Get Your Car Sponsored Professionally
Maintaining your car and paying for your crew can be a costly endeavor for any race car driver, but if you know how to get your car sponsored professionally, you can help offset the costs by accepting the endorsements. There are a few key things that you need to have in place before approaching potential sponsors, though.
Steps
- Make sure that your car's appearance is well-maintained and that the vehicle itself is in proper working order.
- Have a winning record or at least show that you are on pace to improve and eventually have a winning record.
- Take photographs of your vehicle and have your statistics in a clear and easy-to-read document. Make sure that the pictures are crisp and that you have taken them from multiple angles.
- Brainstorm a list of why your vehicle should be chosen for sponsorship. Include such things as your record, but also include how much time you and your vehicle spend in public as this is an advertising endeavor for sponsors that will require your vehicle be seen by hundreds, if not thousands, of people.
- Create a list of potential sponsors for your vehicle, and don't be afraid to think outside the box. There are the usual sponsors like Lowe's and Home Depot, but think of any draw or connection you might create with any large corporation or local business to make the arrangement mutually beneficial.
- Study which companies have sponsorship links on their websites, and review what is necessary to apply for those sponsorships.
- Check out the Home Depot sponsorship page at http://corporate.homedepot.com/wps/portal/Sports_Sponsorships.
- Take a look at the Lowe's sponsorship site at https://lowes.sponsorwise.com/Login.aspx
- Think about insurance giants like State Farm as a potential sponsor. Check out its marketing sponsorship page online.
- Don't rule out local sponsorships. Some of the bigger businesses in your community may be interested in sponsoring your car if it competes in a large number of local events or is seen widely locally.
- Make sure that you put everything agreed upon with a potential sponsor in writing that both parties have to sign off on.
- Keep up your end of the contract by staying competitive and keeping your car in good condition. This will help you when the time comes to re-up your sponsorship to effectively give sponsors a reason to continue to be a part of your vehicle's team.
- Keeping the transaction professional and documented will help you if there are any issues down the road.
- Make sure that the understanding is clear whether or not you are using the particular company as a sole sponsor or if the company is just one of many. If it's expecting to be the only sponsor, and your car is plastered with dozens of other sponsorships, the sponsor will be unlikely to trust you and/or work with you again.
Tips
- Just because you are not a race car driver doesn't mean that you can't try to get a sponsorship to help offset your vehicle expenses. Particularly if you have a major commute to work and are on the road a lot, a company may be interested in wrapping your vehicle and using you as a driving advertisement. The potential sponsor will be interested in your driving record as well as your typical routes during the week to ensure maximum exposure to the wrapped vehicle. You can use the race car tips previously mentioned to get you started in your search for a sponsor.
