A Lesson in Sponsorship - please add if you have experience.

Something we just went through today and I wanted to share with you guys.
My husband has a company called 595 Design (www.595design.com) and he is sponsoring our daughter's soccer team. His sponsorship came in late because it took the board forever to get back to him about what he will do in exchange, which is maintain and update their website - hence the sponsorship. Well because of the late sponsorship the jersey's didn't get printed right away so we've had to collect them, wash them, and then try to get them to the printer - who was slammed last week. So we had to return them for the game today and then collect them again. The parents weren't happy. Which I understand, I'm not thrilled about having to go through this again either.

Anyways, we had two parent's request the jersey's back because they feel that if they pay for them they should determine who get's to sponsor the team. Again understandable, but what they don't understand is that the sponsors, at least for our Soccer Club, don't sponsor individual teams per se they sponsor the Club as a whole to keep costs to all the teams down. It was very difficult trying to explain that to them.

In the end, we had to get a board member to explain it. There was still a great deal of confusion and frustration by the parent. There was a bit of a compromise made by the Soccer Club and the parent which was good but it made me think about how this is going to reflect on his business.

We aren't trying to be staunch about it, but we signed a agreement and so because we're paying for it we should recieve something. But as a parent, we also understand how they feel. So we've decided to make this a win-win for everyone and we're going to donate about $100 more dollars to the team.

The first thing we're going to do is give each member a $5 gift card (9 members) and a Thank You for helping us and how we appreciate what they've had to put up with for 2 weeks, blahdeeblah. Then we're going to provide the snacks/drinks for the team for the rest of the season. This way that is something the parents don't need to worry about. They can mark that off their lists of things to do every Saturday.

So, why? Why are we doing all this? Because these 18 parents plus family members are going to remember this instance and the frustration and we want them to remember how we compromised and that we are good natured and we want them to be happy. We want them to see his logo and ad somewhere and say, "Hey that's the company that etc..." Even though there was a misunderstanding in the first place, we want to fix it.

So, the lesson here is. When going into sponsorship for a team or whatnot, make sure you understand how and why and what your sponsoring and then bump it up. Make the parents happy, because they are your network and they will tell everyone they know if they are angry - they will tell a few people if they are happy, but they will remember you forever for making them feel something they didn't like.

Thanks for reading, I know this was long.

My son's baseball team was sponsored by a funeral home.

The jerseys were black with the name of the funeral home and the words "funeral home" on the back. WHY WHY WHY, I ask you.

Just in case?

(:-)

My guess as to why is because the local sports team don't have a waiting list of businesses queuing up to give money so the kids can play for little to no cost.

I'd venture a guess that your local sports organization would love to see parent sponsored teams, too.


Eric

Jus,
Were the two parents that wanted the jerseys back going to find someone to sponsor their child individually?

IDK?

We didn't ask and didn't care. They just thought that it meant we were supposed to sponsor only the team and so we should give them all this free stuff, like we're made of money. I think this compromise is fair, but I tell you next year the shirts better be printed before hand!