Most sponsorship proposals are too long, all about the driver, and end without a price. A business owner reads the first few lines on their phone and decides. Here is how to write one they will read to the end.
Start with them, not you
Open with why you picked their business. You race near them, their customers are the families at your track, you already use their garage. One or two sentences. It shows you are not sending the same email to fifty companies.
Then who you are, in three lines
Name, age group or class, series, and where you are on the season. Link to your sponsor page for the detail. Do not paste your whole racing history into the email.
What they get
Be specific. Their logo on the car or kart, and where. How many posts a month will name them, on which platforms. A race-day visit or a named round. A monthly report showing what their sponsorship reached. Only offer what you will definitely do.
What it costs
Give two or three options with a price on each. A business can say yes to a price. It cannot say yes to "any support would be appreciated". Include what you are offering in return for product instead of money, if that suits them better.
What to leave out
- Promises you cannot keep. No guaranteed results, no guaranteed reach, no "this will bring you customers".
- Numbers without a source. If you quote followers or reach, say where they came from and when.
- Long attachments. A link to one page is easier to open on a phone than a ten-page PDF.
Following up
If you hear nothing, send one short follow-up about a week later. If you still hear nothing, leave it until the next natural point: a podium, a new season, a round at a track near them. Thank anyone who says no. Businesses talk to each other, and a polite no today can be a yes next year.
A one-page outline
- Why them (two sentences)
- Who you are (three lines and a link)
- What they get (a short list)
- Two or three packages with prices
- How you will report back each month
- How to say yes, and who to contact
Do it in VLTA
- Set out your packages and prices on the Sponsors page.
- Make a proposal for a named business. It is written from your page, your results and your packages, ready to send as a link or a PDF.
- When they say yes, add them as a partner. Their logo goes on your posts, #ad goes on by itself, and their monthly report is built for you.