lifestyles and physical health among your participants? Or are you aiming for a general focus on child development? After you determine this, you can align yourself with sponsors who share similar goals.
The second step is to prepare a value proposition that speaks to the benefits of youth sports. Some examples may include the positive effects of sports on mental health or the development of key skills needed to develop long-term athletes. This value proposition is something that can resonate with potential sponsors and help you illustrate the importance of your organization in line with the sponsor’s target audience.
The next step should be aiming for sponsorships with the right price point. This may involve approaching the private sector or maintaining relationships with community organizations. Have an idea of what sort of funding you’ll need from your sponsorship program to help identify the right price point or brands to target.
By following these three steps, your organization can finally start getting ahead of youth sports sponsorships challenges.
Having No Reach With Bigger Sponsors
Of course, the easiest sponsor you can reach is the one nearest to you: your own community. The local mom-and-pop stores, companies where parents are employed, or your local government are all viable sponsors.
They understand the connection between community sports and a commitment to youth sports, which makes it easier for them to spend a part of their profit on this important development.
But in the long run, it may not be enough for the financial needs of your organization. While any level of sponsorship is beneficial, smaller businesses typically only offer a lower level of support. Rather than a lack of willingness to assist, this is a reflection of their limited marketing budgets and operational scale.
Keep close ties with these businesses, but don’t restrict yourself to just the local community. You should still find sponsors that can sustain your financial needs without putting a strain on their own operations.
Having Little Knowledge of Pricing Packages
Another hurdle youth sports organizations often face regarding sponsorships is their lack of knowledge of pricing packages.
Consider this: Do you think it’s fair that you’re asking for a $5,000 check in exchange for using your sponsor’s logo on a single banner ad at just one event? If not, what else can you offer?
Here’s a basic outline of sponsor-able assets to consider pricing:
- Event title sponsorship
- Apparel branding (jerseys!)
- Digital promotions (website, social media)
- On-site banners and signage
- Naming rights for tournaments or competitions
Establishing the right price points ensures both parties gain from the partnership. We must understand the precise value of what our organizations can offer to a sponsor.
A clear understanding of your value proposition will enable your organization to confidently present pricing packages to sponsors.
Marketing Themselves as a Sponsorable Organization
Many youth sports organizations also struggle with marketing themselves attractively to potential sponsors. Why? Often, they have a hard time figuring out exactly what brands are looking for. How do sports organizations communicate their value properly if they don’t know exactly what a brand is looking for?
Your organization should use a combination approach. First, be honest. Communicating the real values of your organization, like positive effects on child development, mental health, and physical health of young athletes will give you a better chance of winning that sponsorship. And, know what the sponsors are looking for:
Some tips for making an organization appealing to potential sponsors:
- Emphasize commitment to promoting healthy lifestyles
- Demonstrate a positive impact on child development
- Showcase success stories and alumni achievements
- Align with community values
- Highlight key competencies in event and program organization
TeamSnap Sponsorship: The easiest way to find youth sports sponsorships
Phew! We just covered a lot. Youth sports organizations face many challenges in gaining proper funding through sponsorships. What if there was an easier way?
There is! TeamSnap Sponsorship is the only service that connects you with sponsors who provide direct payments to offset the cost of running your programs.
Aside from money in your organization’s pocket, TeamSnap Sponsorship makes the process easy. Get time and energy back into your daily schedule by working with TeamSnap Sponsorship.
Managing a single sponsorship relationship comes with a never-ending list of tasks. That includes (but is not limited to):
- The fine details of activating your sponsors (usually a combination of merchandise, in-person, and digital fulfillment)
- The process of calculating ROI (return on investment) for your new partners
- The communication and messages to keep your sponsors in the loop or answer outstanding questions
- The creation of any promotional materials in partnership with your partners (banners, jerseys, etc.)
- And much more…
Not only will the TeamSnap Sponsorship support team handle this laundry list of tasks for you, but our team is also always a quick phone call, email, or chat away should you have questions or need additional support!
One of the best stories from TeamSnap Sponsorship is FRAM Soccer Club. Read more about how FRAM Soccer Club went from struggling to even find one sponsorship brand, to receiving 8 sponsorships totaling nearly $24,000 since 2019.
Monica Seabo works as a Client Success Specialist on the TeamSnap Sponsorship team, joining TeamSnap after years of experience working as a League Operations Manager with LeagueSide. She brings a wealth of knowledge working with both sponsors and leagues/clubs/organizations throughout a youth sports sponsorship. Before working in youth sports, Monica began her career as a Field Development Coordinator for a nonprofit in DC, organizing fundraising events, sourcing sponsorships to support our planning, coordinating volunteers to support our efforts, and more. In her free time, she loves to read and play video games because of the amazing ways both can tell a story and transport us to another world!