Sponsor Acknowledgement

A couple of friends have a new team and I'm cooking with them later this year. One of the guys is very active in organizing community events (a charity golf tournament, Eagles Lodge bus trips to Deadwood SD, gun raffles etc.) and he has lined up sponsors for all of our meats except brisket which we will special order. Budweiser is furnishing 3 X 7 banners (perfect for mounting on our tables or canopy's) and the sponsors will be listed on those.... but I'm curious how much appreciation you guys give your sponsors in return? We'll probably give them some hats or shirts, and we're considering a pig roast with an open bar kind of thing this fall.... just trying to figure out the proper payback.

midwest_kc said:

I'm curious how you got sponsors without any plan on how to benefit them!

Seriously, though, I'm not the one to talk to. For all of our sponsors what was expected both directions was in place from the beginning. Those are all different agreements, and work differently, but it was all agreed at the beginning.

The rule of thumb is to give more than you receive. The thank you event would be a big part of that.

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Well, we do have a plan (shirts, displaying their names on banners, a pig roast or BBQ later on) as far as rewarding them.... but frankly to my knowledge none of our sponsors are negotiating what's in it for them, they are happy to give something to a local team competing in a local event which benefits a local organization. The competition itself is organized and hosted by a non-profit organization that benefits persons with brain injuries through a support and assistance group, many of which are volunteers. And this is their 3rd year. They organize a Calcutta on Friday night, have a kidsQ sponsored by a local oil company, and a peoples choice where cooks that want to participate receive pork butts which have been donated to the organizer. The larger event sponsors number a couple of dozen and a lot are energy related and manufacturing companies, I'm assuming they are donating money for prizes and to cover other expenses.

The root of my question was curiosity about what's typical in a small teem/sponsor relationship. I think it would be way different if my friends team was competing in 10 competitions, but for now it will be a maximum of 2 or 3 for this first or second year.

Cooking at (or for) their company picnic is a great idea, I'll send that idea up the ladder.