Rate Card & Online Form For Sports Fundraising
What is a Rate Card?
The rate card is the most important weapon in your sponsorship and fundraising arsenal. A rate card is a professional pricing sheet that outlines all the advertising options available in your media guide or gameday program. It’s the main tool your team will use to present ad opportunities to businesses, families, and supporters.
If you show the rate card to a business owner without saying anything to them, they should be able to glean what it is for, the different sponsorship levels you offer, get answers to FAQs and be able to sign up and pay you directly from the rate card.
Think of it as your “menu” of ad space.
What a Good Rate Card Should Include:
Ad Sizes & Examples: Full-page, half-page, quarter-page, logo wall, etc
Pricing for Each Ad Size: Be clear and competitive—keep it simple and tiered
Personal vs Business Ads: Virtually all teams offer separate pricing for businesses and family shoutouts
Sponsorship Packages: Bundle options that include premium ad placement, shoutouts at games, social media mentions, logo on team banner, etc
Submission Guidelines: Ad artwork specs, deadlines, and contact information
Online Form: A QR code or link to the ad submission/sign up form
Your “Why”: A quick explanation of how the funds will be used to support your team and athletes
A FAQ section: Cover all the FAQ questions in one place
How to pay: Whether it's an online payment method or directions for where to send a check, make sure to include this
Download Our Free Rate Card Template:
CLICK HERE FOR FREE RATE CARD TEMPLATE
(all you need is a free Canva account)
✅ Pro Tip: A clean, visually appealing PDF rate card builds trust and gives your team a more professional presence when approaching sponsors.
The Online Sponsor Submission Form
With dozens of sponsors, both individuals and businesses, it can be overwhelming to keep track of everything. At storyoftheseason.com, we create an online form that automates the entire sign up and onboarding process for a sponsor.
Before using us, most clients had sponsors fill out a paper form with a pen. That is fine, but it requires more effort to organize and track everything. With an online form like Google Forms, sponsors can easily sign up and provide all the information you need to onboard them and design their ad.
Our form is clearly accessible on the rate card, and we have a clear call to action for potential sponsors to sign up; fill out the FORM!
Here is the info you need to collect with your online form:
Sponsor Contact Info: First and last name of the contact person
Email Address: Where confirmation and follow-ups will be sent
Phone Number: For quick communication if needed
Business Name: The company or organization sponsoring
Website: For the media guide sponsorship link
Ad Size or Sponsorship Selection: Clearly display ad dimensions and package options
File Upload: Easy way for sponsors to upload logos, ads, or digital assets
The first few fields should be pretty self explanatory. You will want to make sure there is a dropdown menu of options for sponsors to choose from. ¼, page, ½ page, full page and personal ad options should all be on the dropdown menu. If you are doing sponsorship packages, make sure all options are clearly displayed and are selectable on your form menu.
A tool like Google Forms allows form submitters to upload files. In your case, sponsors should be uploading logos, photos and any other marketing collateral they have. You may want to ask them to design their ad themselves and send you a final version. Or, you may want to design it yourself. More on this later. In any case, make sure the advertisement dimensions are clearly displayed on both your rate card and the form so advertisers don't bug you with the same question over and over again. But trust us… they will anyway.
