March 2010 - Steve Glasson

ENDEARING YOURSELF TO LOCAL BUSINESS

One of the hottest topics discussed when I visit hundreds of clubs each year with BCiB is that of sponsorship. Clubs, along with Bowls Associations such as State and National Bodies, are generally always on the lookout for other sources of income/revenue and of course, apart from general trading, sponsorship is an obvious pathway! I can safely say that here at BCiB, we get inundated each year with requests for some kind of assistance, albeit $$$$ for a tournament, help with the expense of outfitting members in club clothing, BCiB Team/Player Visits and the list goes on. Of course, we are delighted to do all we can and across the Nation, BCiB contributes well in excess of $300,000 annually back into bowls!

Personally, being fortunate enough to be involved in bowls from a players perspective, a club perspective and a business perspective, it allows for a view from all avenues. Having said that, let's just focus on the "club" sponsorship.

One of the biggest issues in securing sponsors, (or to put it better, corporate partners) is ensuring that the contributing company gets value for their dollar. So often we see clubs attracting sponsors for one (1) or two (2) year terms only to see the relationship discontinued or at best reduced after that period is elapsed!

Why is that? Well, no doubt there are some major contributing factors! In no particular order, they include (a) complacency; the club relaxes and gets slack looking after their corporate partner, (b) lack of value for dollars spent from club patrons to contributing company, (c) lack of loyalty; clubs often forget the amount of generosity supplied by a particular company and then go out to the market and play one against the other; (d) lack of personal contact (professionalism) from the club to the corporate partner and the list goes on!

It's imperative that all clubs dealing with sponsors have a system whereby they can ensure a professional and personal approach to businesses and if successful in gaining their assistance, take every step to enhance the relationship and build upon it so at the end of the day, everybody involved is a winner! Too often, the club believes it has a right to have sponsors without putting in the "hard yards"!

In a recent conversation with NSW Representative and Sponsorship Guru, John Green (Corrimal BC), he was kind enough to share with me some of the avenues he took in order to gain and cater for businesses supporting his club!

The age old tiered system still works and by that I mean packages where you might name them Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze and for each level, the benefits to the sponsor are enhanced. As an example, one of Corrimal's packages included the following :-

Companies name on club shirts for three (3) years;

Free Social Membership for 10 people;

Personal Invitation to two (2) people to attend Club's Presentation Night (or other suitable function);

Monthly Advertising in Club Magazine;

Free hire of BBQ Area;

Free Barefoot Bowls Party;

Interior Advertising (In House);

Exterior Advertising (On scoreboards and fences, etc)

The above is just one of any number of packages that can be easily offered and supplied by the club to potential and existing business. Using one's imagination, any number of alternative options can be included in a sponsorship package. The key then is to have a proper understanding of the value of the package and even more so, understanding the business you are dealing with, the budget they have to operate within and the needs, requirements and benefits best suited to them to ensure a great working relationship and a successful relationship remains for many a year!

In straight terms, don't get greedy, make sure you offer realistic and suitable options for each of your sponsors and don't be in the game of requesting excessive amounts of money or in kind contributions that will only lead to refusal or embarresment!

Just an example of greenside signage

One of the most important aspects of all this is to ensure personal contact! Some of the strongest advice I can offer is don't just draw up letters and post out to nearby businesses, get up out of the chair and meet them face to face. This type of contact is the only way you will really have any chance of building strong relationships or foundations for future alignments!

As part of my regular column, I attempt to feature just one club from with NSW and inform you of some of the facilities, bowls events and trivia bits and pieces relating to that club and the area it is situated in!

This month my "Club of the Month" is Wiseman's Ferry!

Wiseman's ferry is situated some 75km north of Sydney, inland (Jack Hi) to Gosford. It's a very popular spot for visitors as a semi rural Historic Community. 44 Years old, the club features on excellent grass bowling green. The population of Wiseman's Ferry is a cozy 2,500 and the club has 36 full (bowling) members and approx 500 social members.

With such a small membership, it's great to hear the club is still highly motivated and has recruited strongly with 8 new bowling members! They play bowls regularly on Thursday Afternoons kicking off at 3pm as well as the normal Saturday Fixtures. Of course, one of the great features at Wiseman's ferry is the fact that the green has lights so anything can be arranged and they openly welcome use at other times!

Incredibly, with such a small membership, the club has entered two pennant teams for the 2010 Nepean District Pennants. They will be prominent in Divisions 5 and 7 respectively. They are setting themselves and expecting big results.

Some of their fantastic achievements include...

Overall - Winner of 5 District Pennants

2008 Grade 7 Winners

2009 Grade 6 Pennant Winners

2009 Hawkesbury Shield Winners

Jason Bayldon won the 2010 Nepean District Reserve Singles beating Trevor McMahon in the final.

Some of the other benefits of visiting Wiseman's Ferry Bowls Club is to partake and enjoy the dining pleasure in their Bistro, postcard views from the balconies overlooking river and valley and of course they have Pokies, Bingo Keno and live entertainment!

Be sure to call in and say hi! Bowls Secretary Scott Wills (0401 990 913),be sure (along with other members) to look after you like family! The club is on Old Northern Road, Wiseman's Ferry!

That's me done for another month. Keep emailing me at steve@bcib.com.au and offer your feedback or even let me know what you think should be our Men's and Ladies teams for the Commonwealth Games later this year!

Good bowling to all and Happy Easter..... Not too many chocolates!

See you on the greens!

Steve Glasson