Let’s talk about this for a minute!
This topic comes up all the time! Pageants rely on sponsors to provide remarkable prize packages and pageant girls often rely on them to help with travel, fees and more. A young lady bring up this topic the other day – and it got my mind running!
Her issue was that many pageants ask delegates to find “sponsors,” but then don’t really say what this means, how to get sponsors, or the different types of sponsorship.
In a nutshell, there are two types of sponsorship – Grassroots and Business.
“Grassroots”
Grassroots is hitting up the people in your friends and family circle to help you. This is your aunt or uncle’s businesses, your Mom’s reading circle, your church. You can do a number of personal fundraising concepts from sponsorship calendars to 50/50 raffles and more.
Pros – It is pretty easy to get people who know you and love you to chip in a few bucks. They generally know you and love you, and expect little or nothing in return besides your happiness.
Cons – People get tired of being hit up for funds, they may not have much to contribute, and some of us don’t have relatives and large community circles to pull from.
This brings us then to Business Sponsorship.
Business Sponsorship
The important thing to remember about business sponsorship is that these people are not your friends or family. These people are only going to be interested in sponsoring you if you have something of value to give them in return.
Examples – Your time volunteering at their business. Your ability to bring in paying clients. Your willingness to market their business or product. Maybe you refer your friends to a dress shop as they prepare for prom in exchange for a gown or steam garments in exchange for tailoring. Whatever it is the business needs to see a return on their investment or at least a serious effort.
It is harder to get Business “buy in,” but Business sponsorship is actually much more sustainable and serves you better, as you can then build on this sponsorship as you prove your value!
And judges can see this in the way you present yourself in interview. If you can sell a business on sponsorship, you can show a judge why you would make an ideal queen. Developing this skill makes you look like a more interesting, intelligent, resourceful delegate!
Regardless of which route you choose or if you combine fundraising methods, be sure you are always thanking your sponsors. Handwritten, personalized thank you notes go along way toward having them support you again in the future.
Want more advice on Pageant Sponsorship? Check out this article on Pageant Planet.
