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Sponsorship

Here you can learn a little about the process and how you can get started, with the ultimate aim of bagging yourself a sponsor.

But it’s not all about getting the partner, it’s about making sure you keep them happy and set-up a long-term relationship to benefit your league/club.

5  tips to obtaining a sponsor 

A sponsor is an individual or company who makes a payment to your club in exchange for agreed goods or services. They are the perfect supporter and can give your club the upper hand.

A company will usually get involved in a club for charitable reasons – to show they’re supportive of the local community – or to get a trading advantage, e.g. they can sell more goods or their service by having a link to your club. The company will be looking to associate themselves with a reputable club that offers a valuable service in the community.

Many businesses sponsoring football clubs will have a link to the club, such as the owner’s son or daughter playing for the team. Your members are a good first port of call for making contact with potential sponsors.

Deals with sponsors are usually only one or two years long. It can take a while to get a sponsor signed up and good sponsors are hard to find, so it’s worthwhile working hard on keeping them. It’s much easier to keep a sponsor than find a new one!

Your sponsor will want people to know about the goodwill of their investment so you need to promote them. This means delivering on your promise to put the sponsor logo across any materials you print and across your facility.

Remember that sponsorship monies are subject to VAT, therefore you should ask the sponsor for a fee plus VAT or include the cost of VAT within the total fee you ask for so that they cover the costs. You will need to pay the relevant VAT monies when your club does its returns.

You need to think about who you approach in the target list. The companies should be reputable and a suitable match for your club. For example, it is not appropriate for a pub to sponsor a youth team, and a small-scale business will not be able to afford to support a large community club.

Make sure you get the correct contact to approach. Companies are less likely to respond to unsolicited correspondence that is targeted to ‘Dear sir/madam’ or ‘to whom it may concern.’

Get in touch

Chris Lucker 

Football Services Manager

Email: Support@GloucestershireFA.com

FAQs

Yes - Please email Support@GloucestershireFA.com and a member of staff will be more than happy to assist you.

Yes - please contact Support@GloucestershireFA.com if you're unsure whether your club/leagues sponsorship deal is appropriate for youth football.

Clubs & Leagues are required to sanction any new sponsorship agreements with the Gloucestershire FA. This is to ensure that the sponsor and any related advertising conforms to the FA's regulations.