As a volunteer for a booster club, finding supporters for your athletic team, program, or organization can be a struggle. One of the biggest supporters for your booster club can come from local businesses who would like to give back to their community and even get a little bit of marketing out of it. Approaching a local business about booster club business support can be quite intimidating, but luckily, we are going to walk you through a few easy steps to help get you in the right direction.
Why Are Local Businesses Important For Booster Clubs?
Booster clubs are usually centered around some facet of the community whether it be a high school sports team, a university club, or other organization in your city. Due to the members of these clubs being mostly family members of the community, finding booster club business support may come easier than you think. Parents, aunts, uncles, and other family members will always want to help support their younger family members, but many may not have the funds to do so. This is where a local business can be a huge help and the best part is, you may already have a head start if your family works there.
A local business usually has some type of budget or extra spending ability to help sponsor local clubs. This is also a great way for them to help get their name out there as booster clubs can showcase the business as a sponsor. With the help of a local business, you can get cash donations, facility usage, club supplies, and anything else that the company may be able to offer as their support. This may or may not come with a responsibility of placing their logo or name on shirts, signs, or other publicly displayed materials.
As a booster club who needs a larger amount of support, a local business can be a great addition to your team. From being able to help fund new activities down to even providing something as simple as a weekly meal, local business want to help their community and a booster club business support system is a win win for most. You will have to ensure that you are selecting the right businesses and we are going to walk you through how to choose which businesses are right for your booster club.
How Do You Choose The Right Local Businesses?
Choosing the right local business to support your booster club can be different for each club. Ideally, you are going to want a business that can supply you what you need and can be a supportive partner for your club. Booster club business support selection is not always ideal, so you may have to make a few exceptions and compromises along the way. The main things you want to remember is that the business has a good reputation, can give you what you need, are easy to work with, and if money is not available from them, that they can help support the club with services or product.
Choosing a reputable local business will ensure that your name is tied to a business that is known for being kind, honest, and trustworthy. After all, you will be trusting them with support for your club and the last thing you want is to be associated with a bad business. Not all support has to come with a monetary value. Consider inquiring with businesses who have a service our products that you can use. For example, if you have a booster club for a baseball team, finding a local sports supply business would be a great match as they could possibly supply you with the equipment that you need or let you rent out practice machines. Who knows, maybe you will get lucky and find a business that can support you with a mixture of money and services/products!
How Do You Approach Booster Club Business Support?
Before approaching a business about booster club business support, you will want to make sure that you have all of the information that a business owner may ask about. This will not only show professionalism, it will make the owner more comfortable giving you support if they know all of the details up front. If you have a personal friend who owns a business, chat with them about what questions businesses may ask and have your answers ready for when you meet with potential supporters.
One of the biggest answers to have is what will the business be benefiting from by supporting your club. Obviously the gratitude for helping your club out will be one of your biggest topics, but that doesn’t always sell each business. If your club has shirts, signage, or other materials that are displayed to the public, this may be a perfect chance to offer a spot on these items so that their businesses can get some exposure. If your club hosts events, invite the businesses to come out and advertise their services to the public. This will give the business owners relatively free marketing in exchange for their booster club business support.
The last thing to remember when approaching a business about supporting your club is to be friendly, show respect, and keep the communication between the club and the business at a high level. Many local businesses do not have alot of money to donate so when they do help support you, ensure that they are getting the same type of support back whether it be marketing, event support, or even something as simple as spreading the word of mouth about their business.
Now It’s Time For Your Booster Club To Garner Local Business Support!
Now that we have given you a few good reasons on why booster club business support is a good decision, you should feel confident enough to approach your first business. Do not get discouraged if you strike out, some businesses simply do not have the budget to do so, but don’t give up. There are many local businesses who will love to help out and finding the right ones may take a few tries.
