Sponsorship is an interesting question that bears consideration.
Local sponsorship from a local company can often be quite easily achieved just by talking with some of your local businesses. Perhaps a local pub might give your attendees discounted drinks after the event? Perhaps a local supermarket might sponsor some bottles of water for during the event? Perhaps a local gym or sports business might offer a discount or free ticket to their activities?
There are also several companies in the HEMA community that might be willing to offer sponsorship for an event, usually in terms of prizes.
It is important to remember that sponsors are not giving “free stuff” out of the goodness of their hearts (or maybe they are, in which case they are amazing and should be treated as such). They tend to give their sponsorship in exchange for promotion and advertising their own name and brand; sponsors typically need to receive some kind of return on their investment, otherwise it would not be worth their while supporting your event.
So, if you decide to approach sponsors, don’t try to get “free stuff” from them. That’s just cheap. If you just want prizes, then consider budgeting for the prizes you want to award, and buy those items with the event’s income. Support the businesses in your community and don’t leech from them. Instead, approach sponsors politely, and show them what good you are doing for the local community with your event, and show them what you can do to help them as a return on their investment.
Plan ahead that you will be announcing sponsors whenever you advertise the tournament – give your sponsors “air time”. Announce and thank your sponsors at the event itself, and perhaps talk a little about what the sponsor does. Think of other ways that you can make your event worth the sponsorship given to you.
Plan for sponsorship to be a two-way street where the sponsor helps you and where you help them in turn.
Book a judge training workshop
We offer judge training workshops to help your staff and/or club members improve their judging skills. Becoming a better judge usually leads to developing skills that are useful for fencing, such as perceiving openings and predicting an opponent’s behaviour, so judge training has a wide range of benefits.
If you would like to book a judge training workshop, then please send us an email to discuss your requirements, and we would be delighted to help.