It's no surprise that marching band participation is costly. Instruments, uniforms, and travel all add up, often totaling more than what’s available from school funding alone. While selling candy or cookie dough can help, it doesn't typically make up the difference.
So what works best for successful bands and music groups? High-dollar, long-term band sponsorship programs. Let's walk through these steps and strategies for building a successful marching band sponsorship program.
Start by building a presentation to illustrate your band's success. Use text, pictures, and video to show potential sponsors why they should support your winning cause. This could include:
Know what you’re asking for before you ask. A common approach is to organize marching band sponsorship packages in tiered levels with different perks. You could also seek specific-item sponsorship packages (i.e., $5,000 for 10 band uniforms).
At the same time, be open to other offers. In-kind donations and discounts on goods and services can go a long way toward meeting your goals. Consider:
What you’re asking for should be of equal or greater value to the sponsor; generally, this will involve a mix of tax-deductible donations, the chance to contribute to local children’s development, or advertising and public relations opportunities.
To that end, consider:
In your pitch deck, you can include statistics on average game attendance, school size, district demographics, and web and social reach to help showcase the value of advertising to your specific audience.
In addition to preparing a sponsorship deck and a thoughtful pitch, you'll want to seek marketing or design help from your booster, parents' group, or a volunteer source such as Catchafire.
Other things to consider as part of your marching band sponsorship kit might include:
While attracting sponsors is the end goal, always start with your roots. Band director Stephen Panoff told Halftime magazine, "If you don’t have a parent or student base willing to put in the work, you’re not going to make your goal."
Don't go it alone; engage band members, parents, boosters, and every friend-of-a-friend when it comes to sponsor development. Having an in at a business, developing materials, pitching, and securing commitment takes time, energy, and (ideally) specific skills and talents.
Lastly, create a list of potential sponsors to contact, identify the right individual to connect with at each business, and keep a record of contact points, dates, and responses.
Target:
Don’t shy away from big names either—band directors on Reddit report past success securing sponsorship from McDonald’s, Walmart, and other national and international corporations and local businesses.
Building a strong marching band sponsorship strategy can pay off, but you can also save time by partnering with RaiseRight. Families can raise $1,000 or more annually, just by earning a percentage back on everyday purchases. With hundreds of brands to choose from, it's easy to earn money without disrupting your daily routine.
RaiseRight is free to join, and earnings can be used to power whatever your marching band needs—administrative fees, instruments, uniforms, travel, or even distributing funds directly back to families to reduce their direct costs.