When you are tasked with managing a booster club, an effective and beneficial way to raise funds and grow the club is by having partnerships with businesses. Through strategic planning, and mutually beneficial goals your club can gain much success from the ability to manage booster club business partnerships!
Why Consider Booster Club Business Partnerships?
Having partners to support your club financially and help provide much needed supplies, is a great asset to allow your club to cut costs and have longevity For businesses, they may pursue a business relationship and help take part in booster club fundraising for the same reasons. By hosting fundraisers and events, they are reaching a new audience base within the booster club that they can pursue as possible new customers. All in all, booster club business partnerships are intended to be mutually profitable and bring success to both the booster club and to its business partners.
Booster Club Business Partnerships Roles
Just as each club is different, each club’s partners will be different. Due to this, there is no standard for booster club partner roles, but each business can and often times will support in different ways.
- Space: Some businesses will contribute their space for your club to use. An example of this would be a restaurant that provides a deal that the booster club takes a percentage of sales during a certain time.
- Drum Up Support: While booster club business sponsors may not give directly to your club they will provide help such as providing marketing for your event. This could be a local popular business advertising your club’s bake sale on their Instagram and Facebook accounts to their tens of thousands of followers.
- Contribute Items: Partners may be open to giving items to your booster club fundraising. This could be in the form of auctions, carnival prizes, and other giveaways.
- Sponsorships: Businesses that give directly to your club to pay for your needs in exchange for advertising are business sponsors. For instance: A local fast food chain sponsors your soccer team, providing new jerseys that have its logo on them. Or a local hardware shop donates to your athletics budget in exchange for their sign to be posted in your sports arena.
Be sure to talk with your club’s leadership team to review and have proper discernment on what partner AND partnership type is best for your club.
Ways to Work with Business Partners
The way you work with and handle business, with your partners is vital as you manage booster club busines partnerships.
- Collaborative: Be open and willing to worth with sponsors and businesses. This may sound fun at first but will turn into more work and effort than you imagined. Don’t get bogged down by having to work with external parties.
- Professional: You and your club will represent yourselves and your school so you want to be professional and set a good image to your business partners.
- Kind and Respectful: You may find some of your business partners to be a headache, but you and your club still need to show the utmost respect for your partners.
- Helpful: Don’t put all of the work on to your partners to do. Be helpful and considerate of their time and prior obligations outside you club. Make sure that you are being helpful to them as they help you. It takes two to make a healthy business relationship.
By having the right attitude, it will allow you and your club to easily and effectively mange booster club business partnerships.
Managing Booster Club Partners
Arguably the most important part in the process to manage booster club business partnerships is to make the partnership mutually beneficial. Remember that in your partnership just as you are needing much for your club, you partner is also interested in the business relationship for a need they possess. By working together you two can complement each other and provide success where you both win.
For example: Let’s say your booster clubs wants to raise funds so you partner with a local restaurant for a percentage night on a Wednesday. The business agrees to pay your club 10% of all sales within the time frame of 5-9 pm on Wednesday. This is a mutually beneficial opportunity for your club and the business. Your club wins because you are able to receive income through the business and their lending of space to you. While also the business is able to have free promotion from your club to the clubs established audience, turning what might have been a dead weekday into a booming night.
Additionally, you want to be careful as you balance multiple business relationships. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. The amount of partners you will need is dependent on specific factors such as how much income you need, how much you are trying to raise, what needs need to be met, etc. Be very careful in evaluating your partners and having the right amount while not becoming overwhelmed.
How to Keep Your Booster Club Business Partnerships
Just as one would do proper maintenance on their car, “maintenance” is also required in order to manage booster club business partnerships. The reason for this is because there are so many other organizations, charities, and clubs that are in search of business relationships for funding and may seek to find help through your partners. You want to be able to be in good standing with your business partners to ensure that they stay committed to partnering with you.
- Thank Them: Let them know how much they mean to your club. This can be in handmade notes by students that your club serves.
- Share Your Impact: Continue to share how they are helping you out and specifically let them know how their giving has made an impact will drive them to continue their generosity.
- Keep Constant Communication: Reach out to them and just ask how they are. You don’t want to be the people who only reach out when you want or need something. That makes your partners feel used. A great way to do this for all of your partners, sponsors, and donors is to make a monthly email newsletter. In this you can go over club details and events as well as add in extra thoughts and thanks to your partners.
Feel free to use more than one of these examples. There is never too many ways to manage booster club partnerships.
Proper Partners Launch Your Club to Perfection
Running a successful booster club is hard enough on your own. Instead of pouting and dreaming for help, make it a reality by taking the initiative to launch and manage booster club business partnerships. With the proper business relationships, your club can be a part of a thriving system that allows you to add value and share it to others as well.
