How to Effectively Sell Sponsors with your Booster Club
If your booster club has been around for some time, it likely is responsible for multiple functions outside of just fundraising - such as planning team events, travel, dinners, ordering equipment, etc. For many of the programs and booster clubs we work with, selling corporate sponsors is a key element to their success and their annual budgets are highly dependent on successful sponsor fundraising.
Most every booster club should be engaging with local businesses on an annual basis. Outside of selling sponsorships and asking for money, fostering relationships with local businesses in the community can have many other benefits. Some businesses supply team meals or host team events while others can provide services to the Booster Club or program at discounted rates or free. There are many reasons to engage with them. But today, we will focus on selling sponsorships.
Certainly, these relationships with businesses in the community don't happen overnight. With the right communication and long-term thinking, these relationships can last a decade or more and work for you every year. This is another reason why great communication and long-term members are critical to the success of a booster club.
Assemble a Sponsorship committee (2-3 people)
The first step to selling corporate sponsorships effectively is to build a small, committed sponsorship committee—ideally 2-3 dedicated booster club members. This group will take ownership of outreach, follow-up, and managing sponsor relationships. Choose individuals who are organized, comfortable communicating with businesses, and passionate about supporting the team. A focused, empowered committee ensures that sponsorship efforts are consistent, strategic, and successful throughout the season. In a few rare cases we have seen booster clubs who have great success with only one person selling the sponsorships.
2. Define and price your sponsorship packages
Feel free to reference our blog post about selling media guide ads and sponsorship packages here. In the article, we cover pricing, share different sponsorship options and best practices for deciding which options are right for you.
3. Prospect and build your target list
Every program and community has low hanging fruit businesses that are either owned by family, friends or alumni of the program, or already support the school in other ways. Before you start looking at all the businesses you could target, make a list of low hanging fruit and go after them first. Perhaps a player's aunt or uncle owns a business in the town over. Keep an open mind! There are many more opportunities than you think! Regardless of what city or town you are in, you probably have at least 5-10 of these that you can contact right off the bat.
Once you have hit all of the low hanging fruit, expand to other community businesses. Don’t limit yourself to businesses IN your town. There are plenty of businesses one or two towns over who likely have a connection to your program or community. A resident of your community may own a business 20 minutes down the road, but live in your town. They are a great prospect!
A few good places to start are Financial advisors, real estate agents, grocery stores, bars, physical therapists, dentists, restaurants, insurance agents, car dealerships, etc. But the list is much bigger. Use Google Maps, Chamber of Commerce directories, and networking to identify other prospects.
4. Create a professional Rate Card + marketing materials
It doesn't matter if the boosters are running the corporate sponsor fundraiser, or the players and families - a comprehensive rate card and online sign up form are needed. You can learn more about rate cards and sign up forms here.
Draft an outreach email to solicit sponsors. This can be a simple, 2-3 paragraph letter describing what the fundraising effort is for, the value of it to the business and how to sign up.
5. Personalize outreach and follow up many times!
When reaching out to potential sponsors, avoid generic mass emails. Craft personalized messages that speak to the specific business, mention your team’s impact in the community, and clearly outline the sponsorship opportunity. Always include a strong call to action—whether it's setting up a call or directing them to your rate card.
Email is a great first step, but personal follow-up is where the magic happens. A quick phone call or stopping by the business in person shows professionalism, persistence, and makes your ask more memorable. Usually, a sponsor just needs a little extra nudge to commit. It's much harder to say no in person, whereas it takes nothing to ignore an email.
MAKE SURE YOU FOLLOW UP! Most sales don't happen until the 4th or 5th follow up. So stay on top of your deals! I can't tell you how many times boosters have told us they emailed 100 businesses and complained that nobody signed up. They never followed up!
6. Stay Organized and Follow Through
Organization is key to a smooth and successful sponsorship effort. Keep a running list of all sold packages, sponsor contact info, and ad assets like logos and copy (this will save you time next year as well).
Keep your outreach organized with a shared spreadsheet or simple CRM. Track who was contacted, when, and what their response was. This helps avoid duplicate outreach, ensures timely follow-ups, and keeps your committee aligned.
Make sure you set clear internal deadlines for collecting everything—ads, logos, and especially payments—to avoid last-minute stress.
After the media guide or sponsorship deliverables are complete, follow through by thanking sponsors publicly (on social media, at games, or in newsletters) and make sure each one receives a copy of the finished guide. It shows professionalism, builds goodwill, and increases the likelihood they’ll sponsor again next year.
