Sponsorship Guide

This guide will offer advice on how best to secure a sponsor for your student group including the recommended process, reminding you of the responsibilities that come along with it, and teaching you how to protect your student group. Every group and potential sponsor is different, so only use this document as a guide.

The first step is to identify potential sponsors. Think about companies you use regularly, those you can offer something in return to, or a local business that may welcome the exposure. Research companies that have a direct correlation to your group, or that run graduate schemes and want to target the student market. Ask members if anyone has connections with a business who might be interested in promoting their services or any links that the group may already have, such as visiting a certain evening venue, or regularly hiring equipment.

Once you have identified suitable sponsors, introduce your group to them. The best way of doing this is to send an email detailing who you are and what type of partnership you’re looking for. Always keep the body of the email short and to the point. Try and send your initial email to a person and not an info@ address. 

Keep your proposal simple and realistic. The top things to include within your proposal are; about your group i.e. number of members, history of success, fixtures / socials organised. Then include a paragraph on why you have chosen that specific business, may be due to their values, the quality, link with the group or services provided. You need provide details on what they will get from sponsoring your group, such as, logo on clothing, presence at events, attending their venue, adverts on social media pages, attendance of fixtures etc. It is important to tailor each proposal to the business you are approaching.

Our template contracts already have a number of points included to protect your group and layout a baseline agreement. This will guarantee that your agreement doesn't break SUSU rules our put unnecessary strain on your group.

If you can, arrange a meeting to discuss the proposal in detail, they may want to add or change things. If a meeting isn’t possible, try and arrange a call or discuss through email. It is important to have these conversations, to discuss pricing and the details of the contract. Make sure you don’t agree to anything you can’t deliver.

Complete one of the two template contracts attached at the bottom of this page - one is suitable for evening venues like bars and nightclubs, whilst the other is more open to other kinds of sponsors. 

You’ll need to get the contract signed by both parties then returned to the Students' Union. As the Students' Union holds your bank account all contracts will only be valid if approved and signed by the Sports/Societies Officer. 

Upon our finance team receiving your completed and triple-signed contract, SUSU will then invoice your sponsor for the agreed-upon sponsorship amount.

Nuances to note

A few final things to consider:

• Sponsorship agreements can't start earlier than September 1st (the Union's and your group's financial year start)
• Sponsorship agreements shouldn't finish any later than June 30th, as to not bind future committees.
• Only Presidents or Treasurers should be the signatory on behalf of your group
• The Union won't allow sponsors which could portray the Union in a negative light or bring it into disrepute. If your sponsor could be controversial, ask us first. 
• Commission based agreements often aren't followed through on by the Sponsor or student group, so we'd recommend trying to secure a set sponsorship fee and discount rates if you're looking to save money.
• For Sports Clubs, obligations to stay in venues can't persist after 10:30 as this conflicts with the Union's contract with Jack Murphy's which gets you "Captain's Cards" for lots of free drinks! 

To summarise: 
- Find a potential business
- Introduce yourself
- Negotiate terms of the agreement and sponsorship fee
- Download one of the two contracts below 
- Fill in and print out the agreement
- Get the contract signed by the Sponsor
- Get your President or Treasurer sign the contract
- Return the contract to the SU to be signed and invoiced